NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Thomas, the leader in product sourcing, supplier selection and marketing solutions for industry, has announced the release of Thomas Connect, a solution that makes it easier for OEMs and distributors to deliver the rich, detailed online product data that today’s design engineers and industrial buyers require.
Thomas Connect is built upon the proven Thomas Navigator Product Experience Management Platform, which OEMs and industrial distributors have used to sell millions of products online since 2003. Now users can seamlessly integrate the platform into their websites, and provide an online experience on par with the biggest names in e-commerce.
“In what we call the ‘Amazon effect,’ online sales giants have raised the expectations of today’s industrial buyers,” said Thomas President and CEO Tony Uphoff. “Those buyers and design engineers expect detailed product information at their fingertips, so they can easily evaluate, compare and spec products. Small to midsize OEMs and distributors often lack the resources or data necessary to make that happen at a high level – until now. Thomas Connect is the solution they’ve been looking for.”
For OEMs, Thomas Connect is an efficient way to create and maintain detailed product information, publish it online, and syndicate it to all sales partners. For distributors, it’s an easy way to power their websites with OEM-approved data including CAD and BIM models, supplied directly from the manufacturers they represent.
The Thomas Connect interface makes it easy to use existing digitized product data, or data converted from sources such as print catalogs, Excel files and spec sheets, and create normalized data that buyers can search, sort, compare and download.
“Today’s buyers are as much as 70 percent of the way through the buying process before they reach out to a supplier,” continued Uphoff. “Thomas Connect helps OEMs and distributors get their product info in front of those buyers in the early design and evaluation stages of the process, which increases their likelihood of getting spec’d into the customer’s design.”
The Thomas Connect network presently includes data from over 1,500 North American OEMs. Whether the user is a distributor or OEM, each user’s first connection to a sales partner through Thomas Connect is free.
To learn more, visit business.thomasnet.com/thomas-connect
About Thomas
Thomas provides actionable information, data, analysis and tools that align with and support today’s industrial buying process. Its solutions include the Thomas Network at Thomasnet.com®, industry’s largest and most active buyer/supplier network. Through Thomas Marketing Services, the company provides full-service industrial marketing programs and website development. Thomas Product Data Solutions helps manufacturers connect with design engineers through advanced CAD/BIM and data syndication services. Thomas WebTrax® provides opportunity intelligence on in-market buyers to help marketing and sales teams track, identify, and engage high value prospects. Thomas Insights delivers original content to help marketers and supply chain professionals inform their decision-making, through leading titles including Inbound Logistics®, Industrial Equipment News® (IEN®), Thomas Industry Update, and the Thomas Index™.
