The Thomas Blog

Video: The Best Metro Areas For Manufacturing Jobs

Think it's tough to get a job in the manufacturing industry? While that may be the common perception, the truth is that the manufacturing job market offers more opportunities than you think. 

In fact, Forbes recently looked at the state of the hiring within the industry and found that all but 18 of the country’s 70 largest metropolitan regions have seen an uptick in industrial employment since 2011. They also ranked all 357 metropolitan areas to determine the locations with the best, most thriving manufacturing employment situations.

What Makes A Great Web Page?

Web pages are among the most important types of content in your inbound marketing arsenal. They serve as your company’s introduction to potential clients.

Making a good impression right out of the gate is key — you never get a second chance to make one, as my mother says — which is why I’m always surprised by the sheer volume of poorly put together web pages I come across in the industrial sector. 

Thomas Sourcing Trends: Steel

Buyers and engineers evaluate a supplier on THOMASNET.com every 2 seconds. All of that sourcing activity gives us valuable insight on the movements of typical patterns in the industrial market place.

Over the past few months, we've been watching raw material sourcing closely and we've noticed some interesting trends:

Reduce Costs in Product Design Through Raw Materials

It is often later in the product lifecycle that procurement teams are brought in to lead a competitive bid process and conduct negotiations accordingly. This might seem like a straightforward approach to reducing costs. However, taking a deeper look at your product design and raw materials before the manufacturing phase could be the best way to proactively optimize costs.

The BMW Supply Chain Breakdown: What Happened?

It's no secret that having transparency into your supply chain is essential to mitigating risk. In fact, companies are investing in supply chain visibility and collaboration tools at a faster rate than any other supply chain discipline, putting their money where their risk is. 

Clearly, companies are taking transparency seriously in an effort to stay plugged in to their suppliers. However, in order to ensure a strong, steady and productive supply chain, having visibility into your own suppliers isn't enough – you need to have visibility into their suppliers as well. This is especially true in industries that are driven by outsourcing in an effort to lower costs and shift production requirements. 

This Robot Uses AI To Write And Play Its Own Music

The next star hitting the Billboard charts might not be who or what you expect. It might just be an AI-powered robot.

According to WIRED, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology created a marimba-playing robot with four arms and eight sticks with the ability to write and play its own composition through artificial intelligence.

Video: Autonomous Airbus Helicopter Flies For The First Time

The latest aircraft from Airbus is hitting the skies, but in an unexpected way. The company recently announced at the 2017 Paris Air Show that it will begin flight trials on a helicopter that makes pilots optional. 

Web Design Methodologies: GDD vs. CRO

Although the terms are often used interchangeably, Growth-Driven Design (GDD) and Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) are two distinct methods.

While both involve A/B testing, CRO is essentially a tool under the GDD umbrella.

Meet The Man Who's Changing Train Travel – From His Backyard

89-year-old Max Schlienger has been obsessed with trains ever since he was a child. Now, as a retired engineer, Max is using his time and his knowledge to create a new and improved method of train travel, right in his Mendocino, California vineyard.