December 5, 2024

WESCO International Inc. Overview

WESCO International Inc.

WESCO International Inc. is a leading provider of supply chain solutions for the electrical, communications, and utility industries. WESCO’s value proposition is built on creating solutions to meet the complex challenges our customers face every day. WESCO International Inc. has a robust portfolio of businesses and a high-performance continuous improvement culture. Its overall revenue in 2019 was close to $17 billion. More than 150,000 active customers are served by the business, which has 18,000 employees, a network of 800 locations, warehouses, and sales offices, including 43 distribution facilities and 30,000 suppliers. WESCO’s clients include commercial and industrial businesses, contractors, government agencies, institutions, telecommunications providers, and utilities. In North American and foreign markets, WESCO runs 500 branches and 10 completely automated distribution facilities. The company is headquartered at Pittsburgh, US.

History

As a division of the Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse Electric Corporation, WESCO Distribution was established in 1922. When the company launched its New York City headquarters in 1929, it had operations in 19 US cities and $60 million in annual revenue.

WESCO was positioned to be a market leader in the distribution of electrical and lighting products from the time it was established as Westinghouse’s distribution division. WESCO was hired in 1940 to illuminate seven tunnels under the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the first “Superhighway” of its kind. Soon after, WESCO widened their range of offerings to include new electrical wiring and heating systems, as well as consumer goods like televisions, air conditioners, refrigerators, and washing machines. It operated as the Westinghouse division in charge of marketing and delivering the company’s parts to the industrial and electrical sectors. WESCO kept a tight relationship with its parent. Westinghouse Electrical Supply Company was acquired by the private equity company Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) in1994, leading to the establishment of WESCO Distribution Inc.

WESCO was sold by CD&R to The Cypress Group in June 1998 for USD 1.1 billion. As a result, WESCO International Inc., the company that now owns WESCO Distribution, was created.

The Bruckner Supply Company Inc., a supplier of integrated supply management solutions and MRO goods to Fortune 500 clients, was bought by WESCO in the same year.

WESCO held its inaugural public offering on May 12, 1999, on the New York Stock Exchange. 9.72 million shares were sold for $18 each, raising a total of $175 million.

The Carlton-Bates Company, which offered original equipment products and supply solutions to industrial customers, was acquired by WESCO in 2005. That same year, Forbes magazine named WESCO one of the 400 Best Big Companies; the company was given this distinction once more in 2006, 2007, and 2009.

Enterprise and data center clients’ nationwide distributor of data communications solutions, Communication Supply Corporation, was bought by WESCO in 2006.

2008 saw the company receive an Environmental Stewardship Award from Veolia ES Technical Solutions in recognition of its “environmentally sustainable business operations.”

The business purchased TVC Communications in November 2010. Brews Supply Ltd., situated in Calgary, Alberta, was also purchased by WESCO in the same year.

WESCO purchased EECOL Electric Corp. in 2012. The business also bought Conney Safety Products, LLC in June of the same year.

WESCO purchased Hazmasters Inc. in 2014.

Hill Country Electric Supply, Aelux, and Needham Electric Supply were all purchased by WESCO in 2015.

2016 saw the acquisition of Atlanta Electrical Distributors, LLC by WESCO. Sylvania Lighting Solutions (SLS) from OSRAM was soon acquired by WESCO, which is now known as WESCO Energy Solutions.

WESCO and Anixter reached an agreement on January 13, 2020 for the purchase of Anixter. Anixter International Inc., a top global distributor of network and security systems, electrical and electronic solutions, and utility power solutions, was acquired by WESCO. Wesco’s strengths in industrial, construction, and utility are combined with Anixter’s expertise in data communications, security, and wire and cable to create a combined company with a comprehensive and balanced portfolio.

WESCO International (WESCO) sold the Datacom business to Guillevin International on February 12, 2021.

The company made an announcement that it is set to acquire Rahi Systems on September 7, 2022.

Operations

From affordable supply agreements to full turn-key outsourcing, the company  provides a wide range of options to assist control it’s customers’ MRO indirect costs. For successful capital projects, such as new construction, retrofits, renovations, and upgrades, the company offers product and service solutions. The company also provides OEM materials and value-added services to support the manufacturing processes of our clients. WESCO’S Lean Value Creation Solutions are one of the many services WESCO provides. Some of the top businesses in the world have seen an improvement in operations because of the company’s constantly developing value-added services addressing capital project management, sustainability, security, working capital improvement, and supply chain optimization.

WESCO operates in 17 different nations and collaborates with a large number of Fortune 1000 organizations who require a worldwide strategic partner to effectively and consistently support their operations wherever they may be situated.

Company’s Achievements

  • The 2021 and 2020 Forbes World’s Best Employers
  • Wesco was ranked 200th out of the top 500 successful firms.
  • 2022 and 2020 Bloomberg’s Gender-Equality Index. Public corporations that are dedicated to promoting gender equality are tracked by the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index.
  • The 2022 list of Fortune’s Most Admired Companies.
  • The Stevie Awards, which honor the world’s top companies, nominated Wesco for Best Youth Employment Strategy and COVID-19 Most Valuable Employer.
  • Top Latino-Friendly Businesses for 2022. Latino Leaders magazine creates a list of the best companies for Latinos every year based on factors such employee diversity, initiatives to attract, advance, and keep Latino employees, ERG programs, and Latino presence in the boardroom and C-Suite. Wesco is honored to be named one of the top 30 places to work in2022, which demonstrates our dedication to the promotion of diversity and inclusion practices.
  • 2022 Barron’s Most Sustainable Businesses. Calvert Research & Management began with the 1,000 largest publicly traded companies by market value for Barron’s 5th ranking of the most sustainable businesses. From there, they looked at the businesses with the best scores across 230 environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, performance indicators. Wesco placed 51st on the list for 2022.

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