3D Printing And Additive Manufacturing Challenges And Opportunities

The outlook for additive manufacturing and 3D printing is promising. Back in 2017, Thomas reported on the increased sourcing activity for additive manufacturing. Although the base technology of additive manufacturing was developed in the 1980s, its use has become more prevalent in the last few years as advancements grow and prices drop. Sourcing activity sessions for additive manufacturing systems in 2020 was up 37.8% compared to 2019. And according to Statista, the global market for 3D printing and services is expected to grow to almost 50 billion U.S. dollars by 2025.

New and Noteworthy Categories on Thomasnet.com for January 2021

Start off the new year with our new sourcing categories to zero in on what you need, from vaccine freezers to silicone spray lubricants to cold chain data loggers. We've added more than 40 new categories to Thomasnet.com® over the past month to help your sourcing all through this next year, and we're showcasing our 13 favorites below.

New Suppliers on Thomasnet.com for January 2021

If your professional new year's resolution is to find more suppliers, you're in luck: we added roughly 13 new companies to our platform every day over the past month, and we continue to add more in the new year. Before you go on to tackle your other resolutions, check out our most interesting new suppliers that can help your company fulfill its procurement goals in 2021. 

How To Get More Sales With Optimized Product Webpages

All roads lead to your product pages. They are, arguably, some of the most important pages on your entire site.

You’ve already attracted and educated prospective buyers, you’ve had positive interactions with them — now they’re on your product page, on the verge of transitioning from “prospect” to “customer.” But will your product page, as it is, secure the conversion?

Luckily, as with all things in the digital realm, your product pages can be optimized. There are several best practices for product pages that will help you to increase conversion rates — here are three that you can implement immediately:

Get Your Dream Customers This Year With Account-Based Marketing (For Manufacturers)

Establishing a truly effective B2B marketing plan can be challenging in today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape. There are many components to an effective digital lead generation strategy, and since buying habits can change quickly, and with technologies quick to advance, how can a growing manufacturer get started?

6 B2B Ecommerce Website Examples To Help You Sell More In 2021

Today, if you want to sell direct to consumers, you need to create a smooth online user experience that instills feelings of trust in your products and services. For industrial distributors, this means designing their website to include a comprehensive, digital product catalog. Engineers and sourcing professionals expect the websites they do business with to provide the same experience as personal shopping websites like Amazon or Target.

The Evolution Of 3D Printing

From reducing costs to increasing efficiency to spurring innovation, many people are excited about the impact that 3D printing will have on the future of manufacturing. However, the truth is, it already has made a significant impact on the industry.

Take a look back at the evolution of 3D printing to see how the phenomenon started and how it has helped the manufacturing industry evolve.

How To Grow Your Packaging Company Online

The packaging industry is expected to continue growing through the new year. In early October 2020, we reported the following major sourcing KPIs for packaging materials seeing a YoY increase vs. 2019:

• The number of sourcing sessions for packaging materials has grown by 25% 
• The number of RFIs submitted directly to suppliers through Thomasnet.com grew 140% 
• The number of supplier evaluations taking place on the Thomasnet.com company profiles of packaging material suppliers grew by 55% 

Here are some ways to ensure your packaging company’s growth plans remain on track.

8 Reasons It’s Great To Work In Manufacturing

The manufacturing industry is one of the largest and most influential sectors of the United States economy. According to ACS estimates, the number of people employed in the Manufacturing Industry Sub-Sector has been growing at a rate of 0.41%, from 15.4M people in 2017 to 15.5M people in 2018.

But what is it like for the millions of people who actually work in the industry? The truth is, it's pretty fantastic. Here are some reasons why: