MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (MSM) 2026 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning and welcome to the MSC Industrial Supply fiscal 2026 second quarter conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Ryan Mills, VP of Investor Relations and Business Development.

早安，歡迎參加 MSC Industrial Supply 2026 會計年度第二季財報電話會議。(接線員指示) 請注意，本活動將被錄音。現在我想把會議交給投資人關係與業務發展副總裁 Ryan Mills。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our fiscal 2026 second quarter earnings call. Martina McIsaac, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Greg Clark, Interim Chief Financial Officer, are on the call with me today. During today's call, we will refer to various financial data in the earnings presentation and operational statistics document both of which can be found on our Investor Relations website.

謝謝，各位早安。歡迎參加我們 2026 會計年度第二季財報電話會議。今天與我一同出席的有總裁兼執行長 Martina McIsaac，以及代理財務長 Greg Clark。在今天的電話會議中，我們將引用財報簡報與營運統計文件中的各項財務資料，兩者皆可於我們的投資人關係網站上取得。

Let me reference our safe harbor statement found on slide 2 of the earnings presentation. Our comments on this call as well as the supplemental information we are providing on the website contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the US securities laws. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these statements. Information about these risks are noted in our earnings press release and our other SEC filings.

我先提請各位參考財報簡報第 2 頁的安全港聲明。我們在本次電話會議中的評論，以及我們在網站上提供的補充資訊，均包含依據美國證券法所定義的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述涉及風險與不確定性，可能導致實際結果與這些陳述所預期者出現重大差異。關於這些風險的資訊已載於我們的財報新聞稿及其他向 SEC 提交的文件中。

Lastly, during this call, we may refer to certain adjusted financial results, which are non-GAAP measures. Please refer to the GAAP versus non-GAAP reconciliations on our presentation or on our website, which contain the reconciliation of the adjusted financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures.

最後，在本次電話會議中，我們可能會提及某些調整後的財務結果，這些屬於非 GAAP 指標。請參閱我們簡報或網站上的 GAAP 與非 GAAP 調節表，其中包含調整後財務衡量指標與最直接可比的 GAAP 指標之調節。

I'll now turn the call over to Martina.

接下來我把電話交給 Martina。

Thank you, Ryan, and good morning, everyone. On today's call, I will briefly cover our performance in the fiscal second quarter, then share my thoughts on the progress of our initiatives and the current state of underlying industrial demand. I will then turn the call over to Greg to provide greater detail on our quarterly performance and outlook for the fiscal third quarter.

謝謝你，Ryan，各位早安。在今天的電話會議中，我將先簡要說明我們在會計年度第二季的表現，接著分享我對各項計畫推進情況以及工業需求基本面現況的看法。之後我會把電話交給 Greg，請他更詳細說明我們本季表現，以及對會計年度第三季的展望。

Starting with our performance in fiscal 2Q. ADS growth of 2.9% fell short of 4.5% growth at the midpoint of our outlook. While we did experience modest headwinds from weather and the partial government shutdown, the change in our service organization, which represents the last structural phase of our sales optimization work, created some noise in the quarter that's worth digging into.

先從我們在會計年度第二季的表現談起。日均銷售（ADS）成長 2.9%，低於我們展望中點所預期的 4.5% 成長。雖然天候與部分政府停擺確實帶來些許逆風，但我們服務組織的調整——這是我們銷售優化工作的最後一個結構性階段——在本季造成了一些雜訊，值得進一步說明。

As we previously shared, at the end of 1Q and early 2Q, we completed the last round of structural changes and accompanying head count reductions related to our sales optimization work.

如我們先前分享，在第一季末與第二季初，我們完成了與銷售優化工作相關的最後一輪結構性調整，以及相應的人力精簡。

To recap, in fiscal year '25, we took actions designed to bring head count levels more in line with an efficient territory design. Those actions primarily impacted our core sellers. Then in December, as we shared, we had a final round of changes, which involve all of our remaining customer-facing roles.

回顧一下，在 2025 會計年度，我們採取行動，旨在使人力規模更符合高效率的區域設計。這些行動主要影響我們的核心銷售人員。接著在 12 月，如我們所分享，我們進行了最後一輪調整，涵蓋所有其餘面向客戶的職務。

Prior to this change, for legacy reasons, it was possible that an MSC customer was serviced by two, three, four or even five MSC representatives. Creating overlap of multiple sales and service activities and resulting in multiple MSC reps supporting the same revenues.

在這項變更之前，基於歷史因素，一位 MSC 客戶可能由兩位、三位、四位，甚至五位 MSC 代表提供服務。這造成多項銷售與服務活動的重疊，並導致多位 MSC 代表支援相同的營收。

These inefficiencies caused our cost to serve to become inflated over time, particularly within national account customers where customer needs are the greatest.

這些低效率使我們的服務成本隨時間而被推高，尤其是在客戶需求最大的全國性客戶（national account）中更為明顯。

In the action taken at the beginning of our fiscal 2Q this resource model was greatly simplified to create a geographically aligned service organization that matches our sales structure and is appropriately sized to customer potential.

在我們會計年度第二季初採取的行動中，我們大幅簡化了此資源配置模式，建立與銷售架構相匹配、按地理區域對齊的服務組織，並依客戶潛力適當配置規模。

Total impacted customer-facing head count was approximately 130 associates. This consolidation was complex and could not be achieved without some level of relationship change in the field. We anticipated this and intentionally calendarized this change in fiscal 2Q when demand is seasonally low. Impact varied by customer but was most felt in our national accounts and larger core customers who have the largest service teams.

受影響的面向客戶人力總數約為 130 位同仁。這次整併相當複雜，且在第一線不可避免會帶來一定程度的關係變動。我們已預期到這點，並刻意將此變更安排在需求季節性較低的會計年度第二季。影響程度因客戶而異，但在擁有最大服務團隊的全國性客戶與較大型核心客戶中感受最為明顯。

Those customers saw some level of face change as the responsibilities were handed off through the consolidation of the team that supports them.

隨著支援團隊在整併過程中進行職責交接，這些客戶在對接人員方面出現了一定程度的變動。

The new structure now clarifies responsibilities and will result in greater ownership and accountability in our teams, driving focus across all of MSC's product offerings. It's important to note that these changes did not impact the momentum of our vending and implant programs as reflected in our offset for the quarter.

新的架構如今更清楚界定職責，將使團隊具備更高的主人翁精神與問責性，並推動對 MSC 全部產品供應的聚焦。需要強調的是，這些變更並未影響我們自動販賣（vending）與駐廠（implant）專案的動能，從本季的抵銷效果即可看出。

Now under Jahida Nadi leadership, we are accompanying these organizational enhancements with its strong sales management process and improved pipeline management. While these actions weighed on our results in the quarter, this change was necessary. We are enhancing MSC's ability to produce sustained levels of profitable growth for the future by taking measured steps to optimize our cost structure and improve our effectiveness in the field.

目前在 Jahida Nadi 的領導下，我們在推動這些組織強化的同時，也導入更有力的銷售管理流程與更完善的商機管線管理。雖然這些行動在本季對我們的結果造成壓力，但這項變更是必要的。透過有節奏地優化成本結構並提升前線效能，我們正在強化 MSC 未來實現可持續獲利成長的能力。

We have greatly simplified and aligned our sales and service organizations. And though it takes time for a change like this to take hold, month to date in March, we are seeing the year-over-year trend in the sales to impacted customers continued to improve compared to levels in January and February as new relationships are developed.

我們已大幅簡化並對齊銷售與服務組織。儘管這類變革需要時間才能落地，但截至 3 月目前為止，我們看到受影響客戶的銷售年增趨勢，相較於 1 月與 2 月的水準持續改善，因為新的合作關係正在建立。

Following these changes, growth acceleration is our primary objective. Supporting my confidence is the momentum I see building across the organization from our supplier growth forum. By intentionally bringing more than 1,000 MSC associates and 400 suppliers together, we strengthened relationships, aligned priorities, set the foundation for meaningful long-term growth and created a defining moment for our company.

在完成這些變更後，加速成長是我們的首要目標。支撐我信心的是，我看到供應商成長論壇（supplier growth forum）正在為整個組織累積動能。我們刻意讓超過 1,000 位 MSC 同仁與 400 家供應商齊聚一堂，強化了關係、對齊了優先事項、為具意義的長期成長奠定基礎，並為公司創造了一個關鍵時刻。

We facilitated over 3,000 prescheduled meetings to discuss white space overlap and joint growth opportunities that we identified using AI, and I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome. In just three days, these strategic conversations translated into nearly 10,000 opportunities totaling close to $500 million in combined near-term and long-term potential, creating tremendous energy, both internally and externally, as shown in the quote from a supplier on slide 4.

