Progressive Distributor - The big get bigger

Rich Vurva, Editor/Associate Publisher The big get bigger

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The news that the distributor marketing and buying cooperative I.D. One merged with the nations largest marketing group, Affiliated Distributors and its B2B arm, supplyFORCE.com, hardly caught anyone by surprise. A merger rumor has been floating around for months and most industry observers felt it was simply a matter of time before the two groups came together.

However, that doesnt diminish the importance of the event. With the addition of I.D. Ones 48 industrial supply members (with $1.6 billion in sales) and 13 bearing and power transmission members (sales of $900 million), the combined companies now control more than $16 billion in revenue, making it by far the largest organization of its kind.

supplyFORCE.com president and CEO Bill Weisberg calls the move critical in expanding the products and services we offer customers.

I.D. One board chairman Wes Delnea of Windsor Factory Supply in Windsor, Ontario, says joining forces with A-D will benefit distributors and the customers they serve.

In addition, the business potential of supplyFORCE.coms business-to-business e-commerce initiative is exceptional, leveraging the unique combination of the Internet with a proven distribution network, he says.

Ron Cory, president of the Columbus, Ohio-based Ross-Willoughby division of Integra, an I.D. One member, says the merger will help I.D. One member companies in their marketing efforts and enable them to develop a national account presence.

I think theres a consensus that the merger of I.D. One and A-D is a very positive thing for the membership, including ourselves, he says. For us, I think its very consistent with our strategy. Were interested in maximizing our purchasing power, and that helps to some extent.

By joining forces, the industrial division will nearly double in size, putting the combined revenues of member companies on par with the nations largest distributor, W.W. Grainger.

The trick now will be getting the member companies to pull in the same direction. There surely will be some concern about the level of cooperation between companies that previously viewed themselves as competitors.

Some people predicted a merger would never occur, but A-D managed to pull off that coup. So I wouldnt bet against the ability of A-Ds management team to urge the combined organizations to move forward as a cohesive, powerful force in the marketplace.