I don't know how much more I should chime in. I've been in the trenches of distribution as both a buyer and seller. Believe it or not, manufacturers actually need to make money, and don't have much patience with what they refer to as "nuisance business". They do listen when the purchase orders run into hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions a year. The company I worked for had enough clout to mainly buy direct from manufacturers. And we got deeper discounts than internet or mail-order companies because we had actual in-depth inventory on hand. When the conversation came up about getting into internet business ourselves, there was a consensus it would have been counterproductive; more fuss than it was worth. We'd already seen competitors go down the drain due to that.
Companies like McMaster Carr operate on a much different basis because they charge everyone a price substantially higher than retail; they also charge a lot for shipping. They're a convenience model with a huge selection, and have a distinct niche, which is a little different from Grainger, which has many pick-up locations, and more an emphasis on motors, AC, etc.
Auto parts are yet another category - obscene markups. I've interacted with many dealers, selling them this or that equipment; and some of them have told me outright that they make all their money on service and parts, and basically nothing on the cars themselves. Most had dishonest service depts too - and that's not just a stereotype! Oh, the stories I could tell !
The point is, it's easy to be an armchair quarterback when you're not in the same shoes as a mfg like Kodak, juggling a limited budget at the same time as upgrading your own facility and training new people too, and when all kinds of necessary supplies are increasing in price. We should wish them well. It's a tightrope act. Most manufacturers in the best of circumstances are doing good if they make a bottom line 4% profit (after all expenses, payroll, taxes, share distributions, overhead, etc).