Our early history helped shape what is now a strong and thriving company. Employing the same vision of our founder, Rudolph Orlob, Industrial Supply has been able to adapt and shift to best serve the changing business climate.
Our humble beginnings started in 1916 when Mr. Orlob founded the Mountain States Rubber Company that provided the mining industry with much-needed products such as packing, industrial tires, and conveyor belts. Ten years later, amidst a booming Utah economy, Mr. Orlob started Industrial Supply to better serve a wide range of emerging industries. By the 1950’s, the customer base expanded significantly to include steel making, steel fabrication shops and foundries, as well as public utilities, mining, manufacturing, and construction segments.
In 1982, Industrial Supply adapted to the new business climate, shifting its focus to Utah’s emerging aerospace, defense, and construction businesses. By evolving to change with the market, the business continued to grow during a time of downsizing, outsourcing, and modernizing. Philip Thompson III, Mr. Orlob’s grandson and the company’s current Chairman of the Board, knows this concept well. “If you don’t anticipate the future you won’t have any future,” says Thompson.
“If you don’t anticipate the future you won’t have any future”
Phil Thompson
Chairman of the Board
Today, Mr. Orlob's family still owns and manages Industrial Supply, and is continually adapting the company to meet our customers’ needs. We currently offer over 200,000 products to the construction, aerospace and defense, utilities, government, electronic, mining, and manufacturing industries; and we’re proud to be affiliated with leading industrial vendors such as 3M, Kimberly Clark, and Dewalt, companies that have been in business for decades and can bring literally a lifetime of knowledge and product experience to our customers.
