On the table now
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The 2026 Supply House of the Year Tracks Government Actions on Material Costs for Its Customers, on Its Own Website
Charles D. Sheehy, a 75-year-old Massachusetts supply house, runs a Commodity Watch tool on its website that tracks government actions tied to material costs in real time.
Editor’s picks
A 21-Store Caterpillar Dealer Opens a Separate Store for Small Contractors
Source: Equipment World
Topics
Buyer behavior · AI & search · Channel & distribution · Pricing · Trade shows & brand · Budgets & benchmarks · Leadership
The week at the table · Video
Five stories from the week, in about a minute.
Marta, our AI journalist, walks through October 19–23: Fastenal’s largest customer sites, Hirose Electric Americas’ Mark Kojak on tariffs, Wajax’s two presidents, four leaders on labelling AI-made marketing and 15 CMOs on their priorities for 2027.
Marta is an AI avatar.
Latest
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Warshauer Electric Supply Won tED’s Video Award With Its Answer to the Electrician Shortage: Its Own Trade School
tED Magazine named seven video winners in its 2026 Best of the Best awards. Warshauer’s 2-minute, 17-second video presents WTRADE, an adult trade school for electricians, through its instructors and students.
Source: tED MagazineRead →: Warshauer Electric Supply Won tED’s Video Award With Its Answer to the Electrician Shortage: Its Own Trade School -
A Seven-Year Study of 72 Companies Finds Leaders Often Misidentify What Their Customers Value
Four professors write in Harvard Business Review that companies often misidentify the drivers of customer value, even after heavy spending on feedback and competitor tracking, and shift priorities so often that customers are confused.
Source: Harvard Business ReviewRead →: A Seven-Year Study of 72 Companies Finds Leaders Often Misidentify What Their Customers Value -
WD Industrial Group Hires Sales Engineers From Three Disciplines So Each Customer Hears Its Own Language
The Winnipeg waterworks manufacturer and rep firm, with nearly 40 people, staffs its sales team with civil, mechanical and chemical engineers, and has bought two rep agencies to put more lines in front of the same customers.
Source: The WholesalerRead →: WD Industrial Group Hires Sales Engineers From Three Disciplines So Each Customer Hears Its Own Language -
Cisco’s CMO Must Grow Marketing-Sourced Revenue Every Year on the Same Budget. Her First Fix Was the Website.
When Carrie Palin joined Cisco in 2021, more than 80% of website visitors left within seconds. The rebuild took about two and a half years and cut bounce rates by at least 30%.
Source: FortuneRead →: Cisco’s CMO Must Grow Marketing-Sourced Revenue Every Year on the Same Budget. Her First Fix Was the Website. -
Tectorius Rebuilt Its Product Pages Around the Questions Engineers and Distributors Ask
Tectorius, a Michigan maker of threadlockers, sealants and fastener coatings, relaunched its website with product pages built around applications, specifications and FAQs, and a technical library with a cross-reference tool.
Source: Products FinishingRead →: Tectorius Rebuilt Its Product Pages Around the Questions Engineers and Distributors Ask -
Up to 72% of AI Answers to Educational Queries Name No Brand, Conductor’s Study Finds
Conductor ran 14,000 API calls through four AI models and found that as many as 72% of answers to educational queries named no brand. In comparison answers, the same brand led 91% of the time.
Source: Content Marketing InstituteRead →: Up to 72% of AI Answers to Educational Queries Name No Brand, Conductor’s Study Finds
Channel & distribution
Distributors, dealers and how industrial companies go to market.
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The 2026 Supply House of the Year Tracks Government Actions on Material Costs for Its Customers, on Its Own Website
Charles D. Sheehy, a 75-year-old Massachusetts supply house, runs a Commodity Watch tool on its website that tracks government actions tied to material costs in real time.
Source: Supply House TimesRead →: The 2026 Supply House of the Year Tracks Government Actions on Material Costs for Its Customers, on Its Own Website -
WD Industrial Group Hires Sales Engineers From Three Disciplines So Each Customer Hears Its Own Language
The Winnipeg waterworks manufacturer and rep firm, with nearly 40 people, staffs its sales team with civil, mechanical and chemical engineers, and has bought two rep agencies to put more…
Source: The WholesalerRead →: WD Industrial Group Hires Sales Engineers From Three Disciplines So Each Customer Hears Its Own Language -
MSC Industrial Nearly Doubled Daily In-Person Customer Contacts With About 170 Fewer Field Reps
MSC Industrial redesigned its sales territories and nearly doubled daily in-person customer contacts in its fourth quarter, with about 170 fewer field reps than a year earlier. It is pulling…
Source: Distribution Strategy GroupRead →: MSC Industrial Nearly Doubled Daily In-Person Customer Contacts With About 170 Fewer Field Reps
Trade shows & brand
Campaigns, rebrands, launches and what companies did with a show.
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Warshauer Electric Supply Won tED’s Video Award With Its Answer to the Electrician Shortage: Its Own Trade School
tED Magazine named seven video winners in its 2026 Best of the Best awards. Warshauer’s 2-minute, 17-second video presents WTRADE, an adult trade school for electricians, through its instructors and…
Source: tED MagazineRead →: Warshauer Electric Supply Won tED’s Video Award With Its Answer to the Electrician Shortage: Its Own Trade School -
Legrand Told Cablofil’s Expansion as a Story About People, Processes and Plants. tED Named It One of Four PR Winners.
Legrand used third-party industry media to tell the story of its Cablofil expansion through its people, processes and plants. tED Magazine names it one of four 2026 Best of the…
Source: tED MagazineRead →: Legrand Told Cablofil’s Expansion as a Story About People, Processes and Plants. tED Named It One of Four PR Winners. -
Lion Plumbing Supply Marked 70 Years With Its First South Florida Trade Show: 54 Vendors, More Than 150 Guests
Lion Plumbing Supply, a one-location Miami wholesaler, marked its 70th year with its first trade show for the South Florida market: 54 vendors and more than 150 contractors, customers and…
Source: The WholesalerRead →: Lion Plumbing Supply Marked 70 Years With Its First South Florida Trade Show: 54 Vendors, More Than 150 Guests
AI & search
How industrial companies use AI to sell, and how buyers find suppliers.
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Up to 72% of AI Answers to Educational Queries Name No Brand, Conductor’s Study Finds
Conductor ran 14,000 API calls through four AI models and found that as many as 72% of answers to educational queries named no brand. In comparison answers, the same brand…
Source: Content Marketing InstituteRead →: Up to 72% of AI Answers to Educational Queries Name No Brand, Conductor’s Study Finds -
Two-Thirds of B2B Providers Will Lose Deals Because Buyers Cannot Verify Their Claims, Forrester Predicts
Forrester’s 2027 predictions say B2B buyers will hand more of the buying process to AI agents, then double their human contacts to check what the agents told them. Two-thirds of…
Source: ForresterRead →: Two-Thirds of B2B Providers Will Lose Deals Because Buyers Cannot Verify Their Claims, Forrester Predicts -
Fastenal Says AI Can Cut Quoting at Some Branches From Five or Six Days to About 15 Minutes
Fastenal says AI can cut sourcing and quoting at some of its branches from five or six days to about 15 minutes. Its CEO gave it as a branch example,…
Source: Distribution Strategy GroupRead →: Fastenal Says AI Can Cut Quoting at Some Branches From Five or Six Days to About 15 Minutes
The week at the table
The week’s articles in one email, every Friday.
Everything we shared that week, with the numbers and the links. One email a week and nothing else.