From the Proton team
Hope your March is off to a solid start and that your March Madness bracket it still going strong!
This month we’re covering everything from Jeff McLendon’s wild ride building a $4B empire at SBP through strategic acquisitions to why your current software stack might be working against you (spoiler: it’s probably not just you).
Now let’s dive into the good stuff...
In our ears
Jeff McLendon cracks the code on strategic acquisitions
If you’ve ever wondered how to scale a distribution business from $500M to $4B in eight years (yes, you read that right), Jeff McLendon has the playbook from doing it at Specialty Building Products. He recently shared his advice on the podcast.
The 3 big takeaways:
- Find your sweet spot between acquisitive and organic growth: Jeff’s team has grown 8x in eight years with acquisitions driving organic growth, not replacing it. Their secret? They attach to products taking market share and use acquisitions to expand their footprint with those winning products.
- Connect team culture with strategy: The most striking thing about SBP’s approach? They lead with values in their investor deck. Jeff’s philosophy that “our values are causal for our success” isn’t just feel-good talk. They’ve proven that treating acquisitions like partnerships from day one and having a clear standard for how leadership teams work together actually drives better financial results.
- The data layer trumps ERP consolidation: Here’s a game-changer for anyone doing multiple acquisitions: SBP realized they’ll never catch up if they try to put every acquired company on the same ERP. Instead, they invested heavily in a consolidated data warehouse and tools that transcend all their systems. Smart move when you’re buying companies faster than you can integrate them.
The episode is worth the full listen if you’re thinking about acquisitions or just want to understand how the best operators in our industry think about scaling.
Listen to the full episode
AI, captain!
How AI will change your org chart
Anthropic published a labor market report this month that’s worth a quick read if you manage a team.
It used data across 800 job types to map what AI is actually doing today versus what it could do. The gap is huge, but it’s closing.
The most affected jobs right now: programmers (75% of tasks), customer service reps, and data entry workers (67%). Office and admin jobs could theoretically be 90% AI-handled, but only 25% actually is today.
Here’s what to watch: workers aged 22–25 are already 14% less likely to get hired into AI-exposed roles than in 2022. People aren’t losing jobs yet, but hiring patterns are definitely shifting.
Things SKU should know
March news in Review
M&A mania continues
Distribution consolidation is heating up across sectors. SRS Distribution is diving into HVAC with its Mingledorff’s acquisition, adding 42 Southeast locations and a whole new product vertical. Southern Glazer’s grabbed Anheuser-Busch distributors in New York and Colorado to lock down premium beer brands. Even specialty plays are happening: Gravis picked up Procon Pacific in bulk packaging.
Growth where you find it
Sonepar hit $38B in annual sales with Americas jumping 15%, riding the electrification wave and data center boom. The electrical giant credits its 2021 transformation strategy for positioning it perfectly as infrastructure spending ramps up.
Meanwhile, construction tells a different story. January construction spending unexpectedly declined for the fourth straight month, with nonresidential down 8% from its 2023 peak. The culprit? Plummeting computer/electronics manufacturing construction.
Automation’s impact
UNFI is closing its Wisconsin DC and cutting 400+ jobs as part of its automation push, following a similar Fort Wayne closure last year. The grocery distributor is consolidating into newer, tech-heavy facilities.
Winsupply is taking the opposite approach, adding 1.6M square feet across Atlanta, Oklahoma City, and Dayton by 2027.
Leadership shakeup at GPC
Genuine Parts’ digital and information leader is leaving amid the company’s major restructuring to split Motion and NAPA into separate public entities. GPC isn’t naming a replacement, a telling sign of how dramatically the org chart is changing.
Link(ed) in bio
How to ensure a successful AI project
You bought software to make your team faster. So why does it feel like they’re working for the software?
That’s the question Benj tackled in a recent post — and if you run a distribution business, it’ll hit close to home. Your reps got a CRM to sell more. Instead, they’re logging calls, updating fields, and doing data entry when they could be talking to customers. The tool became the job.
But the bigger issue isn’t any one platform. It’s that when your tech stack is a collection of disconnected point solutions, your AI can only ever be as smart as the slice of data it can see. And a slice isn’t enough.
Check out the full post.
New product just dropped
Now announcing: quote and order entry automation
Proton just launched the first AI-powered industry cloud built specifically for distribution. One platform, four products (CRM, PIM, eCommerce recommendations, and a brand-new Quote and Order Entry automation tool), all running on a shared data layer.
That last one is a big deal. Quote and order entry is some of the most time-consuming, error-prone busywork in the business, and automating it means your team spends less time on data entry and more time in front of customers.
Stay in touch
Just because our newsletter is monthly, doesn’t mean the insights have to be! Connect with Benj on LinkedIn to hear his latest musings and best practices weekly.
Got thoughts on this issue? Share ’em! Let me know what you liked, what felt off, or what you’d like to see more of. Seriously, I read every reply.
Until next time
Katie WhiteSr. Content Marketing Manager, Proton.ai
