Where does IBT Industrial Solutions turn when it needs access to a new or unique manufacturer? Even though it’s the 10th largest power transmission and bearings distributor in North America (2013 MDM Market Leaders, Modern Distribution Management), a customer still occasionally requires something a little different. So when IBT needs additional manufacturers, they turn to the Independent Distributors Cooperative-USA, also known as IDC-USA.

“We represent over 2,800 different manufacturers,” said Anthony Akin, Director of Marketing, E-Commerce and Information Systems at IBT. “That’s a large number, but IDC gives us access to even more.”

IBT joined IDC-USA in June 2011. The new IDC/IBT partnership has greatly benefited both IBT and its customers.

“Even though we are a top industrial supplier, we sometimes have situations where we need additional manufacturers to meet customers’ specific needs,” Akin said. “It’s all a part of providing exceptional customer service.”

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IDC-USA Has Strong Presence Nationally

Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, IDC-USA offers lots of benefits to its 87 member-owners like IBT. The organization boasts 70 manufacturers, 300+ branch locations across the U.S. and Alaska, and a 50,000 sq. ft. distribution center in Indianapolis—with a second 31,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Reno, Nevada, designed to serve Western states.

“IDC-USA is currently the only U.S.-based, member-owned distributor of MRO products in the power transmission industry,” said Jack Bailey, the President and CEO of IDC-USA. “It also gives IBT’s customers more options and access to better service and expertise, and allows them to keep more money within their community.”

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Humble Beginnings

But IDC-USA wasn’t always this big. Back in 1986, it started out as a few smaller industrial distributors who banded together to get better selection and pricing on things like bearings, lubricant, motors, and hose—in order to compete with bigger industrial suppliers in the market.

The strategy worked. In 1988, they incorporated, and IDC-USA was born.

“IDC-USA provides independent distributors like IBT with the buying power and support they need to thrive in today’s industrial business,” Bailey said. “It also gives IBT’s customers more options and access to better service and expertise, and allows them to keep more money within their community.”

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More Product Choices for IBT Customers

“IDC is important to us because it gives us additional buying power that we didn’t have before,” said Tim Zerger, the Business Group Director of Bearings and Power Transmission at IBT. “We can now purchase from new manufacturers that we didn’t have access to before, and that adds up to more product lines available for our customers.”

Bailey said that the membership benefits are a 2-way street. “The relationship between IBT and IDC-USA has been a great fit,” he said. “IBT has a great reputation for new innovation and approaches in their business, and IDC-USA provides them with additional benefits for their customers.”

IDC-USA also provides its own exclusive line of competitively priced products. The brand is called IDC Select, and is only available to customers of its owner-distributors. The line includes:

• Unmounted and mounted bearings and housings
• Belting
• Bronze bushings
• Chain
• Conveyor belt idlers
• Hose
• Idlers and tensioners
• Motor bases
• O-rings
• Pulleys
• Shafting, shaft couplings, collars and keystock
• Sheaves, sprockets, and bushings
• Torque limiters

“Because of our relationship as an owner-distributor with IDC, our customers can not only buy more product brands from IBT, but they also get better pricing,” Zerger said.

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