Industrial Distribution Group, Inc., one of the largest MRO distributors in the industry, announced the addition of Michael Brice as senior vice president and chief information officer. In his role as CIO, Brice will lead all strategic and technical aspects of IDG's corporate-wide information technology and communications systems.

Among his activities as CIO, Brice will focus initially on the implementation of IDG's IT strategy, which involves the standardization of multiple IT systems leading to a common operational platform. As a result, IDG will be able to better support the emerging needs of its customers by leveraging knowledge, resources and capabilities across the entire company, according to IDG.

"Michael joins IDG at a time when IT is rapidly becoming an integral component of our competitive advantage to provide enhanced customer intimacy," said Andrew Shearer, president and CEO of IDG, in a written statement. "His ability to successfully implement our IT strategy will greatly improve our productivity and leverage IT as an overall part of our business strategy. His experience in building global IT systems that support business strategy is unique to our industry. The combination of his expertise in business strategy, operational process improvements, and systems integration will help IDG strengthen our position as [a] provider of value-added services in the MROP marketplace."

Prior to joining IDG, Brice was a partner at Unisys, a business and IT strategy management consulting practice. Before Unisys, Brice held senior management positions at Collaborex and Booz Allen & Hamilton, where he successfully led global technology initiatives. He also served four years' active duty as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. Brice will be based at IDG's Atlanta headquarters.