The MDM Podcast

Research lead Kevin Reid-Morris and Tom Gale discuss the insights, surprises and hopes for AI this 2023 research into artificial intelligence surfaced. We also map out five behaviors and supporting building blocks for distributor AI success, with comments from our research partners. 

STAFDA Chief Executive Georgia Foley stops by to discuss the association's new educational initiative, the state of industry demand how it's being impacted by U.S. Infrastructure Bill rollout and factory building boom, as well as a preview of the group's annual convention in early November.

With budgets and operational planning already eyeing the year ahead, Mike Marks and Tom Gale explore where distributors have the most leverage, and where their common gaps are.

What can we learn from distributors that have achieved a higher EBITDA multiple value on a sustained basis? McKinsey partner Kevin Sachs shares a preview of his team's keynote at SHIFT 2023 on the differentiators of those who are convincing shareholders they are growing revenue faster, expanding profit margins and improving the efficiency in which they leverage their capital base.

The post-2020 era has seen distributors make enormous strides in technology adoption and application across their organization. Hisco VP of IT Ana Bennett - one of MDM's upcoming SHIFT conference speakers - joins Tom Gale for a conversation about the evolving role of technology and where it's headed.

Speed wins in distribution. The ability to recognize and respond to threats and opportunities defines winners. Mike Marks talks about culture as the critical differentiator in periods of uncertainty, and the industry transition from traditional command-and-control leadership.

While distributors are proud of the culture they've crafted, far less discussed in that topic is mental health. This episode joins The Granite Group's Tracie Sponenberg and mental-health-at-work specialist Melissa Doman as they explore why mental health is a critical business conversation, how this industry can address growing mental health expectations and the benefits that can result.

The power of AI as a competitive differentiator is far from being defined. In this conversation, James Dorn and Tom Gale look at the bigger picture of data analytics in distribution, the stages of competency, building blocks and ways organizations are building world-class capability.

Fairfield, Ohio-based AFC Industries has burst onto MDM's Top Industrial Distributors scene, charting for the first time this year at No. 34 after several years of frequent acquisitions. We chat with AFC CEO Kevin Godin on how the company has successfully managed all of its recent growth and what's on the horizon.

Teams that pivoted faster and managed disruption, change and transition to get to transformation have out-performed competitors over the past three years. Tom Gale and Mike Marks channel the movie City Slickers as they discuss how to assess your team's transformational capabilities across the dimensions of sales process, technology, data analytics and people.