- START WITH POSITION STATEMENT - Base your decisions on principles and use facts to support your position statement - Explain why you may be wrong and other options Have in mind: What is the case about, what type of case? Fastenal Co.1 Headquartered in Winona, Minnesota, Fastenal is an industrial distributor that generates over $3 billion of annual revenue from the $140 billion maintenance, repair, and operations market. Fastenal and its competitors perform a crucial role for manufacturing customers, which do not have the scale to evaluate the more than one million products from thousands of suppliers. The firm's network of 2700 U.S. stores allows Fastenal to provide a high level of service to customers who might elect to visit a Fastenal store rather than wait for the product to be delivered. In addition, the firm adds value by representing a key link between 3000 suppliers and 400,000 customers. Most orders Fastenal receives are shipped to customers in less than 24 hours and 80 percent of the deliveries occur before 8:00 a.m. In addition, Fastenal's employees have the specialized skills and knowledge to solve customer problems. "If a nut or bolt becomes detached from a machine, Fastenal's personnel are not only trained to provide a replacement based on its size, they can discuss the replacement fastener's strength, alloy composition, fastener coatings for the application..."2 and so on. Based on these strengths, Fastenal enjoys strong financial performance, achieving a 21 percent average return on invested capital over the past five years. The Board of Directors and Management are concerned about Amazon Supply http://www.amazonsupply.com Links to an external site. Amazon is attempting to displace established distributors like Fastenal. 1Kwame Webb, "Analyst Report: Fastenal Co.," Morningstar Inc., January 16, 2015, accessed at http://www.morningstar.com Links to an external site. on January 22, 2015. 2lbid p. 1