MSC INDUSTRIAL DIRECT CO INC

General

MSC is a leading North American distributor of a broad range of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations (“MRO”) products and services. With a history of driving innovation in industrial product distribution for more than 80 years, we help solve our manufacturing customers’ metalworking and MRO challenges. Through our technical metalworking expertise and inventory management and other supply chain solutions, our team of more than 7,000 associates helps to keep our customers’ manufacturing operations up and running and to improve their efficiency, productivity and profitability.

We serve a broad range of customers throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom, from individual machine shops to Fortune 1000 manufacturing companies to government agencies such as the United States General Services Administration and the United States Department of Defense. We operate a sophisticated network of five customer fulfillment centers, nine regional inventory centers, 42 warehouses (40 in North America and two in Europe) and five manufacturing locations. Our customer fulfillment centers are located in or near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Atlanta, Georgia; Elkhart, Indiana; Reno, Nevada; and Hanover Park, Illinois.

We offer approximately 2.4 million active, saleable stock-keeping units (“SKUs”) through our E-commerce channels, including our website, https://www.mscdirect.com (the “MSC website”); our inventory management solutions; our catalogs; our brochures; and our customer care centers, customer fulfillment centers, regional inventory centers and warehouses. We carry many of the products we sell in our inventory, so that orders for these in-stock products are processed and fulfilled the day the order is received. We offer next-day delivery nationwide for qualifying orders placed by 8 p.m. Eastern Time. Our customers can choose among many convenient ways to place orders: the MSC website, eProcurement platforms, inventory management solutions (including in-plant and vending solutions), customer care centers and direct communication with our telesales and outside sales associates. Additionally, MSC’s robust sourcing capabilities and vast supplier base allow us to further satisfy our customers’ needs outside of our current product offerings.

We believe our value-added solutions approach to driving our customers’ success differentiates MSC from traditional transaction-focused distributors. We are committed to saving our customers money by providing comprehensive support for their metalworking, MRO, Class C Consumables and original equipment manufacturer (“OEM”) product and service needs. Our focus is building strong partnerships with our customers and helping them enhance productivity, profitability and growth through the following strategies:

•our experienced team includes customer care representatives, metalworking specialists, safety specialists, fluid connector specialists, inventory management specialists, in-plant and technical support teams and experienced sales associates focused on driving our customers’ success by reducing their operational costs;

•our robust systems and transactional data enable us to provide insights to our customers to help them take costs out of their supply chains and operations;

•our extensive product inventory enables our customers to deal with fewer suppliers, streamlining their purchasing work and reducing their administrative costs;

•our timely shipping enables our customers to reduce their inventory investment and carrying costs;

•our purchasing process consolidates multiple purchases into a single order, providing a single invoice for multiple purchases over time and offering direct shipments to specific departments and personnel at one or more facilities, which reduces our customers’ administrative costs;

•our extensive E-commerce capabilities provide sophisticated search and transaction capabilities, access to real-time inventory, customer-specific pricing, workflow management tools, customized reporting and other features. We can also interface directly with many metalworking applications, marketplaces and purchasing portals;

•our “Better MRO” digital platform delivers knowledge and insights to our customers that assist their associates and their business operations;

•our collaboration efforts with key supplier partners and their research and development teams deliver value and productivity on the plant floor;

•our inventory management solutions enable our customers to carry less inventory and still significantly limit situations when critical items are out of stock;

•optimized solutions and expertise allow our teams to leverage proprietary tools and services such as Application Optimization (“Ap Op”), MSC MillMax® and advanced data analysis capabilities to deliver tailored productivity improvements across a range of machining processes. By leveraging MSC’s extensive database of customer tests, our specialists provide precise recommendations that enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and improve overall manufacturing outcomes; and

•we continue to expand our technological capabilities through strategic acquisitions and partnerships, including our acquisition of intellectual property assets from Schmitz Manufacturing Research & Technology LLC (“SMRT”), and our collaboration with MachiningCloud, which integrates advanced manufacturing tool data with our extensive product offerings. These strategic initiatives enable MSC to deliver cutting-edge solutions, offer a comprehensive and streamlined support system and drive greater value and effectiveness in our customers’ operations.

