It is part of the evolution of many buying & marketing groups to expand their bundle of services to include a central distribution facility. IDI is no exception and was the first industrial group in Canada to open a distribution centre.

We opened our 15,000 square foot facility in Mississauga in 1997. It was expanded to over 20,000 square feet in 2003. Today there are almost 100 different lines carried there. It also houses our IDI Training Centre. Our intention wherever possible is to work with existing partner vendors, although this cannot always be the case.

This facility operates as a profit centre for the benefit of IDI members, their customers and participating suppliers. Our goal is not to have directly competitive products in the distribution centre. Many vendors are prepared to stock the facility with "factory inventories" to meet their goals of increased sales and increased market share in Canada.

The distribution centre has a well trained staff available to service IDI members. Our customerlink software allows for offsite entry of orders over the web 24 hours a day. A larger and larger percentage of our members are using this capability.

The distribution centre makes IDI a more full service organization and is a major part of our constant goal to increase member services and benefits in a substantial way.