Grainger Buys Diverse Distributor of Test Equipment and Related Workplace Products

W.W. Grainger Inc., Lake Forest, Ill., announced plans to purchase Techni-Tool Inc., Worcester, Pa., a 200-plus employee distributor supplying customers in the cable television, voice-data-video (VDV), government, smart grid and security niches.

According to information on Techni-Tool’s website, the company, which did $88 million in 2011 sales, “has been the leading provider of test equipment, tool kits, soldering supplies, ESD products, chemicals, hand tools, and more to the electronic production industry for over 50 years.”

“We take pride in keeping up-to-date with technology and offering the newest products available,” the company’s web-site said. “Our products are available through our catalogs, website and direct sales force, and 95% of all orders are shipped the same day.

“In 1955, Techni-Tool founder Ben Weiss was involved in a 63-year-old mail order dental company when calls started coming in from industrial companies requesting certain types of dental instruments they could not find anywhere else, such as fine cutting pliers, wire holders and tweezers. By 1959, Techni-Tool was born.”

There are some familiar names on Techni-Tool’s line card, including 3M, Brady, Fluke and Textronix. The company says on its website that it has 20,000 products in stock and access to over 40,000 total products from more than 600 vendors. The company also sells privately labeled products under the Techni-Tool and Techni-Stat brand names, including VDV hand tools, test meters, gloves, work clothing and other workplace supplies.

The company has 28 local sales offices around the world and a 112,000-sq-ft headquarters. It also fields dedicated support teams for its three contracts with the General Service Administration (GSA).