Msc Industrial Direct Co., Inc. Introduces Next Day Delivery for All Customers Nationwide
Melville, NY, September 5, 2008 - MSC INDUSTRIAL DIRECT CO., INC., (NYSE: MSM), "MSC" or the "Company," one of the premier distributors of Metalworking and Maintenance, Repair and Operations ("MRO") supplies to industrial customers throughout the United States, will implement its most revolutionary service level enhancement in corporate history by making next day order delivery available to all customers nationwide to coincide with the launch of the 2008/2009 MSC Big Book Catalog, effective September 2, 2008. The industry-leading service level benefits of this initiative will be available to customers at no additional cost on all qualifying orders placed by 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time in the contiguous U.S.
This initiative builds on MSC's current same day shipping guarantee and opens up next day delivery to a number of markets, while significantly extending the order cut-off for other markets across the country. When asked about the new service levels, Doug Jones, Senior Vice President of Supply Chain, stated, "As part of the process of integrating MSC and J&L Industrial Supply, our goal was to take the best practices from both companies and combine them to create the world's best metalworking and industrial supply company. For years, J&L customers have enjoyed next day delivery service and effective September 2nd, MSC customers will have the same industry leading shipping service. A unique benefit of our next day delivery service is that there is no additional charge to the customer when air shipment is required. Our customers have the flexibility of ordering later and still paying only ground shipping rates for all qualifying orders. We see this as a major service improvement for our customers and also believe that it provides a significant competitive advantage to MSC."
The launch of the 2008/2009 printed Big Book is scheduled for September 2, 2008, coinciding with the launch of the online version. The MSC Big Book is the industry's largest catalog of Metalworking and MRO supplies, containing over 500,000 items. In 2008/2009, there are several exciting customer focused solutions including the addition of Hertel Indexable Tooling products. In addition, the Big Book has joined the green movement - to make it easier for customers to "go green" an icon has been added to the catalog and website to identify environmentally friendly products.
When asked to comment on the new 2008/2009 Big Book, Judy Kovaleski Swartz, Director of the MSC Big Book, commented, "We've developed the Big Book to be the industry's number one resource for Metalworking and MRO items and we're excited about the enhancements to both service and products for 2008/2009. With the shipping enhancements, customers will get what they need next day everywhere in the country and have opportunities to pare down inventory levels while minimizing production shutdowns and disruptions. Customers have also expressed a strong interest in environmentally sensitive products and the use of our new icon will make it easy for customers to find appropriate product solutions throughout the catalog."
About MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc.
MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. is one of the premier distributors of Metalworking and Maintenance, Repair and Operation ("MRO") supplies to industrial customers throughout the United States. MSC distributes in excess of 550,000 industrial products from approximately 3,000 suppliers to approximately 379,000 customers. In-stock availability is approximately 99%, with next day, standard ground delivery anywhere in the industrial United States. MSC reaches its customers through a combination of approximately 30 million direct-mail catalogs and CD-ROMs, 98 branch sales offices, 875 sales people, the Internet and associations with some of the world's most prominent B2B e-commerce portals. For more information about MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc., call 800-645-7270 or visit www.mscdirect.com.