我們促成超過 3,000 場預先排定的會議，討論我們運用 AI 所識別的白地（white space）重疊與共同成長機會，我對成果感到非常滿意。短短三天內，這些策略性對話轉化為近 10,000 個機會，合計近短期與長期潛力約 5 億美元，並如第 4 頁供應商引言所示，在內部與外部都激發了巨大的能量。

Strong execution, like that's seen in the growth forum can be seen across MSC. A good example is the year-over-year margin expansion that our team achieved in the quarter. Gross margin of 41.1% performed better than expected and improved 10 basis points year-over-year. This improvement is the result of price actions taken in fiscal 1Q and 2Q in response to inflation as well as the continued professionalization of our pricing processes and margin management.

如同成長論壇所展現的強勁執行力，也可在 MSC 各方面看見。一個很好的例子是我們團隊在本季達成的年對年毛利率擴張。毛利率 41.1% 表現優於預期，且年增 10 個基點。這項改善來自我們在會計年度第一季與第二季因應通膨所採取的價格行動，以及我們持續推動定價流程與毛利管理的專業化。

The combined impact of these activities resulted in price contributing approximately 6.5% to our daily sales performance in the quarter. In addition to gross margin, I'm encouraged by how the team managed operating expenses more closely to sales during the quarter.

上述活動的綜合影響，使得本季價格因素對我們日銷售表現的貢獻約為 6.5%。除了毛利率之外，我也對團隊在本季更緊密地讓營業費用隨銷售變動而管理感到鼓舞。

Adjusted operating expenses improved 20 basis points compared to the prior year as a percentage of sales. This was primarily driven by the combined benefits of our head count reductions and the productivity actions associated with our network optimization strategy, which is beginning to show through in our financial performance, as you can see on slide 5.

調整後營業費用占銷售比重較去年改善 20 個基點。這主要由兩項效益共同帶動：我們的人力精簡，以及與網路優化策略相關的生產力行動；這些效益正開始反映在我們的財務表現中，如第 5 頁所示。

Our planning and procurement team, led by Kathy Mack has been focused on improving our planning processes, embracing AI and embedding it into our daily work to produce the improved inventory metrics shown on this slide.

在 Kathy Mack 的帶領下，我們的規劃與採購團隊一直專注於改善規劃流程、擁抱 AI，並將其嵌入日常工作中，以產出本頁所示的改善後庫存指標。

Our operations teams led by Darrick Collier continue to optimize within the four walls of our distribution centers as seen by the favorable trends in their head count and compensation expenses. Both cases are perfect examples of the results, a data-driven focus on continuous improvement could have, and I'm looking forward to the greater impact it will have on MSC as this mentality takes shape across the company.

由 Darrick Collier 領導的營運團隊，持續在我們配送中心的「四面牆內」進行最佳化，從人力編制與薪酬費用的有利趨勢即可看出。這兩個案例都是絕佳例證，說明以數據驅動、聚焦持續改善能帶來的成果；我也期待當這種心態在全公司成形時，將對 MSC 產生更大的影響。

Progress made in both these areas of the P&L resulted in adjusted operating margin of 7.5%, a 40 basis point year-over-year improvement and within the range of our outlook. Together, this allowed us to achieve 2Q adjusted incremental margins of 21% towards the upper end of our expectations.

損益表中這兩個領域的進展，使調整後營業利益率達到 7.5%，年增 40 個基點，且落在我們展望區間內。綜合而言，這也讓我們第二季調整後增量利潤率達到 21%，接近我們預期區間的上緣。

Switching to the macro environment, I would describe the current state as a tale of two realities. On one hand, signs of a potential industrial recovery are encouraging. As you can see on slide 6, the IP readings across most of our top manufacturing end markets are beginning to form more favorable trends.

轉到總體環境，我會將目前狀態形容為兩種現實並存的故事。一方面，潛在工業復甦的跡象令人鼓舞。如投影片 6 所示，我們多數主要製造業終端市場的工業生產（IP）讀數，正開始呈現較有利的趨勢。

Customer sentiment has been improving also as seen by recent MBI readings, which have produced consecutive monthly readings above 50 for the first time in a multiyear period. However, on the other hand, geopolitical tensions, the war with Iran and rising fuel costs present heightened uncertainty.

客戶情緒也在改善，從近期 MBI 讀數可見端倪；該指標在多年來首次連續數月高於 50。然而另一方面，地緣政治緊張、與伊朗的戰爭以及燃料成本上升，帶來更高的不確定性。

While we haven't seen any meaningful disruption yet, we are in constant communication with customers and are taking proactive steps to secure supply.

雖然我們尚未看到任何實質性的干擾，但我們持續與客戶保持密切溝通，並採取主動措施以確保供應。

Looking at our performance against the IP index, our average daily sales has outperformed for the third consecutive quarter. That said, outgrowth remains below our stated goal of 400 basis points and has been primarily supported by price. I am encouraged, however, by our volume performance in February that began showing modest year-over-year improvement in core customer daily sales.

就我們相對於 IP 指數的表現而言，我們的平均每日銷售額已連續第三季優於該指數。不過，超越成長（outgrowth）仍低於我們所設定的 400 個基點目標，且主要由價格所支撐。然而，我對 2 月的量能表現感到鼓舞，核心客戶每日銷售額開始呈現溫和的年增改善。

The changes to our sales structure were the right ones and were necessary to set MSC up to achieve higher levels of growth. We see encouraging signs of improvement and this momentum is captured in our outlook for the fiscal third quarter as seen by the accelerated growth that is implied in April and May.

我們對銷售架構所做的調整是正確的，也是在讓 MSC 能達到更高成長水準所必需的。我們看到令人鼓舞的改善跡象，而這股動能也反映在我們對第三財季的展望中，從 4 月與 5 月所隱含的加速成長即可看出。

We are making progress on our strategic initiatives. We are operating with greater focus and discipline, and we have a leadership team committed to building a stronger business.

我們在策略性計畫上正取得進展。我們以更高的專注與紀律運作，且領導團隊致力於打造更強健的業務。

Looking ahead, this gives me confidence in MSC's ability to execute and create long-term value for shareholders. And with that, I will now turn the call over to Greg to cover our financial results in greater detail and expectations for the fiscal third quarter.

展望未來，這讓我對 MSC 的執行能力以及為股東創造長期價值更具信心。接下來，我將把電話會議交給 Greg，請他更詳細說明我們的財務結果以及對第三財季的預期。

Thank you, Martina, and good morning, everyone. Please turn to slide 7, where you'll find key metrics for the fiscal second quarter on both a reported and adjusted basis. Fiscal second quarter sales of $918 million improved 2.9% year-over-year, primarily driven by benefits from price of 6.6%. Volumes in the quarter declined 4% year-over-year and included a combined headwind of approximately 100 basis points related to the weather and the partial government shutdown. Sequentially, average daily sales declined 6.5%.

謝謝你，Martina，各位早安。請翻到投影片 7，您將看到第二財季在申報與調整後口徑下的關鍵指標。第二財季銷售額為 9.18 億美元，年增 2.9%，主要受惠於價格帶來的 6.6% 貢獻。本季銷量年減 4%，其中約有合計 100 個基點的不利因素與天候及部分政府停擺相關。按季比較，平均每日銷售額下滑 6.5%。

By customer type, we remain encouraged by core customer daily sales that continue to grow above total company and improved approximately 6% this quarter compared to the prior year. National account daily sales were essentially flat compared to the prior year.

按客戶類型來看，我們仍對核心客戶每日銷售額感到鼓舞，其持續高於公司整體成長，本季較去年同期提升約 6%。全國性客戶（National account）每日銷售額與去年同期相比大致持平。

In the public sector, daily sales declined roughly 1% due to tougher comps and impacts felt later in the quarter from the partial federal government shutdown. In solutions, we were pleased by the continued expansion of our footprint in 2Q. In vending the number of machines installed at quarter end increased 8% year-over-year to approximately 30,400 machines.

在公部門方面，由於比較基期較高，以及本季後段受到部分聯邦政府停擺的影響，每日銷售額約下滑 1%。在解決方案（solutions）方面，我們對第二季持續擴大布局版圖感到滿意。在自動販賣（vending）方面，季末已安裝機台數年增 8%，至約 30,400 台。

The number of customers with an implant program improved 9% year-over-year to a total of 423 programs. As you recall, last quarter, our implant program count growth moderated as we strengthened financial discipline in the field and sharpen the quality of our decision-making. This is prompting us to transition certain existing implant programs with suboptimal returns to more cost-effective service options that are better scaled to customer needs. As a result, signings in the second quarter were higher than the sequential increase in total program count.