Industry Overview

MSC operates in a large, fragmented industry comprised of national, regional and local distributors, retail outlets, small distributorships, online distributors, direct mail suppliers, large warehouse stores and manufacturers’ own sales forces serving MRO customers.

MSC differentiates itself in the industry by being a leading distributor of metalworking products. We have continued to expand technical support and enhance supplier relationships, especially with our metalworking products. Our associates share their deep expertise and knowledge of metalworking and MRO to help our customers achieve their goals.

Nearly every industrial and service business has an ongoing need for MRO supplies. These businesses, with the exception of the largest industrial plants, often do not have the resources to manage and monitor their MRO inventories effectively. They spend more than necessary to purchase and track their supplies, providing an opportunity for MSC to serve as their one-stop MRO product supplier. Even the larger facilities often store their supplies in multiple locations, so they often carry excess inventories and duplicate purchase orders. In many organizations, multiple people often acquire the same item in small quantities via expensive, one-off purchases, resulting in higher purchasing costs and administrative efforts to keep track of supplies.

With limited capital availability and limited E-commerce capabilities and operating leverage, smaller industrial distributors are under increasing pressure to consolidate and/or curtail services and product lines to remain competitive. Their challenge represents MSC’s opportunity. We improve purchasing efficiency and reduce costs for our customers because our offerings enable our customers to consolidate suppliers, purchase orders and invoices, and reduce inventory tracking, stocking decisions, purchases and out-of-stock situations. In addition, through Vendor Managed Inventory (“VMI”), Customer Managed Inventory (“CMI”) and vending solutions, we empower our customers to utilize sophisticated inventory management solutions.

Business Strategy

MSC’s business strategy is based on helping our customers become more productive and profitable by reducing their total costs for purchasing and using metalworking, MRO, Class C Consumables and OEM products and services. Leveraging our expertise, knowledge and experience with metalworking products will continue to be a key tenet of our business strategy. Our customer-focused culture and high-touch engagement model drive value for our customers and result in deep customer relationships. Our business strategy includes the following key elements:

Technical Expertise and Support. MSC provides technical support and personalized service through our team of field sales specialists and centralized technical representatives. With a dedicated team of over 150 metalworking and specialty sales experts, we work closely with our customers to optimize their manufacturing processes and improve efficiency. Our experts perform in-depth onsite needs analyses and identify opportunities for productivity improvements, supported by our proprietary Ap Op software, which captures and documents cost-saving measures.

Leveraging MSC's extensive database of customer test data, our specialists are equipped with advanced tools that allow them to deliver precise, data-driven recommendations. These insights empower our customers to make informed decisions that enhance their operations. Additionally, our exclusive MSC MillMax® service accelerates the milling optimization process, helping customers achieve faster results and greater operational efficiency. This combination of technical expertise and cutting-edge tools positions MSC as a trusted partner in driving productivity and profitability.

Inventory Management Solutions. Our approach starts with a thorough customer assessment. Our expert associates develop and recommend solutions that provide exceptional value to the customer. Depending on the customer’s size and needs, we customize options to address complexity and processes, as well as specific products, technical issues and cost targets. The options include eProcurement, VMI, CMI, vending, tool crib control and in-plant solutions. Our world-class sourcing, logistics and business systems provide predictable, reliable and scalable service.

Broad Selection of Products. Customers want a full range of product options, even as they look to reduce the number of suppliers they partner with. We provide “good-better-best” alternatives, comprising a spectrum of brand name, MSC exclusive brand and generic MRO products. MSC’s broad selection of products enables customers to choose the right combination of price and quality on every purchase to meet their needs.

Same-Day Shipping and Next-Day Delivery. We guarantee same-day shipping of our core metalworking and MRO products, enabling customers to reduce supply inventories. We fulfill our same-day shipment guarantee for in-stock products about 99% of the time. We offer next-day delivery nationwide for qualifying orders placed by 8 p.m. Eastern Time. We know that our customers value this service, and areas accessible by next-day delivery generate significantly greater sales for MSC than areas where next-day delivery is not available.

