Independent Distributors – 1st-Half 2026 Trends & Priorities for 2nd-Half
For U.S. Independent industrial gas and welding Distributors, the first half of 2026 brought a noticeably better business environment—but not an easy one. Manufacturing activity improved, welding equipment demand strengthened, and pricing remained constructive. At the same time, the recovery was uneven, input costs remained elevated, helium and CO2 highlighted continuing supply vulnerabilities, and consolidation […]
Generative AI for Industrial Gases
Special thanks to Allison Earlbeck (CEO, Earlbeck Gases), David Schaer (President, Computers Unlimited) and Dave Beltz (CIO, Trinseo) for their contributions. It seems as if 2023 was the year the “world” first heard about Generative AI (Gen AI). It was clearly one of the most impactful stories driven by remarkable technological progress that matched or surpassed […]
Customer Service & CRM – Reloaded
Thanks to Brent Wingerter (CK Supply), Dave Bent (ECI/EvolutionX eCommerce), Elisabete Gondim (Messer-US), and Dave Beltz (former CIO of Covanta and Versum Materials) for their contributions. Customer service (CS) in the B2B environment is often not a visible area of the company, and frequently overshadowed by the trendier “customer experience” and “customer success” teams. However, when […]