採用駐點（implant）方案的客戶數年增 9%，總計達 423 個方案。如各位所記得，上季我們在強化前線財務紀律並提升決策品質後，駐點方案數量的成長有所放緩。這促使我們將部分既有、報酬不理想的駐點方案，轉換為更具成本效益、且更符合客戶需求規模的服務選項。因此，第二季的簽約數高於方案總數按季增加的幅度。

Looking at the sales through these solutions, average daily sales through vending were up 8% year-over-year and represented 20% of total company net sales. Sales to customers with an implant program were also up 8% year-over-year and represented approximately 20% of total company net sales.

就這些解決方案所帶動的銷售來看，透過自動販賣的平均每日銷售額年增 8%，占公司總淨銷售額的 20%。對採用駐點方案客戶的銷售額亦年增 8%，約占公司總淨銷售額的 20%。

Moving to profitability for the quarter. We were pleased with gross margins of 41.1% that improved 10 basis points year-over-year or roughly 40 basis points sequentially. This gross margin performance was better than expected and primarily driven by favorable price cost as a result of our pricing actions and the continued professionalization of our pricing processes.

接著看本季獲利能力。我們對毛利率 41.1% 感到滿意，年增 10 個基點，或按季約提升 40 個基點。此毛利率表現優於預期，主要受惠於有利的價差（price-cost），源自我們的定價行動以及定價流程持續專業化。

Operating expenses in the fiscal second quarter were approximately $310 million on a reported basis. On an adjusted basis, operating expenses were $308.5 million down approximately $3 million versus the prior quarter but up approximately $7 million year-over-year as ongoing productivity improvements and head count actions were more than offset by the combination of personnel-related cost increases, investments and higher depreciation.

第二財季營業費用在申報口徑下約為 3.10 億美元。在調整後口徑下，營業費用為 3.085 億美元，較上季減少約 300 萬美元，但較去年同期增加約 700 萬美元；持續的生產力改善與人力編制措施所帶來的效益，已被人員相關成本上升、投資增加以及折舊提高的綜合影響所抵銷。

When combined with higher sales year-over-year, this resulted in year-over-year improvement of 20 basis points in adjusted operating expenses as a percentage of sales for the quarter. Reported operating margin for the quarter was 7.1% and compared to 7% in the prior year. On an adjusted basis, operating margin of 7.5% was within our outlook range of 7.3% to 7.9%. and compared favorably to 7.1% in the prior year.

結合年增的銷售額後，本季調整後營業費用占銷售額比重年減 20 個基點。本季申報營業利益率為 7.1%，去年同期為 7%。在調整後口徑下，營業利益率 7.5% 落在我們 7.3% 至 7.9% 的展望區間內，且相較去年同期的 7.1% 表現更佳。

We delivered GAAP EPS of $0.76 compared to $0.70 in the prior year. On an adjusted basis, we delivered EPS of $0.82 compared to $0.72 in the prior year, an improvement of 14%.

我們的 GAAP 每股盈餘（EPS）為 0.76 美元，去年同期為 0.70 美元。在調整後口徑下，EPS 為 0.82 美元，去年同期為 0.72 美元，提升 14%。

Turning to slide 8 to review our balance sheet and free cash flow performance. We continue to maintain a healthy balance sheet with net debt of approximately $466 million, representing roughly 1.2 times EBITDA. As a reminder, during the quarter, we amended our AR securitization facility and increased its capacity by $50 million. Excluding this $50 million reduction in AR, working capital was a use of cash in the quarter with the proactive build of inventory being the primary driver. Together, this resulted in operating cash flow conversion of 224% for the quarter.

接著請看投影片 8，以檢視資產負債表與自由現金流表現。我們持續維持健康的資產負債表，淨負債約 4.66 億美元，約為 EBITDA 的 1.2 倍。提醒各位，本季我們修訂了應收帳款（AR）證券化融資安排，並將其額度提高 5,000 萬美元。若排除這 5,000 萬美元的 AR 減少，營運資金在本季為現金流出，主要驅動因素是我們主動增加庫存。綜合而言，本季營運現金流轉換率達 224%。

Capital expenditures of roughly $21 million were down approximately $9 million year-over-year and similar to levels last quarter as expected. This resulted in free cash flow conversion of approximately 173% in the fiscal second quarter and 86% fiscal year-to-date, keeping us on track to achieve our target of approximately 90% for the full year.

資本支出約 2,100 萬美元，年減約 900 萬美元，且如預期與上季水準相近。因此，第二財季自由現金流轉換率約為 173%，本財年至今為 86%，使我們仍按計畫達成全年約 90% 的目標。

Looking at our capital allocation strategy on slide 9. Our highest priorities remain organic investment to fuel growth and advancing operational efficiencies across the business. Returning capital to shareholders also remains a priority with approximately $49 million returned to shareholders in fiscal 2Q and $110 million fiscal year-to-date in the form of dividends and share repurchases.

請看投影片第9頁我們的資本配置策略。我們的最高優先事項仍是進行有機投資以推動成長，並在全公司範圍內提升營運效率。回饋股東資本同樣仍是優先事項，本財年第二季以股利與股票回購形式約回饋股東4,900萬美元，年初至今累計約1.10億美元。

Moving to our expectations for the third quarter on slide 10. We expect average daily sales to grow 5% to 7% compared to the prior year. The range of our outlook takes into consideration our daily sales estimate for fiscal March of approximately 4% when including the anticipated headwind of 100 basis points from the timing of Good Friday.

接著看投影片第10頁，談我們對第三季的展望。我們預期平均每日銷售額將較去年成長5%至7%。我們的展望區間已納入對本財年3月平均每日銷售額約4%的估計，其中包含因耶穌受難日時點所帶來約100個基點的不利影響。

Under this revenue assumption, we expect our adjusted operating margin for the fiscal third quarter to be between 9.7% and 10.3%. Driving this expected range are the following assumptions for the quarter.

在此營收假設下，我們預期本財年第三季調整後營業利益率將介於9.7%至10.3%。推動此預期區間的，是本季以下幾項假設。

Gross margin of approximately 41% and the sequential step-up in the adjusted operating expenses primarily driven by higher variable expense associated with the expected increases in sales. Together, these assumptions resulted in an implied adjusted incremental margin of approximately 25% at the midpoint of our outlook. Keeping us on track to achieve our expectation of roughly 20% adjusted incremental margins for the full year and a mid-single-digit growth outcome.

毛利率約41%，以及調整後營業費用的季比上升，主要由於與預期銷售增加相關的較高變動費用所致。綜合上述假設，在我們展望的中位數下，隱含的調整後增量利潤率約為25%。這使我們仍可按計畫達成全年約20%的調整後增量利潤率預期，以及中個位數的成長結果。

Turning to slide 11. Our expectations on certain line items for the full year remain unchanged. As a reminder, this includes depreciation and amortization expense of $95 million to $100 million, interest and other expense of roughly $35 million, capital expenditures, including cloud computing arrangements of $100 million to $110 million, a tax rate between 24.5% and 25.5%, and lastly, free cash flow generation of approximately 90% of net income. To assist in modeling the cadence of sales for the remainder of the fiscal year. The bottom of the slide provides historical quarter-over-quarter averages and key considerations.

接著看投影片第11頁。我們對全年某些損益項目的預期維持不變。提醒一下，這包括折舊與攤銷費用9,500萬至1.00億美元、利息及其他費用約3,500萬美元、資本支出（含雲端運算安排）1.00億至1.10億美元、稅率介於24.5%至25.5%，以及最後，自由現金流產生約為淨利的90%。為協助建立本財年剩餘期間銷售節奏的模型。投影片下方提供歷史季度環比平均值與關鍵考量。

And with that, we will open the line for Q&A.

以上說明完畢，我們現在開放問答。

(Operator Instructions)

(接線員指示)

Ryan Merkel, William Blair.

Ryan Merkel，William Blair。

I wanted to start with the sales trends. Can you just talk about why you're confident that average daily sales is going to accelerate to 7%-plus in April and May? And in your answer, can you talk about is price going to build more? And then what are you assuming for the national account recovery because I think it was sort of flat in the quarter.

我想先從銷售趨勢談起。你能談談為什麼你們有信心平均每日銷售額在4月與5月會加速到7%以上嗎？另外在回答中，能否談談價格是否會有更多貢獻？以及你們對全國性客戶（national account）復甦的假設是什麼，因為我認為本季它大致持平。

Hi Ryan, yes, let me start by digging in a little bit to the second quarter impact, which is then driving our confidence in the third quarter. So in the second quarter, as we tried to explain on the call, we made changes across our indirect -- basically our indirect sales force. And many of our customers had safe changes, which led to some volume contraction.

