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Jeff Enlow, tool repair.

by Kim Phelan

In 1898, the U.S. was undergoing a second industrial revolution of sorts. Electricity was already driving machinery, and light bulbs illumined life at home and work, thanks to Thomas Edison. Telephones were in use, railroads were spanning the continent – plus the advent of motor cars, cameras, mail-order catalogs and more, were all evidence of a changing, growing, consuming nation. That year, the U.S. was also embroiled in the Spanish-American War, which eventually elevated the country as a major power on the world stage. It was in this environment of invention and opportunity that American Producers Supply (APS) was founded in the Ohio Valley, and like America itself, has become a major force on the industrial distribution stage 127 years later.

Sixty-five years after its formation, having survived the Great Depression and two World Wars, the distributor was bought by businessman Rankin Brunton who recognized the opportunities in the local and rapidly-growing industrial base. He grew the business on this guiding foundation: “Provide the highest quality product at a fair price with the highest level of service possible.”

American Producers Supply President Joe Wesel mans the front counter and visits with Larry Best.

The company’s current leader, Joe Wesel, has carefully carried that mantra like a candle, and the result has been a blaze of market coverage across six states. He was brought on board in 2010 as executive vice president by Brunton’s descendant, Chris Brunton, who continued to grow the business and expand into industrial markets. Wesel was named president when the distributor was recapitalized by Chicago-based private equity firm, Merit Capital Partners, in 2023, which has provided financial underpinning for the company’s recent M&A activities.

Headquartered in Marietta, Ohio, and operating five additional locations in the state, APS also does business in Kentucky, Michigan, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Indiana − 15 locations in all. Its most recent acquisitions were 129-year-old Heiston Supply in Martinsburg, West Virginia, about 70 miles northwest of the Washington, D.C., market, and Northwest Tool Supply in the Detroit area. Highly diversified and varying in product mix from one location to another, APS is a 50-50 split between industrial and construction supplies, offering products ranging from safety and PPE to power and hand tools, lifting/rigging, adhesives/sealants/tapes, and much more. The most recent acquisition was on the construction supply side of APS’s business – C-N Construction in Toledo.

With regards to expansion, they’re far from finished. “We’re coming to a site near you,” Wesel said, hinting that new acquisitions would be imminently announced as Industrial Supply went to press in early August. “We have three opportunities that we’re looking at in various parts of the Midwest right now . . . and you’ll just have to watch the headlines,” Wesel added.

“Our company has a great track record of slow but consistent growth, and we will continue on this plan. We are also exploring opportunities to better serve our customers and other regions of the country,” he continued. “We’re doing a lot of work in the Houston area right now, we’ve shipped a lot out West into Phoenix and Denver, and we’re taking care of customers all over the country. We’re putting together what makes the most sense for us to better serve some of those further-away opportunities and what that would look like.”

Methodical and intentional with an eye toward controlled growth, Wesel says APS never approaches growth goals as a mere number to be achieved. “The worst thing a company can do is say, ‘We want to grow by X amount of dollars’, and then have a terrible disaster trying to get to that number. We’ve seen many competitors say they want to get to a number, and in the end, they get in financial trouble because they haven’t shored up their infrastructure to handle the growth. We only grow at the level we think we can efficiently grow and control.” Harnessing a strong training team, APS is focused on retaining and assimilating the people from every company it acquires with a structured and successful onsite training template.

FUEL IN THE TANK

Strong financial backing and thoughtful, strategic planning may be the steering wheel for APS’s widening sphere of market presence, but its engine is running on a well-defined vision and values that have shaped an effective company culture. According to Wesel, they take these things very seriously.

The company’s mission is “to be the supplier of choice for our targeted industrial, construction and oil field customers. We will provide excellent product availability, quality and technical service through each of our locations creating economic value for our customers. This will be accomplished by maintaining a highly-qualified sales force and operating an efficient distribution and supply network.”

Additionally, APS defines its business values as: integrity, commitment, professionalism, team work, profitability, and safety – each with descriptions that make the principles real. For example, on the safety front, they purposefully “create an environment that minimizes danger and risk of injury.”

“We have a very high safety culture throughout our entire company,” said Wesel. “We’ve been involved with safety councils, and, in fact, we were just at a safety convention with the Mid-Ohio Valley Safety Council.”

American Producers Supply distributes a diverse range of industrial and construction-related products to a variety of customers including OEMs, contractors, industrial service providers, and equipment rental companies.

The distributor says its people will “let ethics and honesty govern our dealings with customers, employees, suppliers and our company.” Elsewhere, APS says it is dedicated to working harder and smarter than its competitors, its people will treat others with respect, and they affirm the benefit of team work, stating: “None of us is as smart as all of us.” One example of how this plays out practically: During the weekly managers call every Tuesday morning, success stories are regularly shared in order to spark and spread good ideas throughout all the branches.

APS also values its employees and demonstrates its appreciation in the universal language of cash.

“The more successful they are, we give back to them,” Wesel said. “If the branch is successful, they share in that profit every month, and they get a bonus for having a successful month – for being profitable and making the right decisions. They win, the company wins, and it ultimately results in low employee turnover.

“When you walk into one of our facilities, you’re going to see happy employees,” he continued. “Many of them have been here for many, many years – we have one of the lowest employee turnovers in the industry, and it’s because we appreciate our employees. By doing that, the employees appreciate the company, and they go the extra mile.”

