The Industrial Steel Drum Institute (ISDI), formerly known as the Steel Shipping Container Institute (SSCI), is a North American non-profit trade association representing manufacturers of steel drum containers in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
ISDI’s mission is to promote the common interests of its members through government relations, technical research, education and information exchange, media relations, and generic marketing programs.
ISDI represents the industry before federal agencies and the U.S. Congress, acts as liaison with other industry groups and individual corporations, and plays an active role with international organizations, including the U.N. Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods.
In performing these functions, ISDI continues the tradition of cooperation first established in 1944, when 26 companies banded together to form SSCI. This cooperation enables industrial packaging manufacturers to realize operational, regulatory and marketing benefits that member companies cannot attain individually.
Through its affiliation with other industry groups, the interests of ISDI members are alongside makers of other industrial packaging and around the world:
In 2003, IDSI predecessor SSCI teamed up with the associations of three competing industrial packaging types to form the Industrial Packaging Alliance of North America (IPANA), which addresses domestic regulatory issues that affect all types of industrial packaging. IPANA consolidates various industry-related meetings into more cohesive, cost-effective events, where independent affiliates can deliberate on their respective business and technical needs, and learn about evolving political, regulatory and technical issues of interest to all packaging manufacturers.
The International Confederation of Drum Manufacturers (ICDM) is an alliance between ISDI and similar organizations in Europe and Asia. As a sanctioned observer at meetings of the U.N. Sub-Committee on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, ICDM is a universal voice for makers of steel drums, providing expertise on packaging proposals that influence regulations. ICDM’s member organizations – ISDI, Syndicat Européen de L’industrie des Fûts en Acier (SEFA) in Europe and the Asia Oceanic Steel Drum Association (AOSD) have also recently collaborated on marketing and promotion of the steel drum.
In 2018, ISDI became a proud sponsor of TRANSCAERSM, a voluntary national outreach effort that educates and assists first responders in communities near transportation routes on how to prepare for and respond to a possible hazardous material transportation incident. As part of their sponsorship, ISDI will share information about steel drums that will help first responders do their jobs with greater safety through webinars and videos.
