Motion Opens 4th Automation Branch in Massachusetts – Diversification

One of the trends we suggested companies consider earlier this year was diversification of their offering. Some have done this well via tangentially reaching outside their “comfort” zone. The opportunity is gaining a greater share of a customer’s spend, however, from an industry viewpoint it brings in a “new” player with a different value proposition AND, for manufacturers and reps, it can represent a potential new opportunity to call on a company they are not familiar with OR it can relate in further channel conflict.

Either one, as a growth strategy, there are multiple positives.

One company that appears to be very intentional in their diversification approach is Motion Industries. Long known for a focus on power transmission, bearings, fluid power and other industrial products, the company now positions itself as much broader while also being a subsidiary of Genuine Parts Company (think NAPA Auto Service).

As of the end of 2022, the company had over 600 locations, 19 distribution centers and revenues of $7.9 billion.

$553 Million in Electrical Sales!

Did you know that 7% of Motion Industries’ revenue is in electrical products (according to their recent Investor Presentation)?!

That’s $553 million in electrical products being sold and, since the company is focused in the serving electrical customers, we can assume that much of that is to the MRO / OEM Industrial market (and some industrial contractors!)

Motion Expanding in Massachusetts

So, what got us thinking about this? Motion shared a press release announcing a new location in the Beverly / Danvers area of Massachusetts. It’s their 11th location in Massachusetts but their 4th one that is automation-oriented.

The press release states:

“Motion Industries, Inc., a leading distributor of maintenance, repair and operation replacement parts and premier provider of industrial technology solutions, is pleased to announce the newest Motion Ai facility, located at 71 Cherry Hill Drive, Beverly, Massachusetts, 01915. The new facility officially opened on December 1, 2022.

Motion Ai was in need of additional manufacturing and inventory space to better meet overall customer demand and to strategically grow the business. With 33,000 sq. ft., the new facility complements two existing Motion Ai facilities nearby in Danvers (19,000 sq. ft.) and Woburn (10,000 sq. ft.), providing the company a total of 62,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing space in the Boston area. Most of the production and quality operations among the three locations are housed in the new facility in Beverly, with features including manufacturing lab benches and a
quality control testing area. Systems engineering and production solutions focus on motion control, robotics and machine vision, with additional specialty areas of precision components, electro-mechanical assemblies and fully engineered automation systems.

The expanded manufacturing space will allow us to meet growing customer needs while adding future opportunities across our entire automation and robotic platforms,” said Aurelio Banda, Motion’s Senior Vice President, Automation Intelligence. “This includes additional OEM business and the ability to accept larger orders in quantity and physical size. We expect this new facility to fuel economic growth for the region, contributing beneficial, long-term impact.”

Randy Breaux, President of Motion, said, “We are excited about this investment and anticipate that it will enhance the customer experience even more. We believe it will also increase the employee experience—there is a lot of talent within Motion Ai, and this expansion will offer excellent opportunities for our employees.”

Currently, Motion Ai has opportunities for experienced automation engineers, electromechanical assemblers and quality technicians to join the team, and the company will continue to hire as the business grows.”

Some of their key manufacturers served from this location include Universal Robots, Omron, Yaskawa, Teledyne DALSA and Copley Controls.

And if you look at the electrical listing on their website you’ll see many familiar brands, especially if you are an automation and/or industrial distributor or rep. (And it is very possible that some brands are not listed on their site.)

Takeaways

• Distributor competitors can take the form of all shapes and sizes. Is your salespeople asking the right questions regarding competitors? Are you doing a gap analysis to identify what you are not selling?
• Do you have the right automation lines to serve your customer? Or is it a conscious decision not to?
• For manufacturers, are you capturing the opportunity or leaving it to others? And, if you sell to Motion, are your reps actively supporting the Motion locations in your market (and you may already be servicing them with a different sales organization.)