Greetings, Industrial Distribution readers
Submissions for our 2021 Big 50 List are now open, but there's now only hours left, as they are due Aug. 24. As our biggest annual research feature, ID’s Big 50 List is our ranking of North America’s largest distributors of industrial products by full-year revenue.
Submit your company's 2021 Big 50 List application here, or read on for more information. There is no fee to apply.
While ‘industrial’ is a fairly broad term, our definition of an industrial distributor is a company that distributes products in categories that include:
- Abrasives
- Bearings
- Cutting tools
- Fasteners
- Hand tools
- Industrial hose & hose accessories
- Janitorial/Sanitation
- Machine tools
- Metalworking
- MRO
- PVF
- PPE
- Power tools
- Power transmission/motion control
- Safety
We will also consider companies that primarily distribute products outside of these categories, as long as their sales of our defined 'industrial' products are large enough to qualify. So if a company is primarily an electrical products distributor, but has industrial sales high enough to place among the top 50, it may qualify, and we would account for only those 'industrial' sales. Such has been the case in recent years for WESCO International, Sonepar USA, Border States Electric and Crescent Electric Supply.
In recent years, the revenue threshold to make our Big 50 List has hovered between $125 million to $135 million, with our 2020 No. 50 company making it with $132 million in 2019 sales. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic causing considerably negative business impacts for industrial distributors, it's certainly possible that the threshold for our 2021 Big 50 List will be lower.
To Qualify
To qualify for The Big 50 List, companies must share their 2020 full-year sales figure with us via the secure survey link below, or via email or phone. We require these annual sales figures as a means of leveling the playing field, rather than rely on outdated figures or market speculation.
Qualified companies must be distributors and must be headquartered in North America. While internationally-based companies don't qualify, we will consider their North American-based subsidiaries. For example, as a whole, Sonepar doesn't qualify because it is based in France. But we do consider South Carolina-based Sonepar USA. Similarly, Germany-based Würth Group doesn't qualify as a whole, but New Jersey-based Wurth Industry North America does.
Master distributors/wholesalers are not considered.
Apply Here!
Again, there is no fee to apply. Submit your company’s 2021 ID Big 50 List application via the survey link here. Submissions are due by Aug. 24.
Have questions about the Big 50? Email ID managing editor Mike Hockett at [email protected]
View our 2020 Big 50 List here, as well as our 2020 Big 50 countdown videos: Part 1 (50-31), Part 2 (30-11), Part 3 (10-1).