嗨，Ryan，可以的。我先深入說明一下第二季的影響，這也是我們對第三季有信心的原因。第二季，如同我們在電話會議中試圖說明的，我們對間接——基本上是我們的間接銷售團隊——做了調整。而我們許多客戶也有人員變動，導致部分銷量收縮。

So let me explain what was happening in that time. You're talking about the people that have to be on the plant floor every day, understanding the customers' business, capturing all of the unplanned demand of the account, managing our BMI programs.

我來解釋當時發生了什麼。你說的是那些每天必須在工廠現場的人，他們要了解客戶的業務、掌握該客戶所有非計畫性需求、並管理我們的BMI專案。

So it takes a little while for somebody new to come up to speed to understand those responsibilities to rebuild their network. So we had guided softer in the second quarter because we knew there would be a disruption in volume.

因此，新人需要一些時間才能上手，理解這些職責並重建人脈網絡。所以我們在第二季給出的指引較為保守，因為我們知道銷量會受到干擾。

And as we started to make the change, we saw two effects. We planned a very detailed warm handoff and transition of our -- from one team member to another. So if you can imagine what was happening, you might have been taking on more responsibilities in your current customers or you might have been moving to take on responsibilities in a new portfolio of customers or you might have been moving to an uncovered customer. So there's a lot to learn in that process and we had planned an overlap of resources so that the incumbent associates could work with the new associate over a period of time.

而當我們開始進行調整時，我們看到兩個影響。我們規劃了非常細緻的「溫暖交接」與轉換流程，讓我們的——從一位團隊成員交接給另一位。你可以想像當時的情況：你可能在既有客戶上承擔更多責任，或是轉去接手一個新的客戶組合，或是轉去負責原本無人覆蓋的客戶。這個過程需要學的東西很多，因此我們安排了資源重疊，讓原任同仁能在一段時間內與新任同仁一起合作。

And what happened to us in the second quarter, which caused us to have a softer result than we had anticipated, is that the weather shut a lot of our customers down in that overlap period. So if your role is to get into a new facility, learn it, understand it, make new contacts take over that business, and you can't get there because the facility is buried in snow or you can't get out of your driveway, then essentially what happened is it pushed the, let's call it, recovery for lack of a better word, it pushed it out in the calendar farther than we anticipated. So we're seeing in March, what we had hoped to see in February and so on. So we lost some time -- we had an impact to volumes due to timing.

第二季發生的情況——也就是讓我們的結果比預期更疲弱的原因——是天氣在那段重疊期間讓許多客戶停工。所以如果你的工作是進入新廠區、學習並了解它、建立新聯絡人並接手該業務，但你因為廠區被大雪掩埋而進不去，或你連自家車道都出不去，那麼實際上就等於把（姑且稱之為）復原的時間點，往後推得比我們預期更晚。因此我們在3月看到的，是我們原本希望在2月看到的情況，依此類推。所以我們損失了一些時間——銷量受到時點因素影響。

The other thing that happened in the quarter is, as we made these changes, hunting and complacency is no longer part of our compensation plan. We changed -- we're raising the bar on expectations. We changed compensation. We changed responsibilities. We're raising standards.

本季另一件發生的事是，隨著我們做出這些調整，「開發（hunting）」與「安於現狀（complacency）」不再是我們薪酬方案的一部分。我們做了改變——我們提高了期望門檻。我們調整了薪酬。我們調整了職責。我們提高了標準。

And we had a higher percentage of attrition than we expected to have. So a lot of you have asked me about, do I expect attrition as we sort of drive a performance culture in MSC. And we do and we did expect to see attrition as a result of this change. But again, we had calendarized it a little more gently. Like we expected that it would happen later in the cycle, and we have quite a lot of attrition immediately.

而我們的離職率高於預期。所以很多人問我，當我們在MSC推動績效文化時，我是否預期會有離職。我們確實預期會有離職，而這次變革也確實帶來了離職。但同樣地，我們原本在時程安排上預估得更溫和一些。例如我們原本預期會在週期較後段才發生，但我們很快就出現了相當多的離職。

So then we had customers that were uncovered for a period of time, and so we were missing some of that unplanned demand. So if you look at our offsets, you'll see that despite the fact that this plan intended a reduction in sales head count of 130. I think we're down 158 heads quarter-over-quarter. You see the residual impact as we've been filling those roles.

因此有一段時間部分客戶無人覆蓋，我們也就錯失了一些非計畫性需求。所以如果你看我們的抵銷因素，你會看到儘管這個計畫原本意在將銷售人力編制減少130人。我想我們季比實際減少了158人。你會看到在我們補齊這些職缺的過程中所留下的殘餘影響。

So all that to say, we're starting now to see the volume recovery that we expected, and that's what's giving us confidence in April and May were just pushed out from where we had intended to be because of those two impacts. So as you look at March, I can use March as an example, we were looking for two volume effects as we went through this change.

總之，我們現在開始看到我們原本預期的銷量復甦，這也是我們對4月與5月有信心的原因；只是因為上述兩個影響，復甦被從我們原本預期的時間點往後推了。因此以3月來看，我可以用3月作為例子，我們在推動這項變革的過程中，原本在尋找兩個銷量面的效果。

The first one was we wanted to see a greater integration of all the parts of our business. So for example, we are -- we consolidated legacy sales forces from 10 year-old acquisitions, we brought our OEM fastener business now into the main responsibility of our core field sales and field service teams, and we wanted to see acceleration in those businesses, and we are seeing it.

第一個是，我們希望看到公司各業務之間更高程度的整合。例如，我們整併了10年前收購案所留下的舊有銷售團隊；我們也把OEM緊固件業務納入核心外勤銷售與外勤服務團隊的主要職責範圍；我們希望看到這些業務加速成長，而我們確實看到了。

So for example, OEM, our OEM business is growing mid-teens in February, even higher in March. So we're having the behavior change that we wanted to see, which makes us confident in volume. And then we just -- we wanted to see that hunting mentality start to show up, which we are also seeing across the board.

例如，OEM方面，我們的OEM業務在2月以十幾%的幅度成長，3月更高。因此我們看到了我們希望出現的行為改變，這讓我們對銷量更有信心。另外，我們也希望看到「開發」心態開始浮現，而我們也確實在各方面都看到了。

So we're seeing month-over-month improvement, as I said in the prepared remarks, on customers that were impacted. Our core customer exited 2Q with positive volume, national accounts was up low single digits in February and now mid-single digits month-to-date in March.

因此我們看到月對月的改善，正如我在事先準備的發言中所說，針對那些受到影響的客戶。我們的核心客戶在第二季末以正向的出貨量收尾；全國性客戶（national accounts）在2月年初至今為低個位數成長，而3月截至目前（month-to-date）已提升至中個位數成長。

So the biggest -- if you wanted to size the impact of volume or this change on volume in the second quarter, I'll walk you from our outlook. At the midpoint of our outlook was 4.5%, we had anticipated a bigger negative impact for our growth form, which we really didn't see and we got a little more price than we thought. So add 100 basis points to that, that puts us at 5. 5 then take another 100 basis points off for the impact of weather in the public sector and you're looking at a gap of about 150 basis points.

所以最大的——如果你想量化第二季出貨量或這項變動對出貨量的影響，我會從我們的展望帶你推算。在我們展望的中點是4.5%，我們原本預期成長型客戶會有更大的負面影響，但實際上並沒有看到，而且我們拿到的價格也比預期多一些。因此在此基礎上加上100個基點，會到5.5%。接著再扣掉100個基點，反映公共部門天氣因素的影響，你看到的落差大約是150個基點。

So we saw -- we had what we believe was an outsized impact on volume, which is transitional, which is behind us, about two thirds of that impacted national accounts. So that gives you kind of a feeling of why we feel national accounts will recover and the value we can count on the outlook for March and April.

所以我們看到——我們認為出貨量受到了一個偏大的影響，這是過渡性的、已經過去了；其中大約三分之二影響到的是全國性客戶（national accounts）。因此這讓你大致理解，為什麼我們認為全國性客戶會復甦，以及我們對3月與4月展望中可依賴的價值（value）之信心來源。

Got it. All right. That's actually very helpful. And good to hear the national accounts is recovering. Just a follow-up on price then. Are you expecting more price increases from your suppliers? And maybe talk about tungsten because it sounds like there might be another price increase there.

