Why Public Relations Matters To Manufacturers

As companies in the industrial sector look for ways to win new customers and keep loyal customers, they need to find ways to stay top of mind in a competitive landscape. From producing videos, creating valuable guides, to being everywhere your buyers are —  a recognizable brand in addition to those marketing tactics can put you in a position to win more business.

Public relations (PR) can help manufacturers boost their brand awareness and drive credibility and sales. Let's outline how you can get started.

How To Become A Defense Supplier

Did you know that the Department of Defense (DoD) spends more than 60 percent of the federal procurement budget eligible for small businesses? In the 2017 fiscal year, DoD awarded more than $60 billion in prime contracts to small businesses.

From anonymized sourcing activity across Thomasnet.com, Thomas Industrial Data shows the Aerospace & Defense Industry is a rapidly evolving field. Continued military spending growth is a sign for suppliers to secure ongoing business and tap into new market opportunities — but today, businesses continue to shift in their sourcing as they pivot to help the country combat COVID-19. Read on to learn how you can become a part of the solution.

Top 5 SEO Examples For Manufacturers

Maintaining a helpful, informative website is critical for reaching your targeted audience and positioning yourself as a leader in your industry. But if your website is out of date or isn’t properly optimized for end users, you’re likely missing out on a lot of valuable lead opportunities and repeat business.

Thomas connects buyers, engineers, and MRO professionals to more than 500,000 North American manufacturers daily — and we’ve created thousands of lead generating websites for manufacturers so we know a thing or two about the industrial space.

According to Pew Research & Merit, millennials are the largest generation in the U.S. workforce, with 73% involved in purchasing products or services for their companies. Why does this matter to manufacturers? Millennials’ involvement in purchasing decisions will continue to grow as they age, and because they are digitally native, they’re doing business online. The strategies you invest in today to maintain your website will either make or break your next new business deal.

To ensure your website stands out from your competitors, and helps you pull in the leads you need, we’ve gathered our top 5 SEO website examples.

Opportunities For Lithium-Ion Battery Manufacturers

In 2019, lithium-ion sourcing activity on Thomasnet.com soared, and the B2B buyer data showed the top two industries driving the trend were software and technology, and healthcare and medical. Today, there are three major lithium-ion battery markets: transportation, electronic devices, and industrial stationary. 

Technology is at the core of the transition, and the next few years will bring significant changes to the industry.

What Manufacturers Need To Know About The Defense Production Act

On January 21, 2021, President Biden signed a series of executive orders including invoking the Defense Production Act to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The order directs federal agencies to make use of the act to increase production of materials needed for vaccines, masks, and testing kits. 

Many manufacturers and engineers have volunteered to address the shortage of supplies to combat the coronavirus pandemic throughout last year but some supplies are taking a long time to produce. Invoking the Defense Product Act (DPA) allows the federal government to direct U.S. manufacturers to ramp up production of emergency medical supplies immediately.

Last year, FEMA confirmed using the DPA for the first time during the coronavirus pandemic to order about 60,000 test kits and 500 million personal protective masks. However, FEMA then announced later that same day, “At the last minute, we were able to procure the test kits from the private market without evoking the DPA.”

The uncertainties of today's crisis coupled with manufacturers' exempt status from state-wide closures signal that the industry should remain prepared for the enactment of the DPA. Here’s what it means for U.S. manufacturers and how they can prepare.

A 2022 Ecommerce Website Checklist For Distributors

According to IBM, 80% of B2B buyers now expect the same buying experience as B2C customers. 

Earlier this month, we showcased six B2B ecommerce website examples to help you get more sales and create a better online experience for customers. To take your lead generation efforts further, we’re outlining a beginner’s ecommerce website checklist to make sure your customers give you repeat business.

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.