Grainger publishes new catalog with more than 138,000 MRO items
By Susan Avery -- Purchasing, 3/1/2007 7:00:00 AM
Grainger has released its 2007 product catalog which features more than 138,000 MRO products, an increase of 23,000 items over last year's record offering. MRO stands for maintenance, repair and operations.
A year ago, Grainger announced the biggest product expansion in its history in an exclusive interview with Purchasing. Then, the company increased nine-fold (30,000) the number of fasteners it offers in its catalog.
"Our customers count on us to be a one-stop shop for a broad selection of MRO supplies so they can efficiently manage their facilities," says Kevin Peters, senior vice president of supply chain management. "We bolstered our offering in several key categories including plumbing, material handling, fasteners and security products, and we're excited to announce that we are poised to serve even more of our customers' needs."
In response to customer feedback, Grainger added to the new catalog more than 7,000 plumbing products, such as high-grade pipes, valves and fittings; 4,000 material handling supplies, such as conveyors, hoists and casters; 5,000 fasteners, such as nuts, bolts and screws as well as 1,600 security products such as locks and hinges.
The product expansion is part of Grainger's ongoing commitment to match customer product requirements with a comprehensive product offering, says Peters. The company expects incremental sales from its product expansion to account for 1%–2% of its growth in 2007.
With more than 3,000 pages of product and technical information, this year's catalog offers enhanced search and selection tools to help customers find the products they need.
"Our customers told us they turn to our catalog as a reference tool for sourcing MRO products, even when making a purchase over the phone or online," says Peters. "As Grainger broadens its product line, we're also enhancing our catalog to help customers find the right products as quickly and conveniently as possible."
Grainger has added new search and selection tools on www.grainger.com to assist customers in narrowing their selection to the right product based on factors that are relevant to the product or application. Advanced cross-referencing tools, a new dedicated plumbing catalog and employee product training also are expected to help customers find the products for their applications.
With 2006 sales of $5.9 billion, Grainger is a broad line supplier of facilities maintenance products in Canada, China, Mexico and the U.S. It has nearly 600 branches, 17 distribution centers and multiple websites.
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