That's how people referred to the Thomas Register, long the principal business and information source for industrial suppliers, manufacturers, purchasers, and businesses nationally and, recently, worldwide. Published in book form by the Thomas Publishing Company from its inception in 1898 until 2006, the Thomas Register once consisted of 34 1000 + page books, known by their distinctive green covers bordered in black, and listed any product manufactured from the smallest part to the largest assembly, an all inclusive catalog of the industrial manufacturing process. It was also part of every public library's core business reference collection.
In 2006 Thomas Publishing stopped publishing the Thomas Register in book form and became an online only exhaustive survey of manufacturing, calling itself ThomasNet.com. The website is very deep in content, a veritable one stop shop for buyers and manufacturers. Here's how ThomasNet describes itself:
"From a single search box users can search over 607,000 industrial suppliers, indexed by 70,000 product and service categories, and have access to thousands of industrial product catalogs and over 20 million CAD drawings. ThomasNet.com also offers a library of over 800 white papers and case studies on product applications, processes and technologies." Other features include daily industrial news blogs, extensive information on industry trends, discussion forums, RSS feeds and alerts in all areas. If you are looking for news and intelligence on industry ThomasNet should be your first stop.
ThomasNet sees its main function as putting buyers and suppliers in contact with each other. Suppose you are looking for adhesive tape suppliers in Western Massachusetts, ThomasNet's indexing supplies quick links to dozens of local suppliers and manufacturers, together with links to their catalogs, specifications, CAD drawings and websites. ThomasNet also offers a free website evaluation service and free purchasing tools, where purchasers can place Requests For Proposals (RFPs), suppliers place bids for contracts, and bids may be tracked.
ThomasNet also allows companies to register a free profile and to place their catalogs and specifications on their site. Individual users may set up their own free MyThomas accounts, subscribe to industry alerts and news and customize according to their interests. ThomasNet sees itself as covering everything from "actuators to zirconium"
If you are in business and you are looking for parts suppliers ThomasNet is your starting point. Government agencies, Fortune 500 companies, large and small businesses, use ThomasNet. For libraries ThomasNet is still a core reference source; only it is now online. Its indexing is excellent. You can find what you're looking for very quickly. CAD ( computer assisted design ) drawings, often in 3 dimensional display allow engineers and architects the opportunity to select and preview a critical part. White papers allow shared intelligence in critical areas. ThomasNet free tools facilitate the contracting process.
All in all ThomasNet is an essential business tool, a qualitative expansion of the Thomas Register into an online utility. It's even maintained its distinctive green coloring and black accented borders in the online version. And, if that were not enough, Thomas Publishing has expanded its supply/purchasing catalog worldwide through ThomasGlobal.com, modeled after ThomasNet. ThomasGlobal allows you the opportunity to make contact with suppliers/manufacturers in 28 countries, including China and India, the world's fast growing markets.
You will want to Bookmark the ThomasNet site for your business.
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