The Australian Industrial Supplies Group (A.I.S.) was founded when a need for small businesses to compete with larger chain stores arose. B.J. Bearings have been involved with the A.I.S. buying group since its inception in February 1997.

With an initial membership of nine companies, the advantages of combined expenditure and the resultant purchasing power quickly attracted the interest of national wholesale and manufacturing businesses.

This interest resulted in the group becoming an active entity in April 1997, having produced a member subsidized product catalogue for distribution to end users. These catalogues are released four times a year and are distributed through the local newspapers upon realease.