了解。好。這其實非常有幫助。也很高興聽到全國性客戶正在復甦。那我再追問一下價格。你們預期供應商還會再漲價嗎？另外也請談談鎢（tungsten），因為聽起來那邊可能還會再有一次漲價。

Yes. So when we talked -- since we talked to you in January about tungsten, we've taken about -- we've seen price increase notices that range from between 7% to 15%, so the prices continue to climb. Even the market for scrap carbide has gone up 500% since we talked to you last. So there's -- we're definitely seeing pressure. Those price increases probably will become effective sort of May, June.

是的。所以我們——自從1月跟你談到鎢之後，我們已經——看到的漲價通知大約落在7%到15%之間，因此價格仍在持續攀升。甚至硬質合金廢料（scrap carbide）的市場價格，自從上次跟你談之後已上漲了500%。所以——我們確實看到壓力。這些漲價大概會在5月、6月左右生效。

So we will likely have another pricing action around that time. We're -- we don't know where this will end. I still would say what I said in January. I don't think the suppliers have captured all of it. We're starting to see a little bit of supply constraint now.

因此我們很可能會在那個時間點附近再採取一次定價行動。我們——不知道這會在哪裡結束。我仍會重申我1月說過的話。我不認為供應商已經把全部的成本上漲都反映進去了。我們現在也開始看到一些供給受限的情況。

And Ryan, this is Ryan. Just come over the top. We took a little surgical price increase in March, less than 1% but as you think about 3Q year-over-year, the price benefit should be pretty similar to what we saw in 2Q, just to give you a little color on that.

Ryan，我是Ryan。補充一下。我們在3月做了一次比較精準的（surgical）小幅漲價，不到1%；但如果你看第三季的年對年（year-over-year），價格帶來的效益應該會和第二季看到的相當接近，提供你一些背景。

Ken Newman, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Ken Newman，KeyBanc Capital Markets。

So maybe to follow up on the pricing question. It sounds like you feel pretty confident in improving volume trends here in March to date. But just given all the uncertainty in the macro, I'm curious if there's a way for you to decipher if the customer conversations have suggested that there's been a negative impact on the uncertainty? And is there a risk that starts to get pushed out to the right?

那我可能延伸追問一下定價的問題。聽起來你們對3月截至目前的出貨量趨勢改善相當有信心。但考量總體環境的不確定性，我想知道你們是否有辦法從與客戶的對話中判斷，這種不確定性是否已對需求造成負面影響？以及是否存在風險，讓這些需求被往後遞延？

We are, as I said, in deep conversations with customers. So we're at the phase where they're starting to assess potential risks and they want to understand supply, security of supply, but we haven't seen any change that would suggest that the demand is slowing down. It's the opposite. They see demand picking up and they want to make sure that their supply is secure. That's what we've seen so far.

如我所說，我們正與客戶進行深入的對話。所以我們目前處在他們開始評估潛在風險的階段，他們想了解供應、供應安全（security of supply），但我們尚未看到任何變化顯示需求正在放緩。反而相反。他們看到需求正在回升，並希望確保他們的供應是穩定且安全的。這是我們目前看到的情況。

Understood. And then maybe for the follow-up. I understand that the tungsten oriented inventory is only about 15% of the portfolio. But maybe could you just give us a little bit of color on, one, how much of that is going through the core customer versus national accounts as we think about that price mix dynamic? And then secondly, what is -- can you remind us just how do you source that tungsten?

了解。那再追問一下。我理解以鎢為導向的庫存大約只占產品組合的15%。但就價格組合（price mix）動態來看，你能否再多提供一些背景：第一，其中有多少是走核心客戶、多少是走全國性客戶（national accounts）？第二，能否提醒我們你們是如何採購這些鎢的？

Is there -- I'm guessing it's index based, but is there an inherent lag relative to how that price is versus the spot?

是否——我猜是依指數（index）計價，但相對於現貨（spot）價格是否存在內含的時間落差（lag）？

So we don't source tungsten, right? We resource carbide cutting tools. So what you're seeing -- I mean, some of our suppliers do have some level of backward integration to tungsten. But what we're tracking, obviously, is we're tracking the price of tungsten as an input to carbide cutting tools, but we're monitoring the supply for that. I'm not sure if I understood the question, Ken.

所以我們並不採購鎢，對吧？我們採購的是硬質合金（carbide）切削刀具。所以你看到的——我的意思是，我們的一些供應商確實在某種程度上有向上游整合到鎢。但我們追蹤的顯然是鎢作為硬質合金切削刀具投入成本的價格，同時也在監控其供應狀況。Ken，我不確定我是否理解你的問題。

Yes. I guess the ultimate question I'm trying to get a sense of is what is -- maybe deciphering how much of the pricing is coming from tungsten-oriented inventory versus the broader portfolio?

是的。我想我最終想掌握的是——也許是拆解一下，有多少定價變動是來自以鎢為導向的庫存，多少是來自更廣泛的產品組合？

Yes, Ken, I'll give you a little color on that. The price increase we took in mid-January, we said low single-digit range. A good portion of that was on the cutting tool side. And as you heard Martina in the last question from Ryan, we anticipate some further pricing moves in the May to June time frame. I would say it would be a similar -- it'd be a good portion on the cutting tool side.

是的，Ken，我給你一些背景。我們在1月中旬採取的那次漲價，我們說是在低個位數區間。其中相當一部分是在切削刀具端。而且如你在上一題聽到Ryan提到Martina所說，我們預期在5月到6月的時間窗還會有進一步的定價動作。我會說會是類似的——其中相當一部分也會在切削刀具端。

We have started to get notices from other suppliers as the conflict continues, so anything that has -- I mean you can imagine the portfolio that might be impacted, there's fuel surcharges and discussions. So it's not only going to be carbide, I think, that we'll see going forward. But that -- up until this point, that's been the big mover.

隨著衝突持續，我們也開始收到其他供應商的通知，所以任何具有——我的意思是，你可以想像可能受影響的產品組合，包含燃料附加費（fuel surcharges）以及相關討論。所以我認為未來我們看到的將不只會是硬質合金（carbide）。但——截至目前為止，最大的推動因素一直是它。

Tommy Moll, Stephens.

Tommy Moll，Stephens。

Martina, I want to make sure I heard you correctly, December was the last planned round of significant head count actions. And assuming the answer there is yes, that I heard you correctly, what's your confidence level in the disruption from all the sales organization changes fading as quickly as it sounds like you're assuming.

Martina，我想確認我是否聽對了：12月是最後一輪計畫內、較大規模的人力（headcount）調整。若答案是是、我確實聽對了，那麼你對於所有銷售組織變動所造成的干擾，能像你們假設的那樣快速消退，有多大的信心？

I mean, noted that the most recent quarter, perhaps the headwinds were a little bit worse than expected, but that you've seen some more recent signs that are really encouraging. These progressions tend to not be linear. And so I'm just curious what your conviction level is that it's all clear from here or all better from here.

我的意思是，注意到最近一季，逆風可能比預期稍微更嚴重一些，但你們也看到一些更近期、非常令人鼓舞的跡象。這類進展往往不是線性的。所以我想知道，你們的確信程度有多高，認為從這裡開始就一路順風、或至少會一路改善。

I appreciate the question, and I appreciate the comment that this is disruptive. We believe that it was 100% necessary. So we have to bring it to balance indirect resources versus direct resources. We had to change the sales culture back to a hunting culture and enable people to do that. So there are a lot of positives going on right now in our sales force.

我很感謝這個問題，也感謝你提到這確實具有干擾性。我們相信這是百分之百必要的。因此我們必須讓間接資源與直接資源之間回到平衡。我們必須把銷售文化改回「開發型」（hunting）的文化，並讓同仁具備做到這點的能力。所以我們的銷售團隊目前有很多正向的事情正在發生。

New tools, new support like the growth forum, new compensation plan, which is very lucrative to the hunting behavior that we want.

新工具、新的支援（例如成長論壇）、新的薪酬方案，對我們希望推動的「開發／獵戶」行為而言非常有利可圖。

And it's -- I'm not going to share too many details for competitive reasons. But when you look inside the portfolio, and you take out maybe the customers who had a later introduction to the changes because of the attrition that we mentioned. We're seeing growth rates that are very exciting. And so I do believe we'll still have attrition. Selling right now in MSC doesn't feel like it did six months ago, and it doesn't feel like it's going to six months from now.

而且這——基於競爭因素，我不會分享太多細節。但當你深入檢視投資組合，並剔除一些因我們提到的流失而較晚才導入這些變更的客戶。我們看到的成長率非常令人振奮。因此我確實相信我們仍會有流失。目前在 MSC 的銷售感受，已不像六個月前那樣，也不像六個月後會是那樣。

But we're building an engine that will deliver sustainable organic growth for the long term, and I feel very confident that we're on the right track.

