The Heating, Airconditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) launched a new technology initiative in June called HARDITek.

HARDITek — a total solution package for distributors and manufacturers of HVACR equipment and supplies — employs technology to take costs out of the supply channel and more efficiently service the marketplace.

HARDITek’s mission is to identify and provide proven, supported, and readily accessible technologies for HVACR distributors and the suppliers who support their efforts to ensure that wholesale distributors remain the most effective, efficient, and profitable method of serving the market.

There are currently three exclusively endorsed HARDITek Partners. These partners, Trade Service Corp., Catalog Builder, and TranksLink EDI Solutions, all have a seat on HARDI’s Supply Chain Technologies Committee and work closely with distributor and supplier members and the HARDI staff to tailor their services to the unique needs of the HVACR industry.

Finding, quoting, ordering, invoicing, paying for, and marketing products are usually the largest expenses between channel partners aside from inventory. These processes are rift with manual keying errors, corrections, and customization for special orders. HARDITek targets those processes and provides flexible automated solutions to one, two, or all of those problems. The HARDITek Solutions Matrix and Partner Summaries on the new HARDITek section of the HARDI website (www.hardinet.org/harditek) outline how the inaugural partners can address and solve some of the most common problems faced by distributors and their suppliers.