After more than 35 years running a distribution business, Hartco has decided to focus on its franchising business exclusively.
Through an outsourcing partnership with Mississauga, Ont.-based Tech Data Canada, Hartco has handed over the distribution of products for its franchises mainly MicroAge and CDN Top 10 solution provider Metafore to the broadline distributor.
This deal was four months in the making, according to Rick Reid, the president of Tech Data Canada.
“Hartco has been in distribution for a long time, but the world changes and we had a great opportunity to have a discussion with them about their future plans. When we looked at this opportunity; to put it in the hands of an exclusive distributor it had an appeal,” Reid said.
The Montreal-based Hartco Distribution’s main concern was improving the service levels and enhancing operational performance, while focusing exclusively on franchising activities, including business development and marketing activities for MicroAge locations from coast-to-coast.
Maurice Iulianella, vice president of Hartco Distribution, said in a prepared statement that the ability to leverage Tech Data’s state of the art distribution facilities, significant inventory position and rapid delivery will enhance service levels and help the company adapt its business model to emerging market trends.
“Tech Data’s advanced logistics capabilities and the proven ability to integrate technology, people and processes into best-in-class logistics solutions were key factors in our decision to partner with Tech Data,” Iulianella said.
Reid added that Tech Data Canada and Hartco were already doing business prior to the discussions. “They got a good taste for what we are able to provide. They wanted to ensure that everything they do was at the right price point and as good as or better than what they had from a service perspective,” he said.
For Tech Data Canada this deal helps the distributor reach its goal of being either No. 1 or No. 2 with each vendor they do business with. Reid said that in distribution bigger is better and the more volume you have the more share you can obtain from each vendor.
“With this deal the share from each vendor line increases and share is important for us if we were No. 2 with a specific vendor this deal gets us to No. 1 and if we were No. 3 it now gets us to No. 2. With that you get more attention from the vendors and that brings about better availability. With Hartco we should be able to get more stock in and that indirectly benefits every reseller,” Reid said.