Superior Customer Service. Our commitment to customer service starts with our many associates who share their deep expertise and knowledge of metalworking, MRO, Class C Consumables and OEM products to help our customers achieve greater success. We invest in sophisticated information systems and provide extensive training to empower our associates to better support our customers. Using our proprietary customer support software, our customer care representatives can: inform customers on a real-time basis of product availability; recommend substitute products; verify credit information; receive special, custom or manufacturer direct orders; cross-check inventory items using previously entered customer product codes; and arrange or provide technical assistance. We offer: customized billing; customer savings reports; electronic data interchange ordering; E-commerce capabilities; bulk discounts; and stocking of specialty items requested by customers.

Commitment to Technological Innovation. We embrace technological innovations to support our customers, which in turn propels our growth, improves our customer service and reduces our operating costs. The innovations make our buying practices more effective, improve our automated inventory replenishment and streamline order fulfillment. MSC’s proprietary software helps our customers and sales representatives determine the availability of products in real time and evaluate alternative products and pricing. Our warehouses are automated through the use of advanced systems and robotics platforms that allow us to rapidly process orders for next-day delivery, with greater efficiency.

We also continually upgrade our distribution methods and systems and provide comprehensive electronic ordering capabilities to support our customers’ purchase order processing. We are committed to investing in our VMI, CMI and vending solutions that streamline customer replenishment and trim our customers’ inventories. Our integrated approach to the shop floor, with vending and crib software, provides broad flexibility in our solutions configurations. This integration enables customers to gain full visibility into their on-hand inventory regardless of which solution is utilized. Our vending solutions include different kinds of machines, such as storage lockers or carousels, which can stand alone or be combined with other machines. Our vending machines use network or web-based software to enable customers to gain inventory visibility, save time and drive profitability.

Competitive Pricing. Customers increasingly evaluate their total procurement costs, of which our industrial supplies are an important component. As a result, we strategically adjust our customer pricing to maintain competitiveness, while capturing the value of our comprehensive services.

Growth Strategy

Our growth strategy includes a number of initiatives to gain market share and to position us as a mission-critical partner to our customers. These initiatives include the following:

Expanding programs for our public sector and national account customers. MSC’s Public Sector organization is focused on becoming an industry leader and trusted advisor to key public sector customers. Over the last five years, MSC has invested in the Public Sector organization that has resulted in several large contracts with federal, state and local agencies. MSC is focused on expansion and growth within the Public Sector by leveraging recent successes to support this unique customer type.

We provide customized national account programs for larger customers, often on an enterprise-wide basis. These national account customers value our ability to electronically support their procurement needs with comprehensive solutions, which reduce transactional costs and working capital requirements while enhancing data visibility. Our dedicated national account managers and operations experts provide supply chain solutions that reduce these customers’ total costs of procurement and ownership through increased visibility into their MRO products and services purchases and improved management. We demonstrate these savings by providing these customers with detailed reporting at both the enterprise and site level.

Increasing sales from existing customers and generating new customers with various value-added programs. Our value-added programs include business needs analysis, inventory management solutions and workflow management tools. Our customers particularly value our industrial vending solutions that can accommodate a range of products from precision cutting tools to MRO supplies. We are increasing investments in vending, VMI and our growing in-plant solutions program.

MSC website and E-commerce capabilities. The MSC website is a business-to-business oriented, horizontal marketplace serving the metalworking and MRO market. The MSC website contains a searchable online catalog which allows customers to find SKUs by keyword, part description, competitive part number, vendor number or brand. The website also provides electronic ordering capabilities, online bill payment, delivery tracking status, and personalized real-time inventory availability. The MSC website is a key component of our strategy to reduce our customers’ transaction costs and delivery time. Information can also be found detailing MSC’s in-plant and other inventory management solutions. The Company continues to evaluate its E-commerce platforms, including the MSC website, solicit customer feedback and make improvements to ensure that it remains a premier website in our marketplace.

We offer advanced tools that integrate our solutions with customer purchasing platforms and workflows. This includes straightforward integrations, such as embedding customer inventory levels into searches on the MSC website, as well as more sophisticated solutions like facilitating the approval and compliance processes for vending and VMI carts through the MSC website or eProcurement platforms. Many large customer accounts transact business with MSC using eProcurement solution providers that sell a suite of E-commerce products. We have associations with many of these providers and continue to evaluate and expand our eProcurement capabilities.