SHARED VALUES

The high standards to which APS holds itself are also sought and fostered in the company’s supplier relationships. Wesel cites one product partner, Wright Tool, that he says has been an exemplary supplier for 16 years – in all the ways that matter to the distributor. Wright, located two hours north of APS’s Marietta, Ohio, headquarters in Barberton, is co-owned by President Tom Futey and Former President Terry Taylor; Futey’s son Gregg joined the business in 2023 as vice president. Wesel says the manufacturer’s values and culture are almost identical to the distributor’s, and it shows up in tangible benefits for APS.

“The No. 1 thing that contributes to a successful supplier-distributor relationship is that they produce a quality product that is known and respected,” said Wesel. “That is the first criteria for a good relationship, because if you don’t have a vendor that can produce a consistently high quality product, there will be failures and dissatisfaction at the customer level.

Wade Tidd, tool repair.

“The second thing that is very important is a consistent, high-level shipping ability, and Wright Tool is one of the best in the country. We deal with hundreds of vendors, but they are in the high 90s all the time. No. 3 is solid field representation,” he continued. “They’ve got people who know the product. Their manufacturer’s reps go out and work with us in the field and bring leads to us.

“The fourth key point is a clearly defined warranty program,” Wesel added. “And the great thing about Wright Tool is, their product is of such high quality that there are virtually no warranty issues with the product. It’s that good of a product. And the last thing that really contributes to the distributor relationship is solid promotional opportunities. The team has been good at providing us with product promotions over the years.”

Wesel also noted that accuracy – both in product picking and invoicing – plays an essential role in a smooth vendor relationship. “They cross their I’s and dot their T’s and are a very consistent, accurate company,” he said. “It’s just part of their seamless culture. Their quality control is so good that mispicks are minimal to non-existent.”

Fast matters, too, and Wright maintains a 98-36 rule, according to Tom Futey – 98% of orders are shipped within 36 hours.

MAKING DISTRIBUTORS PROFITABLE

Intentional about seeing things through the distributor’s eyes, Futey says it’s important to distinguish between the needs of the distributor and the needs of the customer and develop benefits for their partners accordingly. Wright, which holds three patents, excels at distributor retention – “Once we start doing business with a distributor, we never lose them,” Futey asserted.

American Producers Supply custom builds chain and wire rope slings. They provide inspection, repair and certification of chain, web, and wire slings.

“As a manufacturer, we understand distribution does not use our tools – they resell them for profit,” Futey continued. “We get it; we provide them profits in the form of our hand tools. So, we think it’s really important to be excellent at transactions – entering orders correctly, making sure the correct price is there. The shipping department goes through multiple checks to make sure that it’s shipped accurately and completely. At a fundamental, transaction level, everybody can lose profits so easily when those transactions get sloppy.”

Futey says Wright is just as focused on growth as APS, and leans into their 17 manufacturers’ representative agency partners throughout the country to work hand in hand with their distribution network, ensuring no opportunity is missed where tools are needed. The company has remained a pure, Made-in-America manufacturer since its inception 98 years ago, a differentiator that Futey says they have no intention of changing.

Wesel said he and about 30 members of his staff have toured the Wright plant in the past. This spring, Joe was back at the plant to meet with Futey, and three things left a lasting impression: Happy, friendly employees; a clean and state-of-the-art modern factory replete with automation; and then, a room like he’s never seen before.

“They’ve chosen tools that take a little longer to process, and they get them partially completed – then they store them so when there’s demand, they can pull those partially-finished tools out and quickly get them finished and shipped,” Wesel reported. “That in-process room contains millions of dollars of material that is ready to be completed in a much quicker time frame. It speaks volumes about their commitment to rapid shipping.”

Using their own fleet of vehicles, American Producers Supply transfers merchandise daily to each branch and provides delivery service to their customers.

CUSTOMER CONCERNS

Smooth transactions with suppliers enable APS to stay focused on taking care of their customers, which is a tall order these days. Wesel says the major manufacturing companies they serve are feeling a distinct squeeze on their margins and profitability in the tariff environment.

“So, they’re coming back to us saying, ‘How can you give me cost savings?’” he said. “And it’s really a balancing act, because we know we have to pass on increases to keep our margin integrity in place, and at the same time, we need to think outside the box on opportunities that can save them money. We know we can’t lower prices when ours are going up, so we have to really be aware of opportunities, such as switching a vendor to get a better value, for example.”

Delivering more value and service is at the forefront of the distributor’s strategy for customer retention and acquisition. APS recently invested in a new website and made improvements to its e-commerce site, which generates seven-figures in business for the distributor. They’ve also enhanced their vendor managed inventory (VMI) services, which, says Wesel, goes beyond store room management and vending machines.

“We have 80-plus vending machines in the field that we’re servicing, but with the new software that our operations manager, Marian Mullins, helped acquire and install, we can offer such control and flexibility to our customers,” said Wesel. “They can literally scan and check inventory through their iPhone, and it’ll automatically generate a pick ticket. They can be as automated as they want when it comes to VMI, and we’ve done VMI all the way from dropping a container on site and filling up shelves to providing single vending machines. We understand that VMI is different for each and every one of our customers – what service they want, how it’s delivered, and what kind of reporting and controls they need.

“VMI is a huge value-added service that gives us a leg up,” he added. “And I will tell you, once we start a VMI, we never take it away. It always grows.”

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2025 issue of Industrial Supply magazine. Copyright 2025, Direct Business Media.

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