Bringing the Rust Belt to Cyberspace : Computers: Online Marketplace helps put makers and buyers of hard-to-find products together. Rockwell International of Seal Beach is one customer.
Ever racked your brain trying to find the perfect drill bit that will drill titanium? Or whether there’s a zinc alloy maker in southern Arizona?
The average consumer may not bother looking beyond the nearest hardware store. But parts buyers at companies can spend days trying to locate obscure manufacturing products. Now they can find them by doing quick keyword searches on their computer via Internet databases.
Industry.Net, a Pittsburgh-based start-up, recently launched the Online Marketplace, a business-to-business electronic market that provides product and company information from more than 3,300 national and regional manufacturers and distributors.
Online Marketplace offers electronic catalogues of specific “client” companies, including Rockwell International Corp. of Seal Beach, Honeywell Inc. of Minneapolis, Minn., Hewlett-Packard Co. of Palo Alto, and Armonk, N.Y.-based International Business Machines Corp.
Industry.Net today will announce a partnership with the American Supply & Machinery Manufacturer’s Assn. and the Industrial Distribution Assn. to create an on-line resource for manufacturers and distributors.
Called Maintenance Repair Operations Production, the service will initially include electronic business centers largely from tool makers.
Industry.Net appears to be the first commercial venture of its magnitude on the Internet linking manufacturers and distributors.
Don Jones, founder and chief executive of Industry.Net, said that the Online Marketplace is where the Rust Belt meets cyberspace.
He said buyers of tools or manufacturing products can now save loads of time, and money, by using the constantly updated electronic catalogues rather than cumbersome dated print catalogues, Jones said.
He estimated that industry professionals spend up to 30% of their time finding out where to buy products.
And manufacturers can save money otherwise pumped into producing and revising thick paper product catalogues. They will be able to update information any time they want electronically, another potential boost to revenue.
“We’re moving into a world of information on demand, from one of information whenever I want to send it to you,” Jones said.
“The main benefit of Industry.Net, particularly for small companies, is the elimination of six-inch-high catalogues they have to keep up,” said Paul Callahan, senior analyst at Forrester Research. And buyers benefit by being able to find products faster, he said.
Callahan said he expects other industries to adopt Industry.Net’s model and launch similar services.
In March, Industry.Net set up shop on the World Wide Web, the exploding part of the Internet global computer network with tens of thousands of interwoven channels known as pages or sites. Each can contain text, pictures and video.
The company recently extended its Online Marketplace to offer electronic interactive catalogues, and Jones said that by year-end Industry.Net will allow financial transactions to be made on-line, adding fuel to the emerging arena of electronic commerce.
