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Two key trade associations in the industrial distribution market have merged. Members of the Industrial Distribution Association (IDA) and the Industrial Supply Manufacturers Association have approved a consolidation of the two organizations.

Headquartered in Atlanta, the Industrial Distribution Association is the oldest and largest trade association for general line and specialty industrial distributors. It has about 500 members with 1,000 distributor locations across North America and Europe. The Industrial Supply Manufacturers Association (ISMA), formerly the American Supply & Machinery Manufacturers Association before a recent name change, has more than 500 member companies in the United States and Canada that manufacture maintenance, repair, operating and production supplies.

The new association, the Industrial Supply Association, will open its doors July 12, with a 12-member board of directors. The new association will focus on streamlining the supply channel, reducing channel costs and better positioning the group to effect change, according to Modern Distribution Management, a newsletter that covers the industrial distribution market. The new executive of the ISA is John Buckley, former head of the National Paper Trade Association, a group of distributors, manufacturers and representatives in the industrial and commercial paper industry.

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