Selectively pursuing strategic acquisitions and investments. MSC is a leader in the highly fragmented industrial distribution market with significant opportunities for organic and acquisitive growth. We selectively pursue strategic acquisitions that deepen our metalworking expertise, extend our capabilities into strategic adjacencies, such as OEM fasteners, hardware and components, and expand our markets in North America. We also seek to target investments in businesses and other ventures that we believe offer opportunities for growth and improved operational performance for our business.

As part of this strategy, the Company made several strategic acquisitions and investments during the fiscal year ended August 31, 2024 (“fiscal year 2024”). These include the acquisition of 100% of the outstanding shares of KAR Industrial Inc. (“KAR”), a Canada-based metalworking distributor, the acquisition of 100% of the outstanding shares of ApTex, Inc. (“ApTex”), a Wisconsin-based metalworking distributor, the acquisition of certain assets and liabilities of Premier Tool Grinding, Inc. (“Premier”), an Arizona based carbide cutting tool manufacturer and the acquisition of certain intellectual property assets from SMRT.

Increasing the size and improving the productivity of our direct sales force. We have invested resources to give our sales representatives more time with our customers which resulted in providing increased support to drive customer productivity improvements and delivered a personalized customer experience. At August 31, 2024, our field sales and service associate headcount was 2,697. We believe that our sales force investment has played a critical role in the overall success of the Company’s revenue performance. Our sales force, focusing on a more complex and high-touch role, drives value for our customers by enabling them to achieve higher levels of growth, profitability and productivity.

Increasing the number of product lines and productive SKUs. We offer approximately 2.4 million active, saleable SKUs through our distribution and E-commerce channels, including the MSC website, inventory management solutions, catalogs, brochures, customer care centers, customer fulfillment centers, regional inventory centers and warehouses. The majority of products sold are third-party manufactured products; however, SKUs sold under MSC private label brands approximate 13% of net sales. We are increasing the breadth and depth of our product offerings and pruning non-value-added SKUs. In fiscal year 2024, we added approximately 80,000 SKUs, net of SKU removals, to our active, saleable SKU count. We also leverage the depth and breadth of MSC’s product portfolio within our Class C Consumables and OEM product lines.

Improving our marketing programs. MSC has built an extensive customer database, which we harness via both human and artificial intelligence to target our marketing to the best prospects. We supplement the efforts of our sales force through the use of digital and traditional marketing tactics. Our industry-specific expertise allows us to focus our outreach on the most promising growth areas.

Improving our excellent customer service. MSC consistently receives top quartile customer satisfaction ratings, according to customer surveys. By working to anticipate our customers’ needs, we strive to exceed our customers’ expectations. This focus on our customers’ needs enables us to achieve our goal to stand apart in the market. We use feedback from customer comment cards, surveys and other customer outreach tools to improve the overall customer experience.

Reclassification

In the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, we completed our reclassification (the “Reclassification”) of our common stock to eliminate our Class B Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share (“Class B Common Stock” and, together with our Class A Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share (“Class A Common Stock”), “Common Stock”). Pursuant to the Reclassification, each issued and outstanding share of Class B Common Stock was reclassified, exchanged and converted into 1.225 shares of Class A Common Stock. See Note 12, “Shareholders’ Equity” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

Intellectual Property

We conduct business under various trademarks and service marks. We protect these trademarks by maintaining registrations in the United States, Canada and elsewhere. We also file for and obtain patents and use confidentiality and other agreements with customers, associates, consultants and others in order to protect our proprietary information. Although we do not believe our operations are substantially dependent upon any of our intellectual property, we consider our intellectual property to be valuable to our business.

