The Thomas Blog

An Investment In Marketing Is An Investment For Your Whole Business

Producing results without the right resources is a huge challenge, especially when you’re under extreme pressure to do so. When budgets get tight, it’s even more important to be able to prove your worth.

Luckily for industrial marketers, when it comes time for budget evaluations, we can produce quantifiable results demonstrating the value of our efforts. In fact, a 2017 ENGINEERING.com market research report found a direct connection between digital marketing investment and company revenue. As a result, the majority of respondents reported being rewarded with a boost in resources.

If you find that your marketing team is still fighting for funding, here are a few things you can take to your department heads to make the business case for it.

Students Will Get To Test Drive Self-Driving Technology

From GM to Google, technology companies and auto manufacturers alike are investing heavily in the development of self-driving cars. However, along with creating a new technology, they're also creating an entirely new industry – one that will need knowledgeable and technologically gifted professionals in order to drive it forward and ensure its success for years to come.

A Chat With Dan Kaskinen, Rising Supply Chain Star Megawatt Winner

In 2014, Dan Kaskinen sat in the audience of ISM2014 and learned about a brand new program launched by THOMASNET.com and ISM called the 30 Under 30 Rising Supply Chain Stars Recognition Program. Three years later, Dan has not only been named a Rising Star, he’s this year’s Megawatt winner.

Video: Amazon Patents A Clothing Manufacturing Process

It looks like Jeff Bezos and the team at Amazon are getting busier. According to recent reports, Amazon was awarded a patent for an on-demand clothing manufacturing warehouse.

The 4 Technologies That Will Shake Up Your Supply Chain

The supply chain is going digital. In their annual industry report, Deloitte and MHI found that 80% of supply chain professionals believe that digital supply chains will overtake traditional supply chain models within the next five years.

Driving Compliance And Cleaning Up Your Tail

Tail spend optimization can be the key to reducing costs and increasing the overall performance of your supply chain. However, many organizations fail to properly analyze their tail spend, or they don't take the proper measures to clean it up and ensure compliance. 

Fortunately, there are some proven methods you can use to clean up your tail.

3 Characteristics Of Effective Content

Content marketing less true; content is still a foundational element of any inbound marketing scheme worth its salt.

If you’re thinking, Andrew, you’re a professional writer, you’re biased, well … you’re right. I am biased. That doesn’t make the phrase any less true, either. If a grocer told you “vegetables are good for you,” you wouldn’t respond that he’s biased and therefore his statement is untrue. Would you?

What To Avoid In Your User Journey: Key Takeaways From ConversionXL Live 2017

ConversionXL Live is an annual conference that provides web designers, developers, and strategists a forum to learn from optimization experts. The event is also a fantastic networking opportunity, as it brings together more than 75,000 practitioners every year.  

This year’s conference agenda was broken into three themes:

• Day 1: UX & Digital Analytics
• Day 2: Optimization & Testing
• Day 3: Growth & Success

What B2B Buyers Look For When Selecting Suppliers

Creating a shortlist is an essential component of the supplier discovery and selection process. But what, exactly, are supply chain professionals looking for when making their lists?

To find out, Thomasnet.com conducted an informal survey of our users – buyers, engineers and procurement professionals – to find out what factors they consider the most important when evaluating new suppliers.