Stellar detailed that its 19 regional hubs now include: Portland, OR; Albany, OR; Everett, WA; Tacoma, WA; Seattle, WA; Spokane, WA; Los Angeles-Metro; Upland, CA; Central Valley, CA (San Luis Obispo, Ventura); Salt Lake City, UT; Sparks, NV; Denver, CO; Billings, MT; Phoenix, AZ; Knoxville, TN; Memphis, TN; Lawrence, PA; and Tampa, FL.

MRO distributor Stellar Industrial Supply is building out its coast-to-coast presence with the acquisition of…

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“Stellar Industrial Supply is grateful to expand our coast-to-coast presence as this acquisition gives us an immediate strong Southeast regional footing,” company Owner, President and CEO John Wiborg said in a news release. “Mark Hill (IMC President) has done a marvelous job building IMC’s outstanding reputation for delivering high value, consultative partnering with their customers. That approach perfectly mirrors the laser-focused, customer-centric approach we strive for at Stellar.”

IMC brands itself as a wholesale MRO supplier specializing in cutting tools for the industrial and construction industries throughout the U.S. mid-south throughout much of Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas. IMC’s product portfolio of steel and carbide drills, reamers, taps, dies, end mills, indexable carbide, blueprint special tools, abrasives, PPE and other MRO supplies are accompanied by industrial vending and VMI programs.

Meanwhile, Stellar said that IMC’s VMI capabilities and cost savings capabilities will complement Stellar’s Documented Cost Savings program, which the company noted has generated over $186 million in customer-verified cost savings, including nearly $18 million in 2023.

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In its seventh acquisition of the year, Ohio-based industrial distributor AFC Industries has added fastener…

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IMC becomes the 19th regional hub for Stellar as it further builds out its coast-to-coast presence. Most recently, Stellar acquired Knoxville, TN-based metalworking supplies distributor The Tool Crib in August 2023. Also last year, Stellar merged the business and Salt Lake City and Spokane regional distribution centers from industrial distribution and supply chain management services provider White Distribution & Supply into its platform, along with the opening of a New Jersey warehouse and branch office.

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The Tacoma, WA-based MRO supplies distributor announced Jan. 2 that it has signed an agreement to acquire IMC Supply — a 64-year-old metalworking supplies distributor based in Memphis, TN.

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“Over its six decades of operation, IMC Supply has been a cornerstone for many families, contributing to the local economy and fostering a sense of community,” Hill said. “I have had the privilege of knowing John Wiborg for many years. I am confident that his leadership will ensure the continuation of the IMC legacy. The symbiosis between the legacy of IMC and the national reach of Stellar Industrial is expected to bring about positive changes for both entities and the community at-large.”

IMC’s sister company, 1sourcevend, offers distributors nationwide a selection of software-powered coil and locker vending machines and inventory management planning. The Stellar acquisition does not include the assets of 1sourcevend.

US cutting tool manufacturer Tool Alliance celebrates 50 years of highly successful business in March 2022.

March 15, 2022 - US cutting tool manufacturer Tool Alliance celebrates 50 years of highly successful business in March 2022. During this time, the company has grown steadily and in the process has built an enviable reputation for the quality and durability of its solid carbide and indexable carbide cutting tools. Tool Alliance makes extensive use of CNC grinding machines from various manufacturers, but has chosen to standardize the machines’ control systems on NUM’s Flexium CNC platform and NUMROTO software, primarily for reasons of performance and production efficiency. Tool Alliance is one of the largest licensees of NUMROTO in the United States. Founded in 1972 and still privately held, Tool Alliance operates a number of company-owned factories – its principal manufacturing facilities are located in Huntington Beach, California, and in Fort Myers, Florida. The company’s cutting tool products and services include such renowned brand names as Ultra-Tool, RoundTool Laboratories, Tungsten ToolWorks, Routco and Mil-Tec. All five brands are sold worldwide, and are supported by shared research, design, engineering, manufacturing, marketing and sales facilities. The owner and president of Tool Alliance, Dave Povich, is no stranger to the cutting tool industry. A past-President of the United States Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI), he has worked for the company since 1987. According to Povich, “NUM is our CNC technology partner, which creates a win-win situation for both companies. We benefit from having a direct technical input to NUMROTO software development, while NUM gains valuable feedback on the design and production of the very latest cutting tools.” Tool Alliance’s innovative Ultra-Tool Series 365 high performance end mills are a case in point. Designed specifically for the machining of exotic materials, these solid carbide tools feature a patented variable-helix geometry combined with a proprietary edge preparation/PVD coating combination that allows for world-class dynamic milling of tool paths, including most slotting cut applications. The tools are produced on high performance 5-axis CNC grinding machines using NUMROTO, employing monitored tool run-out, real-time deviation compensation and the latest diamond abrasive technology utilizing advanced wheel truing equipment. Mark Wortsman, Tool Alliance’s technical director, said that collaborating with NUM has multiple advantages. “The NUMROTO team is very supportive and always amenable to suggestions, which makes life a lot easier for us, as well as our customers. For example, we recently suggested adding categories for collets, and some new features for wheel probing and automatic 3D collision checking; these have all been implemented in the latest version of NUMROTO software.” “We consider the 3D-simulation capabilities of NUMROTO to be the most accurate in the tool grinding world; they help us to optimize tool programming by preventing any grinding errors that might otherwise be caused by imperfect wheel measurement or incorrect machine alignment.” Wortsman also points out that NUM’s software helps simplify shop floor management. “Over the years we have built an extensive library of tools that we have produced with NUMROTO. The NUMROTO team has done a superb job of incorporating the library in a centralized industry-standard SQL database which can be accessed by any of our machines or programming stations. The database can store tens of thousands of tool programs which can be accessed by several hundred users–at the same time if needed.” “It is much easier to backup a single centralized database file instead of having to backup files from the computers on each machine–we perform automated backups several times a day, just to ensure productivity continuity in the event of a machine breakdown. Software updates are also handled very efficiently. As soon as a key NUMROTO update is available, we can bring all our machines, regardless of make or model, up to the same software revision level.” Many of Tool Alliance’s CNC grinding machines are equipped with automatic loading systems to facilitate overnight production–in fact, some run for two days in a row without interruption and without the need for any manual compensation. To keep the tool dimensions within tolerance, the company relies on the NUMROTO software’s ‘measurement in process’ feature, which automatically measures tools after grinding and applies appropriate compensation. A number of projects undertaken by Tool Alliance have warranted installing early generation CNC machines and then retrofitting them with NUM’s latest motors, drives and CNC systems. According to Steven Schilling, General Manager of NUM Corporation, “Again, we were able to help. Our CNC team in Chicago provided local support, and we were able to improve the performance of the machines’ spindles and axes. It has been, and continues to be, a pleasure to be a partner to the success of Tool Alliance.” NUM will be exhibiting at the GrindingHub trade fair in Stuttgart, Germany, from May 17-20, 2022. ENDS   Ultra-Tool, RoundTool Laboratories, Tungsten ToolWorks, Routco and Mil-Tec are registered trademarks of Tool Alliance.