Products and Supplier Services

Our broad range of metalworking and MRO products includes cutting tools, measuring instruments, tooling components, metalworking products, fasteners, flat stock, raw materials, abrasives, machinery hand and power tools, safety and janitorial supplies, plumbing supplies, materials handling products, power transmission components and electrical supplies. Our large and growing number of SKUs makes us an increasingly valuable partner to our customers as they look to rationalize their supplier base. Our assortment from multiple product suppliers and MSC exclusive brands, prices and quality levels enables our customers to select from “good-better-best” options on nearly all of their purchases. Our extensive network of suppliers provides us access to technical application, safety, training certifications and many other value-added services for our customers. We stand apart from our competitors by offering brand name, MSC exclusive brand and generic products, depth in our core product lines and competitive pricing.

We purchase substantially all of our products directly from more than 3,000 suppliers. No single supplier accounted for more than 5% of our total purchases in fiscal year 2024, the fiscal year ended September 2, 2023 (“fiscal year 2023”) or the fiscal year ended September 3, 2022 (“fiscal year 2022”).

Customer Fulfillment Centers and Distribution Network

We continue to invest in the enhancement of our distribution efficiency and capabilities. When our customers order an in-stock product online or via phone, we ship it the day the order is placed about 99% of the time. We do that through our five customer fulfillment centers, nine regional inventory centers and 42 warehouses. Some specialty or custom items and very large orders are shipped directly from the manufacturer. We manage our primary customer fulfillment centers via computer-based SKU tracking systems and radio frequency devices that locate specific stock items to make the selection process more efficient. Certain of our customer fulfillment centers also utilize robotic packing solutions and order-picking systems that improve productivity and associate safety while reducing energy consumption and saving space. Ourwarehouses are predominantly from our acquired subsidiaries. Similar to our customer fulfillment centers, these warehouses primarily handle the stocking and fulfillment of inventory. However, in some cases, these locations also operate as subsidiary headquarters and provide office space for sales associates.

Sales and Marketing

We serve individual machine shops, Fortune 1000 companies, public sector agencies and manufacturers of all sizes. With some of our recent acquisitions, such as All Integrated Solutions, Inc. and Tower Fasteners, LLC, we have increased our presence in the OEM fasteners, hardware and components business. We have also significantly increased our presence in the VMI space within the Class C Consumables sales channel. VMI involves not only selling the Class C Consumables, but also managing appropriate stock levels for the customer, fulfilling replenishment orders, putting away the stock, and maintaining a clean and organized inventory area.

MSC’s national account program includes Fortune 1000 companies, large privately held companies, and international companies primarily doing business in North America. Our public sector customers include governments and their instrumentalities such as federal agencies, state governments, and public sector healthcare providers. Federal government customers include the United States General Services Administration, the United States Department of Defense, the United States Marine Corps, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Postal Service, the United States Department of Energy, large and small military bases, Veterans Affairs hospitals, and correctional facilities. We have individual state and local contracts, as well as contracts through partnerships with several state co-operatives.

We utilize advanced analytics and artificial intelligence (“AI”) to significantly increase the return on our marketing investments designed to acquire new customers and increase our share of business with current customers. The majority of our efforts are focused on digital marketing, email marketing and online advertising to align with our customers’ buying behavior. We utilize traditional marketing methods, such as catalogs and direct mail, on a selective basis. We use our own contact database together with external information to target buyers with the highest likelihood to buy.

Our sales representatives are highly trained and experienced individuals who build relationships with customers, assist customers in reducing costs, provide and coordinate technical support, coordinate special orders and shipments with vendors, and update customer account profiles in our information systems databases. Our marketing approach centers on the ability of our sales representatives, armed with our comprehensive databases as a resource, to respond effectively to the customers’ needs. When a customer interacts with MSC, the sales representative has immediate access to that customer’s company and specific buyer profile, which includes billing and purchasing track records, and plant and industry information. In addition to customer information, the sales representative also has access to inventory levels on every SKU we carry.

Our associates at our customer care centers undergo an intensive seven-week training course, followed up by regular training seminars and workshops. We monitor and evaluate our sales associates at regular intervals through quality monitoring, customer satisfaction surveys and net promoter score feedback. We also provide our sales associates with technical training by our in-house specialists and product vendors. We maintain a separate technical support group dedicated to answering customer inquiries and assisting our customers with product operation information and finding the most efficient solutions to manufacturing problems.

