D*FIBOIS 2011, ORCAB exhibits its cooperative values

The 2nd edition of the D'FIBOIS trade show, organized by ORCAB - the Organization of Purchasing Cooperatives for Building Tradespeople - will be held in Angers from March 31 to April 1. This will be an opportunity for the 3000 tradespeople/members of the 20 "Wood & Derivatives and Roofing" cooperatives that are members of ORCAB to meet 200 of their suppliers and showcase their values.

ORCAB is, above all, human values

In 1976, Joseph Landreau founded VENDEE SANITHERM, the first French building cooperative for plumbing and heating engineers. Conceived as a response to the high concentration in the distribution sector, its objective was to pool the purchasing power of craftsmen, control their supplies, and also break their isolation. As the project manager of what would become ORCAB in 1990, Joseph Landreau has always considered human values to be paramount in the evolution of the cooperative movement.

Thirty years later, Christian Puau, the current President of L'ORCAB, is still amazed: "I was 30 when I met Joseph Landreau. Despite my young age and my lack of experience, he did not hesitate to entrust me with the responsibility of the first "Wood & Derivatives and Roofing" purchasing cooperative, the UAB - Union of Wood Craftsmen."

This trust in people, in their ability to organize themselves while respecting each person's expertise and expression, is at the heart of ORCAB's development. For Christian Puau, "what unites us is based on a few simple words that have the same meaning for everyone":

Solidarity: "ORCAB helps us evolve and grow. We help each other, we help each other out, we stick together."

Transparency: "The starting price is the final price, there are no unpleasant surprises. We manage our inventory and our product selection."

Listen: "The craftsman is at the heart of the ORCAB cooperative system. We are as attentive to people as to results, we forbid ourselves from saying no by systematically taking into account the requests of our members. A team of employees is entirely dedicated to craftsmen in each cooperative. We talk to each other a lot, that's what makes us strong."

Sharing: "The pooling of experiences, good or bad, unites us and drives us forward. Our cooperatives are a model of the social and solidarity economy: the profits generated are systematically distributed to members and do not go into pension funds."

The clearly stated objective of the D*FIBOIS trade fair is to position ORCAB in its market, to consolidate the group, to work on cooperative values and to continue to come together to gain weight against the competition.

"We want members to become aware of the strength and influence they represent within ORCAB and to gain greater recognition among industrial suppliers," concludes the president of ORCAB.

ORCAB in figures

ORCAB brings together 48 cooperatives and has 1 employees for a turnover of €400 million in 600 sectors of activity: Wood & Derivatives and Roofing / Heating, Sanitation, Electricity / Structural work, Tiling, Roofing.

5200 companies are members of ORCAB, providing 25 jobs in 000 French regions.

ORCAB is ranked 24th in the TOP 100 French building distributors.

In the "Wood & Derivatives and Roofing" sector, ORCAB has now entered the top 10 distributors (9th place) with 20 cooperatives and 540 employees for a turnover of €261 million.

D'FIBOIS in figures

From March 31 to April 1, 2011 at the Angers Exhibition Center

Organized by the 20 “Wood & Derivatives and Roofing” cooperatives of ORCAB

3 visitors expected

Nearly 200 exhibiting supplier partners present

To know more :  www.dfibois.fr - www.orcab.com