PERSPECTIVE: Grainger’s Durante: Customers Want More Fasteners

John Wolz

W.W. Grainger”s expansion in fasteners is based on “what our customers want” in order to “consolidate their unplanned product purchases,” Rich Durante, the new category manager for fasteners, explained.
Grainger has long sold fasteners, but in what the company describes as the largest product expansion in its history, the number of fastener SKUs is jumping from 3,500 last year to 33,500 in the 2006 Grainger catalog to be released April 3.
Grainger”s 588 North American branches (416 in the U.S.) will stock about 4,000 SKUs of fasteners and another 29,500 can usually be shipped overnight from 18 distribution centers (10 in the U.S.).
Early reports suggested Grainger”s fastener expansion was designed to compete more directly with Fastenal, but in a FIN/FastenerNews.com interview, Durante emphasizes serving Grainger”s core MRO customers.
Grainger is “not looking at” fasteners to broaden its MRO market, Durante added. Grainger just wants to provide “everything customers need to keep their facilities running every day.”
Grainger”s additional fasteners can help customer cut costs by reducing vendors, he suggested.
Durante said Grainger doesn”t have a break down of fastener sales.
“We have a very small share of the market,” he acknowledged. “We see an opportunity in the market.”
The Grainger sales goal for the new products dominated this year by fasteners is to contribute 1% to overall sales growth.
Durante is new to fasteners but he brings seven years of Grainger experience to his role as the top fastener executive.
$200 Average Order
Grainger”s fastener expansion is part of an “ongoing process” of finding “where are holes are at” and the company will continue to look at product offerings which allow MRO customers to consolidate vendors, Durante told FIN.
Durante is looking to fill the individual orders. Despite the lofty 2005 corporate sales of $5.5 billion from everything from hammers to power tools, the average Grainger order is less than $200, Durante noted. Grainger hopes fasteners can increase the average order as current customers don”t have to go elsewhere for fasteners. “We”re looking to really help our current customers consolidate their unplanned purchases from motors to fasteners,” he explained.
The ultimate goal is to be the complete MRO supplier.
He acknowledged Grainger will be competing “at the branch level with local distributors, national distributors and retailers such as Home Depot” for fastener sales.
In addition to fasteners, Grainger”s main product categories include: adhesives, sealants & tape; cleaning & painting; electrical; HVAC; hardware; lighting; material handling; metalworking, welding & shop supplies; motors & power transmission; office equipment; pneumatics & hydraulics; pumps & plumbing; safety & security; test instruments; and tools, outdoor equipment and auto shop.
Fastener Technical Support
Product selection tools on grainger.com are designed to assist customers in narrowing product selection based on factors such as grade, size and material. Grainger also added advanced cross-referencing tools, a fastener catalog and employee product training to help customers find the right product for their applications.
Grainger also has a technical support team available for branches to call about all the 115,000 products in the 2006 catalog, Durante explained.
Durante pointed out that Grainger”s internal technical support does not provide application expertise. “We help guide the customer to the right choice” of fasteners and other products.
It is an internal support team available for branches to call while a customer is on the line, but not for customers to contact directly.
How to Sell to Grainger
What does Grainger require of fastener (and other) suppliers? Durante started with the expected “high quality products” and added “broad product line.” Suppliers “must understand what it takes” to supply Grainger, including “shipping accurately and shipping consistently.” Suppliers need to understand weight and size requirements and have labeling and bar coding capability.
Grainger has a separate website for communication with suppliers: supplierconnect.com/grainger.
“It is how we communicate with our supplier base,” Durante explained. The website also includes information on how to become a Grainger supplier. \ �2006 FastenerNews.com