Hughes Supply has realigned its management into five strategic business units centered around existing product groups, each headed by a group president. Jim Holland has been named group president for the plumbing/HVAC unit; Gradie Winstead is group president for the water and sewer, fire protection and concrete unit; Skip Hughes heads the electrical and electrical utility unit; Mike Stanwood is group president for industrial PVF; and Bob Machaby heads the building materials, pool and spa and apartment supplies business unit. Each group president reports directly to Stewart Hall, Hughes Supply’s president/COO.

Holland, Winstead and Hughes had been regional vice presidents. Stanwood had been president of Southwest Stainless, a company Hughes acquired in 1996. Machaby had been a district manager with Hughes’ building materials division.

“We saw that it was time to take our strategy a step further,” Hall told Supply House Times. In the early 1990s, Hughes had organized into a number of regions, essentially based on geography and product. Since that time its sales have grown from $500 million to $3 billion.

“We wanted quicker response time to our customers’ needs, to industry trends and to profit opportunities, even if they are outside of the traditional business as we understand it today,” Hall said. “Our primary considerations are intensifying customer focus, providing greater vendor recognition, and improving and accelerating the decision-making process.”