MSC Industrial Direct Stock

MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (MSC), together with its wholly owned subsidiaries and entities, operates as a North American distributor of a broad range of metalworking and maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) products and services.

The company solves its manufacturing customers' metalworking, MRO, and operational challenges. Through its technical metalworking expertise and inventory management and other supply chain solutions, the company's team of more than 7,000 associates helps to keep its customers' manufacturing operations up and running and to improve their efficiency, productivity, and profitability.

The company serves a broad range of customers throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom, from individual machine shops to Fortune 1000 manufacturing companies to government agencies, such as the United States General Services Administration and the United States Department of Defense. The company operates a sophisticated network of customer fulfillment centers, regional inventory centers, warehouses (North America and Europe), and manufacturing locations, including locations acquired in the January 2023 acquisition of Buckeye and Tru-Edge. The company's customer fulfillment centers are located in or near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Atlanta, Georgia; Elkhart, Indiana; Columbus, Ohio; Reno, Nevada; and Hanover Park, Illinois.

The company offers approximately 2.4 million active, saleable stock-keeping units (SKUs) through its catalogs; its brochures; its E-commerce channels, including its website, https://www.mscdirect.com (the MSC website); the company's inventory management solutions; and its customer care centers, customer fulfillment centers, regional inventory centers, and warehouses. The company carries many of the products it sells in its inventory, so that orders for these in-stock products are processed and fulfilled the day the order is received. The company offers next-day delivery nationwide for qualifying orders placed by 8 p.m. Eastern Time (excluding Class C Consumables category products). The company's customers can choose among many convenient ways to place orders: the MSC website, eProcurement platforms, inventory management solutions (including in-plant and vending solutions), customer care centers and direct communication with its telesales and outside sales associates.

Products and Supplier Services

The company's broad range of metalworking and MRO products includes cutting tools, measuring instruments, tooling components, metalworking products, fasteners, flat stock, raw materials, abrasives, machinery hand and power tools, safety, and janitorial supplies, plumbing supplies, materials handling products, power transmission components and electrical supplies. The company's extensive network of suppliers provides it access to technical application, safety, training certifications, and many other value-added services for its customers. The company purchases substantially all of its products directly from more than 3,000 suppliers.

Strategy

The key elements of the company's strategy include technical expertise and support; inventory management solutions; broad selection of products; same-day shipping and next-day delivery; superior customer service; commitment to technological innovation; digital technologies and the MSC website; and competitive pricing.

The company's growth strategy includes a number of initiatives to gain market share and complete the repositioning of MSC from being a spot-buy supplier to a mission-critical partner to its customers. These initiatives include expanding and enhancing its metalworking capabilities to aggressively penetrate customers in heavy and light manufacturing; expanding programs for its public sector and national account customers; increasing sales from existing customers and generating new customers with various value-added programs; enhancing e-commerce capabilities; selectively pursuing strategic acquisitions and investments; increasing the size and improving the productivity of its direct sales force; increasing sales from existing customers and generating new customers with various value-added programs; increasing the number of product lines and productive SKUs; improving its marketing programs; and improving its excellent customer service.

Sales and Marketing

The company serves individual machine shops, Fortune 1000 companies, government agencies, and manufacturers of all sizes. MSC's public sector customers include governments and their instrumentalities, such as federal agencies, state governments, and public sector healthcare providers. Federal government customers include the United States Marine Corps, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Postal Service, the United States General Services Administration, the United States Department of Defense, the United States Department of Energy, large and small military bases, Veterans Affairs hospitals, and correctional facilities. The company has individual state and local contracts, as well as contracts through partnerships with several state co-operatives.

The company's national account program includes Fortune 1000 companies, large privately held companies, and international companies primarily doing business in North America. The company has identified hundreds of additional national account prospects and has given its sales team tools to ensure it is targeting prospective customers that best fit the MSC model.

Digital and Traditional Marketing

The company's primary method of presenting products and solutions is the MSC website and its digital marketing programs, which include tactics, such as search engine marketing, email marketing, social media, and online advertising. While digital is its primary means of marketing, it leverages catalogs, sales collateral, and promotional brochures where appropriate. The company uses these methods to target customers in specific areas, such as metal fabrication, facilities management, and safety and janitorial, with a more focused selection of products or solutions.

Acquisitions

In January 2023, the company acquired certain assets and assumed certain liabilities of Buckeye Industrial Supply Co. (Buckeye), an Ohio-based metalworking distributor, and Tru-Edge Grinding, Inc. (Tru-Edge), an Ohio-based custom tool manufacturer. Buckeye primarily serves the metalworking needs of large manufacturers.

Intellectual Property

The company conducts business under various trademarks and service marks. It protects these trademarks by maintaining registrations in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere.

History

MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. was founded in 1941.