Digital and Traditional Marketing

Our primary method of presenting products and solutions is the MSC website and our digital marketing programs, which include tactics such as search engine marketing, email marketing, social media and online advertising. These programs align with the buying behavior of our customers and are designed to maximize marketing productivity and return on marketing dollars spent. While digital is our primary means of marketing, we leverage catalogs, sales collateral and promotional brochures where appropriate. We use these methods to target customers in specific areas, such as metal fabrication, facilities management, and safety and janitorial, with a more focused selection of products or solutions.

Customer Service

One of our goals is to make purchasing our products as convenient and effortless as possible. During fiscal year 2024, customers submitted approximately 63.6% of their orders digitally through our E-commerce platforms (the MSC website, vending machines and eProcurement). The remaining orders were primarily placed via telephone, email and fax. The efficient handling of orders is a critical aspect of our business. Order entry and fulfillment occurs at our main customer care centers, mostly located at our customer fulfillment centers. Customer care phone representatives enter non-digital orders into computerized order processing systems. In the event of a local or regional disruption, our communications system will reroute customer exchanges to an alternative location. When an order enters the system, a credit check is performed; if the credit is approved, the order is usually transmitted to the customer fulfillment center closest to the customer. Customers are invoiced for merchandise and shipping and handling promptly after shipment.

Information Systems

MSC’s information systems are an integral part of driving growth and delivering our full value proposition to our customers. In today’s digital world, our systems allow our customers to conduct business with us securely across multiple channels and in the way they want. In addition, our systems enable data visibility for faster decision making, which drives operational efficiency and supports a flexible remote workforce across the globe.

Our E-commerce environment is continually being upgraded and enhanced with a focus on delivering an exceptional online customer experience. We plan to achieve this by utilizing state-of-the-art cloud technologies, developing an industry leading search engine, deploying an integrated digital marketing platform and further enriching our product data.

In response to shifts in the labor market, we also look to accelerate automation in our customer fulfillment centers. In fiscal year 2019, we introduced a patented robotic packing solution, and in fiscal year 2024, we have deployed advanced robotic picking technology to several customer fulfillment centers.

Most of our information systems operate in real time over a secure wide area network, letting each customer fulfillment center share information and monitor daily progress on sales activity, credit approvals, inventory levels, stock balancing, vendor returns, order fulfillment and other key performance measures. We maintain a sophisticated buying and inventory management system that monitors all of our SKUs and automatically purchases inventory from vendors for replenishment, based on proprietary forecasting models. We also maintain an electronic data interchange and XML purchasing program with our vendors to boost order placement efficiency, reduce order cycle processing time, and increase order accuracy.

As part of our commitment to creating services that fuel the potential of our customers, we develop and maintain a suite of proprietary VMI digital solutions. These VMI digital solutions allow our customers to focus on their core business, while MSC manages their inventory ordering, fulfillment and replenishment. Our various VMI digital solutions are customizable to meet both simple and complex customer needs. Our scanning solutions integrate scanner accumulated orders directly into our Sales Order Entry system and the MSC website. Our CMI enables customers to simply and effectively replenish inventory by submitting orders directly to the MSC website. Our customized vending solutions are used by customers in manufacturing plants to help them achieve supply chain and shop floor optimization, through inventory optimization and reduced tooling and labor costs. All of our digital solutions function directly as front-end ordering systems for our e-Portal-based customers. These solutions take advantage of advanced technologies built upon the latest innovations in E-commerce and wireless and cloud-based computing.

Our core business systems run in a highly distributed computing environment and utilize software and hardware platforms from key partners. We utilize disaster recovery techniques and procedures, which are consistent with best practices in enterprise IT. With many of our associates shifting to a remote work model beginning in fiscal year 2020, we deployed secure home computing assets and implemented collaboration software to enable interconnected teams and scalable video conferencing for large virtual gatherings. Our focus is to optimize the hybrid associate work experience.

We believe that our current systems and practice of implementing regular updates are adequate to support our current needs. We have been upgrading and migrating many of our systems to take advantage of the flexibility and controls offered by cloud computing platforms while downsizing our on-premise data center footprint. Recent cloud migrations include commercial off-the-shelf enterprise systems as well as our E-commerce infrastructure.

