We chat with John Gunderson, who authored our three-part analysis series and subsequent case study report on Wesco’s recent and ongoing transformation as North America’s top electrical distributor.
Wesco International stands atop MDM’s Top Electrical, Data and Security products distributors list via its more than 22 billion dollars in annual revenue.
To get there, the Pittsburgh-headquartered company underwent one of the biggest transformations we’ve seen from a major distributor over the past decade.
Wesco’s $4.5 billion acquisition of Anixter International in 2020 was a landmark transaction in the electrical supply space, combining two distributors that each had about $8 billion in revenue at that point.
So, it essentially doubled the size of Wesco and led to a multi-year integration project. Along the way, the company has enacted various digital, business model and talent innovations to continue transforming the company.
All of this activity was recently analyzed in a three-part article series and subsequent case study report by John Gunderson, who writes and speaks on the B2B distribution channel. He previously spent 20 at several different distributors in roles of marketing, sales and category management, including two-and-a-half years at Anixter.
- Wesco Analysis, Pt. 1: Scale and Value Proposition (July 11)
- Wesco Analysis, Pt. 2: Enterprise Strategies (July 18)
- Wesco Analysis, Pt. 3: Digitize the Business (July 25)
- Case Study — Wesco: Strength through Scale, Digital and People
Gunderson also spent three years as MDM’s VP of Analytics and E-Business.
In our latest episode of the MDM Podcast, Gunderson and I discussed his Wesco analysis series and case study to get his top takeaways from the process.
You’ll want to stay tuned for more case study series from John on MDM, including previous ones on Fastenal and Ferguson, with more to come.
Listen to the episode via the audio player above, and you can find all of our past episodes at mdm.com/podcasts.
MDM Podcast: The Keys to Wesco’s Digital Initiatives (Aug. 7)
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Mike Hockett
Mike Hockett is MDM’s executive editor, having joined the publication in March 2022. He oversees MDM’s editorial content and direction, coordinates with contributing authors, conducts interviews with executives in the wholesale distribution space and serves as the editorial face of MDM at industry events. He has extensively covered the distribution and manufacturing sectors since 2014. Hockett works from his home in Madison, WI. He can be contacted at mike@mdm.com.
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