但我們正在打造一個引擎，將在長期帶來可持續的有機成長，我非常有信心我們走在正確的軌道上。

And Tom, maybe I'll give a little bit more detail on February and March. February, that growth rate is a little masked by public sector was down mid to high teens. Reason being is the partial government shutdown delayed funding, and we had a tough comp there. As you heard Martina say, in February, core was up mid- to high single digits. National Accounts was up low single digits.

Tom，也許我可以再多補充一些二月和三月的細節。二月的成長率有點被掩蓋，因為公部門下滑約中到高十幾個百分點。原因是部分政府停擺延後了資金撥付，而且那裡的比較基期也很艱難。如同你聽到 Martina 說的，二月核心業務成長約中到高個位數。全國性客戶（National Accounts）成長約低個位數。

And then as we look at March month-to-date before we go against that Good Friday headwind. The core is growing at a similar rate and national accounts is up a little bit more than low single digits. So we're starting to see that improvement now that Martina is alluding to.

接著看三月至今（month-to-date），在我們面對耶穌受難日（Good Friday）這個逆風之前。核心業務以相近的速度成長，而全國性客戶的成長略高於低個位數。所以我們開始看到 Martina 所提到的那種改善。

So pivoting to a broader demand discussion. To the extent you can exclude all the factors the MSC specific factors that you've already identified that impacted recent results. Is it possible to just benchmark the tone of some of the end market dynamics or customer conversations? I don't know, year-to-date, quarter-over-quarter, however you want to slice it feel like things have gotten a little better or stay the same?

那把話題轉到更廣泛的需求面討論。在你已經指出、影響近期結果的所有 MSC 特定因素都先排除的前提下。是否可以就終端市場動態或與客戶對話的氛圍做個基準比較？我不確定，用年初至今、季對季，或你想怎麼切分——你覺得情況有變好一些，還是維持不變？

Yes. Thanks for the question. I mean we do. That's why we said it's a little bit of a mixed picture right now. But we're looking for improvement and recovery in fabricated metals and primary metals, and we are seeing it.

是的。謝謝你的問題。我的意思是，我們確實有看到。這也是為什麼我們說目前的情況有點混合。但我們正在尋求並看到在金屬製品（fabricated metals）與初級金屬（primary metals）的改善與復甦。

And we are outgrowing IP in both of those end markets. That gives us confidence for the continued core customer recovery. And then even some of the other segments, I mean, let's leave aerospace to the site, but even some of the other segments where we're heavily indexed in national accounts, like ag and automotive. They're definitely not getting worse. We're seeing some beginning signs of life.

而且在這兩個終端市場，我們的成長都快於 IP。這讓我們對核心客戶持續復甦更有信心。再者，即便是其他一些區隔——先把航太放一邊——但在我們於全國性客戶中權重很高的其他區隔，例如農業與汽車。它們確實沒有變得更糟。我們看到一些開始回溫的跡象。

Some of it may not impact us in our fiscal year because it will be -- they're sort of projecting changes and investments that will impact the back half of the calendar year, but we're definitely -- things are waking up and shaking up with some of our biggest national accounts.

其中有些可能不會在我們的會計年度內反映，因為——他們正在預估一些變動與投資，將影響到曆年下半年；但我們確實——我們一些最大的全國性客戶正在開始甦醒、出現變化。

Patrick Baumann, JPMorgan.

Patrick Baumann，摩根大通（JPMorgan）。

Just wanted to follow up on a couple of things. Just on the pricing comment. So I think I heard you say that there was a surgical increase in March in addition to what you did in January, and then there's more to come in May.

我想針對幾件事追問一下。先談定價的評論。所以我想我聽到你說，三月在一月的動作之外又做了一次精準（surgical）的調漲，而且五月還會有更多動作。

But then I thought you said that the year-over-year price in the back half would be like similar to what it is in the second quarter which I guess makes some sense because of the year-over-year comps maybe. But maybe just clarify, I just want to make sure I heard that right.

但接著我又以為你說，下半年年對年的價格變動會和第二季差不多——我猜這也合理，因為年對年的比較基期可能如此。但能否再澄清一下，我只是想確認我聽得沒錯。

So maybe like 6.5% to 7% price in the back half is kind of what you're thinking at this stage? Or is that off?

所以例如下半年大概 6.5% 到 7% 的價格（漲幅）是你們目前的想法嗎？還是我理解有誤？

Yes. I think, yes, we're going to start to comp some of the actions that we took last year when the tariffs first started to roll out and maybe for modeling purposes, Ryan, you can --

是的。我想，是的，我們將開始與去年採取的一些定價動作進行比較，當時關稅剛開始推出；也許就建模目的而言，Ryan，你可以--

Yes, Patrick. Yes. So we start comping again some of our pricing actions here at 3Q depending on the timing of the late May or May, June price increase the comps get tougher in 4Q. So as you model the back half, I would -- you're exactly right. I just taking that 6.5% to 7% range on the pricing front.

是的，Patrick。是的。我們在第三季開始再次與我們部分定價動作做比較，視五月下旬或五月、六月那次調價的時點而定，第四季的比較基期會更艱難。所以在你建模下半年時，我會——你完全正確。我會在定價方面採用 6.5% 到 7% 這個區間。

And is there any impact from like the evolving tariff situation on that in terms of the changes that have been -- you have talked about with [APA] versus Section 122 or what have you?

那在關稅情勢持續演變下，這方面有任何影響嗎？例如你們談到的 [APA] 相對於第 122 條（Section 122）之類的變化？

No. That -- the math on that work out to be fairly stable for us right now. And remember, we're not the importer of record for three quarters plus of what we bring in. So we haven't seen any meaningful movement on -- from our suppliers right now. So right now, sort of modeling stability.

沒有。就我們目前而言，那部分的計算結果相當穩定。而且請記得，我們進口的貨品有超過四分之三，我們並不是名義進口商（importer of record）。所以我們目前沒有看到供應商端有任何顯著的變動。因此目前在建模上，算是穩定。

Understood. And then a follow-up on the headcount. So like I know we talked about, I think, the field associates side, but if you look at total heads, they were down about 240 in the quarter sequentially which is more than -- I think we were expecting like 100 people, and you talked about some attrition in field associates as well.

了解。接著追問人力編制。我知道我們談過——我想是外勤同仁（field associates）那一端——但如果看總人數，本季較前一季減少約 240 人，這比——我想我們原本預期大概 100 人還多，而且你也提到外勤同仁有一些流失。

Just curious, as you look forward, like in the near to medium term, like do you see potential for cost cuts from like redundancies similar to what you found in the second quarter? Do you think that this will be an ongoing lever in terms of OpEx opportunity?

想請教，往前看，在短到中期，你是否看到像第二季那樣，因冗餘而有進一步削減成本的可能？你認為這會是持續性的槓桿，用於營運費用（OpEx）的改善機會嗎？

Or are we kind of like -- I'm asking a context, you had a slide there for supply chain heads. I don't know what's in the other head count. So just trying to understand a little bit better, like how you think the total head count will evolve over the next, I don't know, 6 to 12 months or 24 months or however long you're willing to talk about it?

還是我們有點像——我是在這樣的背景下問：你們有一張投影片是供應鏈的人頭數。我不清楚其他人力編制包含什麼。所以只是想更了解，你們認為未來總人力編制在接下來大概 6 到 12 個月或 24 個月——或你願意談的期間——會如何演變？

Yes. Thank you. So our ambition, Patrick, which we've stated publicly, we want to restore MSC to the mid-teens level of operating margin. And in order to do that, we have to accelerate organic sales growth, which is behind this first range of initiatives, and we've got to challenge all of our cost structures. And that includes some legacy structures like we collapsed in this last change of the sales force.

是的。謝謝。所以我們的企圖心，Patrick，我們也公開說過，我們希望把 MSC 的營業利益率恢復到中十幾％的水準。為了做到這點，我們必須加速有機銷售成長——這也是第一波措施背後的原因——同時我們也必須檢視並挑戰所有成本結構。這也包括一些既有的架構，例如我們在上一次銷售團隊調整中所整併的部分。

And there are other places in the business where we will look to change the way that we perform work, and we'll look at automation and AI in the facilities and in the office. And I do think you'll see us continue to try to challenge that cost structure for greater leverage as we continue to grow with mid-teens being kind of the target.

