W.W.

Grainger & Mc Master-Carr

BY :- Susmit Saha
BA1907
 W.W. Grainger

The company was founded by William Wallace Grainger in 1927 in Chicago,

Illinois
W. W. Grainger, Inc. is a Fortune 500 industrial supply company founded in 1927
in Chicago
Grainger operates in 22 countries and serves customers in more than 150
countries through its export business
Specializing in next day delivery of Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO)
materials and supplies.
Mc Master Carr

McMaster-Carr Supply Company is a private, family-owned supplier to industrial

and commercial facilities worldwide
McMaster maintains over 500,000 products in a catalogue offering a variety of
mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and utility hardware
The company is based in Elmhurst, Illinois.
How many DCs should be built, and where should they be located?

 According to the history of business and distribution policies that manage, we do not consider to
be constructed more DC as McMaster-Carr has DC in New Jersey, Los Angeles, Atlanta and
Cleveland, and this catalog that have on the web, it facilitates the delivery of orders and to cover
delivery in the US, plus it until today has not seen the need to open more DC, because it has an
efficient management of its supply chain
 With Grainger, delivery the next day as well as handle a short period of time which the customer
can wait without much trouble delivering your order, in addition to the website and the catalog that
is in it allows the product to be without going to the place where the product is physically located
is chosen
How should product stocking be managed at the DCs? Should all DCs
carry all products?

 Their products should be categorized as both companies handle various products, such as motors,
tools, circular pumps among others. This is to facilitate the location and order in the warehouse
 Not necessarily they must have in store all products, as there are products with higher and lower
demand for parts customers
What products should be carried in inventory and what products should
be left with the supplier to be shipped directly in response to a customer
order?

 The inventory exist in the supply chain due to the mismatch between supply and demand which
has a product, so that the products should be taken into inventory are forecast to meet the customer
demand, so when customers need it to supply immediately, so the inventory and flow time is
determined by demand, that the case of McMaster-Carr serious products for maintenance, repair
and operations (MRO) materials manufacturing facilities and trade; and in the case of Grainger
industrial products such as motors, lighting, material handling, fasteners, plumbing, tools and
safety supplies, among others
What products should W.W. Grainger carry at a store?

 Fast moving products

 Products picked by the customers
 Products that are usually required urgent delivery by customers
 Availability and have regional demand
How should markets be allocated to DCs in terms of order fulfillment?
What should be done if an order cannot be completely filled from a DC?
Should there be specified backup locations? How should they be selected?
 The markets should be allocated according to the historical data, since they are in the market for
more than 80 yrs . With respect to timely delivery & minimum cost
 If an order cannot be fulfilled by a DC, So DCs should be in a proximity that one will act as
another’s Backup i.e, DCs in the country should have some equal proximity; which will help when
problem with orders arises
 With substitutions orders can be fulfilled such as product substitution, Manufacturer substitution
and Location substitution.