Sourcing Engineering Products & Services with ThomasNet.com
Jinfo Blog

By Victor Camlek

Abstract

Designed for those in the manufacturing and supply side of engineering, ThomasNet.com offers a supplier directory, a product search, CAD search and product news components. Recent developments have ensured that the database is vital to the engineering and procurement needs of enterprises across numerous vertical markets - and it's free to use.

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The universe of products runs on meticulously designed parts and components. Unless we're in the business of manufacturing finished products or are the engineers who design things, we may take for granted just how critical it is for industrial firms to get the parts they need within market-based price points that fit the budget. ThomasNet.com grew out of the legacy of the Thomas Register of American Manufacturers. The service, published by Thomas Publishing, has taken its former print catalogue business to the online world in a very successful manner. Most recently, ThomasNet.com has added three new search functionalities to its online supplier agenda. In keeping with the legacy remit, all coverage is focused on North American suppliers. Although used around the world, this is not a global sourcing tool.

FreePint’s Mini Review of ThomasNet.com by Victor Camlek highlights the latest advances in this product. The review provides a summary of the new coverage and includes examples of the recently-added product and CAD search. Not only has the content been expanded but the search has now embraced semantic technology. The review also includes a brief discussion of the product news and industry market trend journals that are available through this service. Of course, the headline news for users will be the fact that searching this extensive resource is completely free. The business model is based on revenue generated from those suppliers who invest in various content and discovery services. The additional highlight is that coverage also includes those suppliers who do not invest in ThomasNet.com. These suppliers are tracked and kept up-to-date by ThomasNet’s web crawlers.

Among the users of ThomasNet.com are engineers and procurement departments within the automotive industry. Searchers from the automotive industry may also want to read more about FreePint’s recent review of QUBE: "just-auto's QUBE Offers In-Depth Analysis for the Automotive Sector".

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