而在業務的其他地方，我們也會尋求改變工作執行方式，並在廠區與辦公室導入自動化與 AI。我確實認為，隨著我們持續成長，你會看到我們持續挑戰成本結構，以取得更高的營運槓桿，而中十幾％大致就是目標。

So if you look, we brought the head count down by more than 400 heads in the last 12 months. The sales changes are done now, but we are making improvements in productivity within the CFCs, which is allowing us to bring head count down. We're deploying AI across the business, which is letting us not replace a treated head count for the moment. But yes, we're absolutely committed to challenging our cost structure.

所以如果你看，我們在過去12個月把人頭數減少了超過400人。銷售端的調整現在已經完成，但我們正在CFC內提升生產力，這讓我們得以降低人頭數。我們正在全公司部署AI，這讓我們目前可以暫時不補回已流失的人力。但沒錯，我們絕對致力於挑戰並優化我們的成本結構。

Stephen Volkmann, Jefferies.

Stephen Volkmann，Jefferies。

Just a couple of quick follow-ups for me. One, I'm trying to think about since this whole tungsten explosion has happened in terms of pricing, how much do you think pricing is up since, I don't know, two years ago or something? I'm trying to think about whether there is going to be some demand destruction because the stuff is getting really expensive or maybe some sort of different product, maybe substitution or something? Just anything in those lines we should be thinking about?

我這邊有幾個快速追問。第一，我在想自從這次鎢的爆炸性事件發生、帶動定價之後，你們認為相較於兩年前左右，價格大概上漲了多少？我想了解的是，因為產品變得非常昂貴，是否會出現一些需求破壞，或是改用不同產品、可能出現替代之類的情況？有沒有任何這方面我們應該納入考量的？

I mean, as the leading metalworking distributor, we are always working with customers to look at substitutions, to take cost out of their business. We took $500 million out of customers' operations last year. And if it were to become an extreme situation, we could always support.

我的意思是，作為領先的金屬加工分銷商，我們一直都在與客戶合作，評估替代方案，協助他們在營運中降低成本。我們去年為客戶的營運節省了5億美元。如果情況變得非常極端，我們也隨時可以提供支援。

But it's not easy to change a cutting tool once a customer is working with certain technology and it depends on what you're doing and what you're cutting. So I think, obviously, there is a limit where anything would create demand destruction. But I think right now, we're supporting customers where they're asking for help, and we'll continue to do that.

但一旦客戶採用某項技術，要更換切削刀具並不容易，這取決於你在做什麼、以及你在切削什麼材料。所以我認為，顯然任何事情都有一個上限，到了某個程度就會造成需求破壞。但我想目前我們是在客戶需要協助的地方提供支援，而且我們會持續這麼做。

On the two-year stack, maybe Ryan, I don't know if I can throw that one over to you, do you have any additional comments?

關於兩年期的比較，也許Ryan，我不知道能不能把這題丟給你，你有沒有補充？

No, I would just say for the cutting tool side, there might be an opportunity to switch to a high-speed steel cutting tool. I mean it varies by customer, whether it's a custom tool. That being said, I think it provides a good opportunity for us to leverage our technical expertise, an ability to drive savings in customers' facilities to offset that inflation. So we look at it as more as an opportunity and also Martina talked about us building our inventory, availability is number one priority of our customers. So we're also taking advantage of that as well.

沒有，我只想說在切削刀具這一塊，可能有機會改用高速鋼切削刀具。我的意思是，這會因客戶而異，也取決於是否為客製化刀具。話雖如此，我認為這也提供我們一個很好的機會，去運用我們的技術專長，並在客戶廠內推動節省，以抵消那個通膨。所以我們把它更多視為一個機會；另外Martina也提到我們正在建立庫存，供貨可得性是客戶的第一優先事項。因此我們也在善用這一點。

Okay. Great. And then I think last year, we were sort of comping against some destock, if I remember correctly. I assume that's kind of ended, but is there any sign of like a restock? Or is anybody trying to get ahead of some of these price increases with some inventory build? Just any commentary there, and I'll pass it on.

好的。很好。另外我記得去年我們的比較基期好像是對上了一些去庫存（destock）。我猜那應該已經結束了，但有沒有看到任何補庫存（restock）的跡象？或是有人為了趕在這些漲價之前，先把庫存拉高？這方面有沒有任何評論？我問完就把時間交回去。

So it's interesting when you think about our business and you have 60% or say, the majority of our business is planned demand there's really no restocking happening there. That's more of a negotiation where we're taking the responsibility to keep the customers' stock. So they're not acting there. And the triggers we look for in terms of prebuy, exceptionally large orders, anything that would signal a change. We're really not seeing a lot of that.

所以有趣的是，當你看我們的業務，約60%或說大多數的業務是計畫性需求（planned demand），那裡其實不太會發生補庫存。那更像是一種協商，我們承擔起維持客戶庫存的責任。所以客戶在那一塊不會採取動作。而我們用來判斷是否有提前採購（prebuy）的觸發訊號，包括異常大的訂單、任何可能顯示變化的跡象。我們真的沒有看到太多這類情況。

There's been some increased pull for certain products. Now that as the conflict is escalating. Obviously, you can imagine the end markets that might have a bit more demand right now. But in general, we haven't seen the big -- if we were expecting a big restock and return to inventories anticipating that -- customers were anticipating an increase in demand. We haven't seen that yet. So neither prebuy for price or restock.

某些產品的拉貨確實有增加。因為衝突正在升級。顯然你可以想像，某些終端市場現在可能會有比較多的需求。但整體而言，我們還沒有看到那種很大的——如果我們原本預期會有大幅補庫存、庫存回升，代表客戶在預期需求增加——我們還沒看到。所以不論是為了價格的提前採購，或是補庫存，都沒有。

Nigel Coe, Wolfe Research.

Nigel Coe，Wolfe Research。

Obviously, we covered a lot of the topics here. On the field office headcount, so just to be clear, are we assuming that the head count from here is fairly stable in the back half of the year? Maybe could you just maybe quantify kind of the cost reduction and what that does SG&A in the back half of the year?

顯然我們在這裡涵蓋了很多主題。關於外勤辦公室的人頭數，為了確認清楚，我們是否可以假設從現在起到下半年，人頭數大致會維持穩定？另外你能否量化一下成本削減的幅度，以及這對下半年SG&A的影響？

Yes. I'll throw the SG&A question to Greg. But the sales head count is not stable in the sense that we are going to fill those traded positions and then we expect to be adding direct sellers, Nigel. Like our goal was to bring into balance direct and indirect. When you have too many indirect sellers, you have too many people being paid on the same sales dollar.

可以。我把SG&A的問題交給Greg。但銷售人頭數並不是穩定的，因為我們會補回那些流失的職缺，然後我們預期會增加直接銷售人員，Nigel。我們的目標是讓直接與間接銷售達到平衡。當你有太多間接銷售時，就會有太多人在同一塊銷售額上領薪。

But as we see sales acceleration, we hope to be able to be adding sellers and covering more customers, which is something MSC has not done for a very long time. But in general, we're not projecting massive changes to the size of what we just cut. But Greg, you want to share any additional color there?

但當我們看到銷售加速時，我們希望能夠增加銷售人員、覆蓋更多客戶，這是MSC很長一段時間沒有做的事。但整體而言，我們並沒有預期在我們剛削減的規模上出現巨大的變化。不過Greg，你要不要補充一些細節？

Yes. I think what I can do is I can give you some color on just what happened in Q2 on the OpEx and then if there's anything more I want to talk Q3, Ryan can jump in. But just to give you some color on the OpEx on a year-over-year basis, we did see the OpEx stuff up about $7 million. This was driven by -- primarily by an increase in personnel-related costs of about $9 million. And of that merit and the fringe benefit inflation are the big drivers there, followed by stock compensation -- stock-based compensation, about $1 million.

好的。我想我可以先補充一下Q2在營運費用（OpEx）方面發生了什麼；至於Q3如果還有要談的，Ryan可以再補充。先就OpEx年對年來看，我們確實看到OpEx增加約700萬美元。主要是由人員相關成本增加約900萬美元所驅動。其中，調薪（merit）與附帶福利成本通膨是主要因素，其次是股票補償——以股票為基礎的補償，約100萬美元。

We had increase in depreciation and amortization as well of about $2 million related to our digital e-com spend, which is what we use for enhancements to the web. We also saw $2 million of additional outbound freight due to rate increases. And also just spend on the investments, which are geared towards solutions growth and other items such as the growth forum for about $1 million. And this is partially offset by the productivity that we've talked about, including the network optimization, benefits as well as some of the head count actions that we're taking.

