The Thomas Blog

Environmentally-Friendly Green Manufacturers Committed To Sustainability

These days, consumers demand businesses to be "green" — from green packaging to green solutions to green food — a green company offers sustainable or renewable products or operates in an environmentally-friendly way. Adopting environmentally friendly processes and energy-efficient practices has numerous business benefits and are already at the center of many corporate social responsibility policies and marketing strategies. 

Let's take a look at some small business manufacturers who are committed to sustainability and green manufacturing.

Buying Activity for Packaging Materials in 2020

Buyers are actively searching for new supplier partners for their packaging materials needs in 2020

Buying activity from engineers & procurement professionals sourcing on Thomasnet.com has seen strong growth in 2020 for the packaging materials space. At a glance, the following major sourcing KPIs have seen 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% 

Reshoring Is Creating Opportunities For North American Manufacturers

Why are reshoring efforts accelerating?

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and heightened global trade tensions, companies in North America are working to reshore and find more localized supplier partners to create resilient supply chains. For manufacturers, service companies, and distributors in the United States & Canada, this means there will be an increase in the number of opportunities that become available in the form of supplier evaluations from new buyers.

2020 Industrial Marketing Benchmarks For Manufacturers & Distributors

Thomas has been the market leader in the industrial space for more than 120 years helping manufacturers, industrial distributors, and service providers reach in-market buyers and grow their businesses. With a mission to make constant improvements for all our customers coupled with our 120+ years of experience, we thought it might be helpful to give you some benchmarks for your online lead generation efforts.

The Importance of Marketing and Advertising for Manufacturers During Economic Downtimes

Almost without notice, COVID-19 changed the way businesses operate and how individuals live. The manufacturing industry has shown inspirational resilience throughout historical times, yet the continuous effects of COVID-19 on the economy have pushed the manufacturing industry to reimagine the way they do business. 

Top 4 U.S. Manufacturing Challenges And How To Overcome Them

American manufacturing stands at a critical point in its long history — and how industry leaders view and react to the changing landscape will influence its future. As technology, demographics, and economic climate shift, manufacturers must innovate in order to stay competitive. Manufacturing in particular is positioned for domestic growth and, more than ever, industry leaders must guide their organizations strategically. Let’s take a look at some of the issues facing the industry through the lens of both challenges and opportunities.

How To Keep Up With Changing Technology Trends

There's plenty of coverage and chatter on IoT trends, being replaced by robots, and legacy equipment vs. digital manufacturing in our industry. That's a good thing because technology becomes more integrated with every aspect of our lives each day.

How Manufacturers Can Stay Connected With Customers Through The Coronavirus Outbreak

To limit the coronavirus spread, many companies have gone completely virtual and the workforce in some states is required to stay at home, with the caveat of essential businesses and manufacturers exempt from these mandates. 

Although the world has seen unprecedented changes during the past few weeks, manufacturers and industrial companies need to keep their customers at the center of their business strategy now more than ever. The world we live in is incredibly digital. So for your customers that still have jobs to be done, here’s how you can take advantage of technology and stay connected with them.

Continue To Promote Your Manufacturing Business During An Economic Downturn

Many companies worry about how their business will fare in bad economic conditions, but sometimes opportune outcomes stem from times of economic uncertainty — especially for manufacturers.

With seemingly difficult economic conditions on the horizon, there are plenty of indicators that can seem at odds with one another. Recently, the stock market had its worst week since 2008 while sourcing activity for North American suppliers on Thomasnet.com saw record-breaking numbers. Based on a Coronavirus Impact survey conducted this month, over half of the manufacturers surveyed are ‘likely to extremely likely’ to bring production and sourcing back to North America and 47% of U.S manufacturers report they are now seeking domestic sources of supply — likely the reasons for sourcing surge.