Strength in Numbers: Marketing the Independents

摘要

IBC (formerly industrial buyers consortium) has come a long way in its brief three-year existence. Created in 1999 as a buyer's group, IBC has become perhaps the fastest growing distributor/manufacturer cooperative in the nation. Formed to provide independent distributors with the tools necessary to compete in today's business climate, the management team combines the fresh ideas of its thirty-something founders with the experience of some long-time industry professionals. The Hartford, Conn.-based group's goal is to complement the strengths of those distributors. As important as price and delivery are, in-depth knowledge about finding and using the right tools for the job remains the independent distributor's ace in the hole. It is knowledge only gained through experience; through years of walking the manufacturing floor, observing experts in cutting, grinding, measuring and forming; through years of answering emergencies with substitutes and faster deliveries, or better products to replace failures.