In an unprecedented move, the Heating, Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) recently elected to put their full support behind the efforts of ASA's Center for Advancing Technology (CAT).

HARDI was incorporated in January, 2003 as a result of the merger between NHRAW and ARWI. That group's members recognized for some time that the ASA CAT is one of the very first entities of its kind solely dedicated to developing technology-related solutions and resources for association members' needs. And since there is a significant overlap between the two associations' memberships, and because the ASA and HARDI industries are so closely related, it seemed like the time was right for more formal cooperation.

The new alliance has opened the door for HVAC products wholesalers and manufacturers to take advantage of all of the ASA CAT's services and tools, including:

Industry Database (IDB)

Source+ catalog

EDI Express standard documents

AnsiNet EDI system

LynxDS synchronization tools

HARDI is in the process of developing a task force of distributors and manufacturers to provide feedback to the CAT for future product development. Likewise, it will integrate CAT seminars, presentations and education sessions into the HARDI industry events calendar.

For more information about CAT, contact Kevin Price at 1-800-608-7308 or email kprice@asa.net. To contact HARDI, call 1-888-253-2128, or visit www.hardicat.org.