We chat with talent recruitment and retention guru Dr. Bharani Nagarathnam - who leads Texas A&M's Master of Industrial Distribution program - about a range of vital talent topics and to preview his culture-focused roundtable discussions at our May SHIFT conference and a standalone session there based around fostering an environment where diverse teams can thrive.

Kevin Reid-Morris has led much of MDM's qualitative AI industry research over the past few years, and he's set to share the results of his major two-year project at our SHIFT conference. Here, he and Tom Gale discuss the transformative impact of AI in distribution and that project which identified over 50 practical AI use cases that distributors can implement to enhance operational efficiency and gain a competitive edge.

From Wall Street to the warehouse — twice. Two executives from A&M Industrial's leadership team share their parallel journeys back to their (now third generation) family-owned distribution business. Hear how innovation, value-added sales and market expansion are built on the foundation of deep company values that forged its reputation in industrial distribution.

At NAW's marquee annual event, we had mini-interviews with 10 different distributor executives about their company's biggest initiatives in 2025; the industry's top challenges and reasons for optimism; and what they get out of the event.

Two longtime power transmission/motion control industry veterans, Brian Short and Bill Shepard, join to discuss career retrospection; what’s changed in the market over the past four decades; their thoughts on AI; and the role of product information management, including how two leading associations are driving it forward.

Our MDM Case Study series rolled out finished reports on Ferguson and Watsco down the stretch of 2024, with plenty more to come in 2025. Here, the author of those case studies, John Gunderson, joins to debrief on his key takeaways from researching those two companies and a preview of his next deep dive on MSC Industrial Supply.

With the dust settled on the merger of Lawson Products, TestEquity and GexPro Services to form Distribution Solutions Group, it's time for a then-and-now investigation. LKCM Headwater Investment's Brad Wallace — a DSG board member who helped spearhead that transaction — joins to discuss the rationale behind the company's creation, what's ahead for DSG and why distribution is so attractive for PE investment.

As one of the most recognizable figures in industrial distribution, Mike DeCata joins to reflect on his career in the channel, of which the first 18 years were spent at General Electric and the last 10 at Lawson Products. We cover what he misses about day-to-day CEO life (and what he doesn't); the biggest changes in the industry in his tenure; what he's most proud of; and what he's keeping an eye on today.

Port operators and the union representing U.S. East and Gulf Coast dockworkers reached a tentative labor deal, but the underlying issues remain. Here, the MDM Editors and NAW's CEO share their perspectives and how distributors are navigating the situation.

With our marquee thought leadership event fresh in mind, MDM Editors Mike Hockett and Vesna Brajkovic debrief the messages, themes and anecdotes from the event that stood out to them and take a look forward to SHIFT 2025 next May.