我們的折舊與攤銷也增加了約200萬美元，與我們的數位電商投入有關，這些投入用於網站功能強化。由於費率上升，我們也多了約200萬美元的出貨運費。另外還有約100萬美元的投資支出，主要用於解決方案成長以及其他項目，例如成長論壇（growth forum）。而這些部分被我們提到的生產力提升所部分抵銷，包括網路優化（network optimization）的效益，以及我們正在採取的一些人頭數措施。

Okay. That's great color. Maybe we'll dive into that as even deeper and off-line. I just want to another crack at the pricing question. First of all, the March price increase that you referred to, did that hit in March? Or was that effective in April? I know it's a small point, but fairly important. Because when we think about the sequentials, if we take March as a good run rate account for the good fit of timing.

好的。這些細節很有幫助。也許我們之後可以再更深入、私下再聊。我想再追問一次定價的問題。首先，你提到的3月漲價，是在3月就反映了嗎？還是4月才生效？我知道這是個小細節，但相當重要。因為當我們看環比變化時，如果把3月當作一個良好的run rate，就需要把時點的影響納入考量。

I think we're using -- if we use normal seasonality month-over-month, we're kind of getting to the high end of your range. So I'm just wondering the 5% to 7%, obviously, a lot better than what we saw in 2Q but does that assume that some of this volume attrition continues into the third quarter?

我認為我們正在使用——如果我們用一般的季節性按月（month-over-month）來看，我們大概已經接近你們區間的高端了。所以我想問的是，5%到7%顯然比我們在第二季看到的好很多，但這是否假設部分的出貨量流失會延續到第三季？

Yes. Nigel, this is Ryan. The March price increase, that was mid-March and keep in mind that we have to get a notice period to our contract customers. So I'd say it really didn't provide that much of a benefit in March as we look into April and May, the midpoint of our guidance assumes growth of about 7%. So that would imply a little bit of volume growth year-over-year and then low single digits, call it, 2%, 3% on the top end of the range.

是的。Nigel，我是Ryan。3月的漲價是在3月中旬，而且請記得我們必須給合約客戶一段通知期。所以我會說，從我們看3月的情況來看，它在3月其實沒有帶來太多好處；但看向4月和5月，我們指引的中位數假設成長約7%。因此這意味著年對年會有些許的量成長，而在區間高端則是低個位數，大概2%、3%。

Feel good about where we're at right now, still had a little bit of some of this sales force optimization noise in March, but it's easing. That's giving us confidence. We talked about the growth rates we saw in March in core national accounts, that's improving. As Martina mentioned, the impact of customers we're improving both month-over-month and year-over-year modestly in March. This is all month-to-date but feel good where we're at right now.

我們對目前的狀況感覺不錯；3月仍有一些銷售團隊優化帶來的雜訊，但正在緩解。這讓我們更有信心。我們談到3月在核心全國性客戶（core national accounts）看到的成長率，那正在改善。如Martina提到的，客戶影響在3月無論按月或年對年都小幅改善。這些都是截至目前（month-to-date）的數據，但我們對目前的狀況感覺良好。

David Manthey, Baird.

David Manthey，Baird。

First off, Martina, you mentioned that you expect volumes to improve through the year. As we look at the year-over-year trends, the comps are pretty easy. I think they're low single-digit negative in April and May. So effectively, this statement on the fiscal year is a bet on June, July and August. And I know we've asked you much a conviction in the outlook a number of times here.

首先，Martina，你提到你預期出貨量會在今年逐步改善。如果我們看年對年的趨勢，比較基期其實相當容易。我認為4月和5月是低個位數的負成長。所以實際上，這個對整個會計年度的說法，是在押注6月、7月和8月。我知道我們在這裡已經多次問過你對展望的信心程度。

But given the fact that your customer event was in February, which is sort of ahead of the conflict, I think there was some optimism growing then. Have you gotten early reads from customer attitudes since the conflict began like in the last month, for example, that still gives you confidence in that growth through the end of the fiscal year?

但考量到你們的客戶活動是在2月、某種程度上是在衝突之前，我想當時有一些樂觀情緒在升溫。自衝突開始以來（例如過去一個月），你們是否已經從客戶態度得到一些早期訊號，仍然讓你對會計年度結束前的成長有信心？

Yes. I mean I think as I shared before, customers are mostly asking us right now to secure supply against an increasing demand that they feel they're going to see. So they want to make sure that we are planning volumes, that they're imagining an understanding. So we haven't seen a dampening of sentiment. And of course, the indexes wouldn't show it yet.

是的。我的意思是，如我之前分享的，客戶目前多半是在要求我們確保供應，以因應他們認為將會看到的需求增加。所以他們希望確保我們在規劃產量／出貨量時，彼此有一致的理解。因此我們沒有看到情緒轉弱。當然，各項指數目前也還不會反映出來。

Yes. Dave, the thing I'd add to is encouraging to see the MBI be above 50 for two consecutive months. That's the first time over a multi-period not seeing anything too concerning from a demand destruction standpoint as of today due to conversations we're having in the field and with customers, I'd say we're probably cautiously optimistic on the end market fundamentals for the remainder of the fiscal year.

是的。Dave，我想補充的是，看到MBI連續兩個月高於50是令人鼓舞的。這是第一次在多期期間出現這種情況；就目前而言，從我們在第一線以及與客戶的對話來看，從需求被破壞（demand destruction）的角度並沒有看到太令人擔憂的跡象；我會說，對於本會計年度剩餘期間的終端市場基本面，我們大概是審慎樂觀。

That's good to hear. And then finally, I too, I'm trying to dimensionalize the impact of these head count changes. So could you tell us when in the quarter the risk happened? I mean I guess you're down 158 field sales heads sequentially and if I heard you correctly, you said you're going to refill those positions. I'm just thinking about how we thread the needle between 9% less year-over-year and adding those people back and then what's the cost impact and you're assuming no sales impact.

很高興聽到。最後，我也在嘗試量化這些人頭變動的影響。所以你能告訴我們這個風險是在本季的什麼時點發生的嗎？我的意思是，我猜你們的第一線銷售人頭（field sales heads）較前一季少了158人；如果我沒聽錯，你說你們會把這些職缺補回來。我只是在想，我們要如何在年對年少9%與把這些人加回來之間取得平衡，然後成本影響是什麼，而你們假設對銷售沒有影響。

So I'm sorry to ask it again. I'm just trying to dimensionalize the changes.

所以很抱歉我又問一次。我只是想把這些變動量化。

No, no. Thank you, Dave, for the question. And we -- like I said, we didn't give you a lot of details in our January call for competitive reasons, I'm happy to share a little bit more now. So the action was -- the sellers -- impacted service people were notified right before Thanksgiving and the action took place throughout the month of December and into January because we did plan that overlap period.

不會，不會。Dave，謝謝你的問題。而且——如我所說，出於競爭因素，我們在1月的電話會議沒有提供太多細節；我很樂意現在多分享一些。所以這項行動是——受影響的銷售人員與服務人員在感恩節前不久收到通知，而相關行動在12月整個月以及延續到1月期間進行，因為我們確實規劃了重疊期。

And when I say we're going to backfill those roles, I mean some of the attritted roles. We permanently contracted the sales force by 130 people. So you're talking about a couple of tens of roles that are vacant that we intend to fill so that we can have the complete complement of sellers that we planned for in this change.

當我說我們會回補這些職務時，我指的是部分流失的職務。我們將銷售團隊永久縮編了130人。所以你說的是大概幾十個目前空缺、我們打算補齊的職務，這樣我們就能擁有在這次變更中所規劃的完整銷售編制。

So depending on the role, the handoff happened quickly and sellers left the company in the month of December. Some of them had not a little bit longer. We had planned a longer transition period but I would say that by mid-January, all of those heads were out, and those were only a very few exceptions that we had to make just because of the longer handover period. It mostly happened in sort of early December.

所以視職務而定，交接很快就完成，銷售人員在12月離開公司。有些人的時間稍微長一點。我們原本規劃了較長的過渡期，但我會說到1月中旬時，這些人頭都已經離開了；只有極少數例外，是因為需要更長的交接期。大多數情況大概發生在12月初。

We have reached the end of the question-and-answer session, and I will now turn the call over to Ryan Mills for closing remarks.

我們已到達問答環節的結束，接下來我將把電話交給Ryan Mills作結語。

Thank you for joining us on today's call. We look forward to seeing you under the road at NDRs and upcoming conferences. Our next earnings call for the fiscal third quarter will be on July 1. Have a good day.

感謝各位參加今天的電話會議。我們期待在NDR路演以及接下來的各項會議上與各位見面。我們下一次會計年度第三季的財報電話會議將於7月1日舉行。祝各位有美好的一天。

This concludes today's conference, and you may disconnect your phone lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的電話會議到此結束，您現在可以掛斷電話線。感謝您的參與。