IDI Marks 29th Anniversary

Montreal, QC — More than 150 delegates attended the 2010 General Meeting and IDI Mart of IDI Independent Distributors Inc., the Mississauga, ON, based industrial buying group, which was held mid-January in Montreal.

IDI is a network of Canadian industrial distributors specializing in bearings, fluid power products, industrial supplies, janitorial supplies, power transmission products and safety supplies that was founded in 1981. The network consists of more than 100 member companies in over 200 locations across Canada, employing about 2,300 employees and having sales in excess of $1 billion. IDI’s Mississauga, ON, office and warehouse consists of 20,000 square feet of space carrying about 100 different lines of products. It also houses the IDI Training Centre.

A significant moment of IDI’s week-long event was when John Morrison, vice-president, supplier relations, presented the group’s latest “Hall of Fame Member Award.” Ed Witten from Bisco Industrial Supply Ltd., Brantford, ON, received the honour this year. Witten had been a member of IDI for 14 years, from 1988 to 2001, and is known by his peers in the industry to be a loyal and constant supporter of IDI. Among his activities with IDI, he was involved in developing the group’s first product catalogue.

Morrison also presented awards to suppliers during IDI’s annual tabletop show, IDI Mart. Awards for best promotion at the show were given to Energizer, Danaher and Topring. Awards were also given for the best booths at the event to Adox/Oki, H. Paulin and Lev- Co. In total, 73 selected vendors attended the event and were able to win valuable prizes during the show by collecting the best poker hand from cards that were available during the placement of orders with exhibiting suppliers.

Morrison wrapped up the event by predicting a great year ahead for the group.

The group’s General Meeting returns to Toronto next year, when it is scheduled for Jan. 25-28, 2011. Next up, though, is IDI’s Annual Meeting and Supplier Summit, which takes place in Kananaskis, AB, June 15-18, 2010. For details, visit www.idiind.com.

Eric Achilles Cousineau is with Machinery & Equipment MRO.