The military has been in the news much this year, most recently due to the efforts in the Middle East, but also with pursing terrorism in Nigeria, actions in Venezuela (and drug interdiction), the National Guard supporting when there are
More INSIGHTS
Atkore announced its Q1 2026 results on May 5. There sales were $731 million, an increase of 11%. However, gross margin fell sharply to 18.6% from 26.4% a year ago, and adjusted EBITDA declined year over year to $81.1 million from $116.4 million. Organic volume increased 5%
Last month AHTD, the Association of High-Tech Distributors, or more commonly referred to as the automation market, held their Spring Meeting. Reports were that it was well-attended by both distributors and manufacturers. In addition to distributors and manufacturers pairing up
Last month LEDucation ran its largest show ever … over 8500 people attended the first day and reportedly registrations over 10,000! And there was a record 565 booths. Talking about packing sardines into a can! It then begs the question
Recently Forward Solutions, best known as Electris360 in the electrical industry and the firm that owns ElectroRep, RB Sales and Fields Electrical Sales, acquired Sales Lane, a California manufacturer rep firm. Forward Solutions’ ElectroRep Acquires, Integrates, Sales Lane According to
Rexel’s North American group was again the star performer for the company according to their 2026 Q1 earnings call. While the overall business was up only 3.4%, and all regions showed positive growth for the first time in 11 quarters,
Research & Resources
At the end of the year, Neil Ashe, CEO of Acuity, described the 4th quarter (their first quarter) lighting business as “tepid”, and our 2025 Q4 Pulse of Lighting report affirmed, and shared a 2026 Outlook If the definition of
For many we entered 2026 feeling as if we moved to the frozen tundra and, throughout the first couple of months the weather was “challenging” (and understatement) and a brake on the business. For others, the construction industry has been
For electrical distributors, their largest asset, and greatest differentiator, is their people. While inventory is a large line-item expense, the reality is that you can operate a electrical distributorship with little, if any, inventory if that is your business model.
We’ve shared that lighting is a significant segment in the electrical distribution industry. Typically, it is 15% of a distributor’s business. More so if they are in the commercial construction segment and in a metropolitan area (and yes, the percentage
As the calendar turned, many in the lighting industry said “good riddance” to 2025. It was a rocky road given the impact of tariffs on the project market and product pricing. At the end of the day for most it
Supplier News
MaxLite is a winner again. This time it’s for their AE Switch Remote Control Area Light, which was the EC&M Product of the Year Outdoor Category Winner. MaxLite, a leader in energy-efficient lighting solutions since 1993, announced that its AE
It’s a little unusual when two name-brand companies in our industry come together and openly collaborate on an offering, using the strengths of both companies. This isn’t to say that companies don’t sell components to each other, as that is
Over the past month or so I’ve noticed a number of manufacturers who have changed reps since NEMRA. It’s interesting timing as you would think that this would occur at the end of the year with companies reviewing their reps
nVent announced 4Q 2025 and full year 2025 results on February 6. The fourth quarter performance included record sales and backlog, and new product introductions while acquisitions performed ahead of expectations. Sales were about $1.07 billion, up 42% y-o-y, with
Legrand announced full year 2025 earnings on February 12. As many know, this is a very diversified company specializing in electrical and digital building infrastructures through a range of high value-added products and solutions including lighting, controls, power management and
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