Our sales representatives are equipped with proprietary mobile technology that allows them to tap into MSC’s supply chain directly from our customers’ manufacturing plants and make sure that critical inventory is always on site and available. In addition, we are enhancing our customer-facing websites and portals to reflect this new mobile reality at a pace in line with customer adoption of mobile technology.

Our customer care centers are powered via state-of-the-art telephony, case management and workforce optimization platforms. The features within the platforms create a seamless environment equipped with advanced applications that assist our associates in optimizing our customers’ experience. The architecture has established a dynamic infrastructure that is scalable both in terms of operations and future capabilities. We are continuing to implement additional functionality aimed at enhancing the engagement and personalization of the customer experience regardless of the contact method chosen.

MSC is actively leveraging AI in various areas to improve customer experiences and drive efficiencies in areas such as time-series forecasting models for financial planning, AI-driven recommendations for our customer-care team, order error processing, natural language processing to automate product taxonomy classification and AI-driven chatbots for our associates to quickly find relevant information. We continue to take steps to understand, secure and pilot this technology in additional areas within the Company. We believe our strategic alignment with leading vendors in this space will position MSC well for a future where AI technology will be integrated into many aspects of MSC’s business.

Competition

The MRO supply industry is a large, fragmented industry that is highly competitive. We face competition from traditional channels of distribution, such as retail outlets, dealers and wholesalers, regional and national distributors utilizing direct sales forces, manufacturers of MRO supplies, large warehouse stores and large direct mail distributors. We also face substantial competition in the online distribution space that competes with price transparency and includes both traditional distributors and non-traditional, web-based E-commerce competitors. In addition, new entrants in the MRO supply industry could increase competition. We believe that sales of MRO supplies will become more concentrated over the next several years, which may make MRO supply distribution more competitive. Some of our competitors challenge us with a greater variety of product offerings, greater financial resources, additional services, or a combination of these factors. In the industrial products market, customer purchasing decisions are based primarily on one or more of the following criteria: price, product selection, product availability, technical support relationship, level of service and convenience. We believe we compete effectively on all such criteria. Our industry has seen consolidation in recent years. The trend of our industry toward consolidation could cause the industry to become more competitive (i) as greater economies of scale are achieved by competitors, or (ii) as competitors with new lower-cost business models are able to operate with lower prices and gross profit on products.

Seasonality

During any given time, we may be impacted by our industrial customers’ plant shutdowns, particularly during the summer months (our fiscal fourth quarter), as well as the winter months for the Christmas and New Year holiday period (our fiscal second quarter). In addition, we may be impacted by weather-related disruptions.

Compliance with Health and Safety and Environmental Laws and Regulations

Our operations are subject to a variety of federal, state, local and non-U.S. health and safety and environmental laws and regulations relating to the discharge, treatment, storage, disposal, investigation and remediation of certain materials, substances and wastes. We continually assess our compliance status and management of environmental matters to ensure that our operations are compliant with all applicable environmental laws and regulations.

Operating and maintenance costs associated with environmental compliance and management of sites are a normal and recurring part of our operations. With respect to matters that may be pending, based on our analysis of relevant facts and circumstances, compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations is not likely to have a material adverse effect upon our capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position.

Human Capital Resources

As of August 31, 2024, we employed 7,423 associates worldwide, of which 7,191 were full-time and 232 were part-time. No associate is represented by a labor union. Approximately 89% of our workforce is based in the United States. MSC has not experienced any major work stoppages and considers associate relations to be good.

Our goal is to attract, develop and retain a talented team of associates inspired by our greater purpose of fueling the potential of our stakeholders. We believe a career at MSC includes:

•Purpose – MSC helps to fuel the industrial economy, propel our stakeholders’ success, and contribute to our customers’ growth.

•People and Respect – MSC cares about people. We strive to offer a positive work environment, with people you like and leaders you can respect.

•Health and Well-being – MSC offers many available options for our associates and their families to be healthy and plan for the future.

•Rewards and Recognition – Appreciation for our associates’ contributions and the opportunity to share financially and intrinsically in MSC’s success.

•Growth – The opportunity to learn, take risks and develop a career.

