We all know how to find things like ebooks, music and other digital media online. Increasingly, we as consumers are buying clothing, shoes and many other personal items online as well. But what about the big things, like industrial supplies?
Many warehouses and factories purchase goods and equipment online, but not that many have as yet discovered that they can, if they know where to look,buy all their industrial supplies from a single large online “warehouse.” Instead, they compartmentalized their orders, going to one site for their office supplies, another for their equipment and yet another for their forklift parts.
As anyone in charge of ordering can tell you, this is an inefficient way to buy industrial supplies. It requires keeping accounts with several online and direct suppliers and keeping track of several disparate orders all at the same time.
The efficient way to buy industrial supplies would be to find a single website that sold everything from packaging supplies to forklifts and everything in between. That way, one order could cover everything your company needs each month.
Think for a minute about the advantages of such an ordering system. On regularly scheduled days per month as needed, you could sit down at your office computer and spend a few minutes placing orders for your packaging tape, cardboard boxes, strapping buildozer tape and other regularly industrial supplies. At the same time, you could order forklift parts, chairs and tables for your new lunchroom, lift truck accessories and anything else that is required to keep your factory or warehouse operating smoothly.
After placing your order, you would know exactly when everything was going to arrive at your loading dock and would be there to check that everything was in order when it arrived. This would save you an enormous amount of time, since you wouldn’t be called out of the office to receive a box of packing tape one day, some forklift parts the next day and that shelving unit you’ve been waiting for a few days later.
Is it possible to streamline your operations like this? Yes, but only if you can find an industrial supplies company that has a long history in the business – one that knows materials handling and warehousing inside out. A recently thrown together website just can’t do it for you. You need a company with decades of hands-on experience.
Those few industrial supplies companies that have made the transition from traditional sales to online sales and continue to run their successful core business from long-established physical premises understand the meaning of customer service. They know that your company can’t afford an overlooked box of packing tape any more than you can afford to have the power go out in your factory. One link missing in your supply chain breaks the chain.
Find an online industrial supplies company that has everything you need to keep your business running. Find a company that has decades of experience behind them. Find a industrial roundwood source for your equipment and supplies that knows the meaning of the words efficiency and service. When you find that company, stick with them and enjoy the benefits.
