If you ever worked the infrastructure segment of industrial America, you know W.W.Grainger. If you need to repair something, maintain any sort of equipment — you have a Grainger catalog handy. They’ve been around for 79 years. They run a 10-figure business in hardware, tools and parts. For many — they’re the originals.
W.W. Grainger Inc, a leading distributor of maintenance, repair and service equipment in North America, opened its first distribution center in China yesterday in Shanghai’s Minhang District.
The center is the first in China dedicated solely to hardware and industrial machinery parts, the company said. The facility is only the beginning of Grainger’s expansion plans for China. Other locations will be added in the future, said John Schweig, president of Grainger International, a subsidiary of the Chicago-based parent.
The Chinese market for MRO – maintenance, repair and operation – now runs at US$4 billion. The Yangtze Delta, one of China’s biggest manufacturing bases covering Shanghai and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, accounts for 20 percent of the total. Shanghai’s share alone is about 6 percent.
The MRO business is now mostly conducted by small hardware and machine parts stores and the original manufacturers’ after-sale service networks.
Grainger officials are cautious about revealing their future plans or projected growth rates in China. They would say only that the company’s growth for the next few years will “definitely be double digit” as a beginner in a new market.
In some ways, this says more about the growth potential of Chinese industry than a boatload of stock exchange analysts.
This is fine, if the parts manufactured there are meant strictly for the Chinese market. Of course nothing works this way. Given the somewhat incestuous nature of the infrastructure manufacturing sector (who are also forming Chinese branch operations), expect this sort of thing to pick up momentum.
It’s only the Chinese that demand Chinese goods be made by Chinese workers. We couldn’t possibly imagine following these rules. Never mind that it sounds kinda like “Please fill your check carefully – you can fill out the order form as carelessly as you wish”.
now they can supply that giant dam w/ parts!!
Grainger is one of my favorite catalogs. I remember the Radio Shack catalog when it was free. Even when they started charging for it, I used to look forward to the new one. Now, they don’t have them anymore as far as I know.
I guess that this is about as interesting as a Sears openning in China, however, it does seem to indicate a maturing industrial infrastructure growing up there. For largescale industrial plant that my company does business with, Grainger is good because they have a large warehouse nearby where stuff can be gotten the same day. However, their selection can be limited. Companies like McMaster-Carr and MSC have a much bigger selection, and are just a UPS Red away. You can’t beat McMaster’s online catalogue for ease of finding exactly what you want as well.
#4 ditto that.
Grainger’s is great for emergencies, having a local depot and a wonderful policy of opening the doors for you 24/7 if needed. But McMaster-Carr ruled when I was a buyer and MSC was an up-and-comer in the market. This was 10 yrs ago and I can only imagine they have all improved on their reputations since.
The fight over old McMaster-Carr catalogs was vicious at my old workplace and to see it online now is just terrific!