At MSC, we refer to our workforce as our team of “associates,” rather than employees, because we believe that our associates have a stake in our success. We rely on each other to be as dedicated to MSC as MSC is dedicated to each associate. This is a critical part of our expectations of our associates and a unique part of our culture.

Health and Safety

MSC’s safety vision is to strive for zero injuries and build a culture in which safety is a top value across all levels of the organization and every associate has the right and responsibility to continually seek to prevent injuries. Our leadership team is highly engaged through our Safety Leadership System in identifying trends in our incidents throughout the network and working collaboratively with our safety professionals to effectively reduce incidents involving our associates and to make MSC one of the safest places to work.

In the 2023 calendar year, the Company’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) Total Recordable Incident Rate was 1.02 and the Company’s OSHA Lost Time Incident Rate was 0.43 based upon the number of incidents per 100 associates (or per 200,000 work hours). The Company’s rates fall well below the Total Recordable Incident Rate and the Lost Time Incident Rate of the North American Industry Classification System, which were 2.0 and 0.60, respectively.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

MSC is committed to promoting a respectful, diverse workplace, constructive collaboration, innovative creativity, and genuine leadership. We believe that our culture and our business benefit greatly from the rich combination of experience, creativity and perspective that our diverse workforce provides. Our associates’ differences – the individual characteristics, work styles, beliefs and backgrounds – make us strong and equip us to better serve our customers. Because we are dedicated to an environment of equal opportunity, we partner with several outreach organizations that help us in our recruitment efforts such as: Hiring our Heroes, minority-owned organizations, women-owned organizations, local and state workforce services, and vocational rehab centers. Additionally, MSC continues to grow its business resource groups, known as Inclusion Circles, with membership growing to more than 1,500 associates combined. Each Inclusion Circle is sponsored by a member of the MSC leadership team. These include WIN (Women’s Inclusion Network), Veterans, BIG (Black Inclusion Group), Pride, ABLE, GEN (Generational Empowerment Network) and HOLA (Hispanic Organization for Leadership and Advancement).

As of August 31, 2024, our U.S. associate population by gender, ethnic and racial attributes was as follows:

Talent Acquisition and Development

MSC focuses on creating opportunities for associate growth, development and training education, offering a comprehensive talent program that continues throughout an associate’s career. MSC believes that its future success is highly dependent upon the Company’s continued ability to attract, retain and motivate associates. As part of its efforts in these areas, the Company offers competitive compensation and benefits to meet the diverse needs of team members and support their health and well-being, financial future and work-life balance. Associates are given access to health plan resources, disease management, tobacco cessation, parental support, stress management and weight loss programs. In addition, MSC provides to its associates retirement savings, paid holidays and time off, educational assistance and income protection benefits, as well as a variety of other programs.

MSC also offers through MSC University various learning and development opportunities in support of associate career growth and success through a variety of offerings, including virtual classrooms and webinars, instructor-led courses, informal work groups, e-learning, books and articles, and more. These opportunities can drive improvement, facilitate career development, provide coaching and mentoring opportunities, and enhance communication skills. The average training hours completed by MSC associates in fiscal year 2024 was approximately 21 hours per individual. Additionally, MSC’s tuition assistance program covers educational costs and provides eligible associates the financial assistance to obtain a graduate or undergraduate degree while working.

Available Information

We make available, free of charge, on or through the investor relations portion of our website, https://investor.mscdirect.com, our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to these reports, as well as proxy statements and other information, as soon as reasonably practicable after such documents are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. We also make available, on our website, the charters of the committees of the Board of Directors of the Company (our “Board of Directors”), the Code of Ethics, the Code of Business Conduct and the Corporate Governance Guidelines pursuant to SEC requirements and New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) listing standards. The information on our website, or linked to or from our website, is not incorporated by reference into, and does not constitute a part of, this Report or any other documents we file with, or furnish to, the SEC.

We use the investor relations portion of our website to distribute information, including as a means of disclosing material, non-public information, and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. We routinely post and make accessible financial and other information regarding the Company on our website (https://investor.mscdirect.com). Accordingly, investors should monitor the investor relations portion of our website in addition to our press releases, SEC filings and other public communications.