Walmart Taps ThomasNet To Support Its US Manufacturing Initiative – North American Press Syndicate

(NAPSI)—As part of an overall initiative to support U.S.
manufacturers, Walmart is joining forces with the
noted supplier-discovery and product-sourcing platform, ThomasNet.com.

Walmart has committed to investing $250 billion
in products that will support American jobs by 2023. It’s buying more
products from U.S.
companies to sell in its stores, and helping businesses reshore
their overseas production. Based on data from Boston Consulting Group, it is
estimated that 1 million new U.S.
jobs will be created through these efforts.

Problem—And Solution

But for U.S.
companies that are selling through Walmart, this
program presents both an opportunity and a challenge. Many of them want their
products to be completely American made but they are having a hard time finding
U.S.
sources of supply. That’s where ThomasNet.com comes in. A special
corporate edition of the platform—USA.ThomasNet.com—gives
them immediate access to over 500,000 potential partners, all based in the U.S.

“As a proud supporter of U.S. manufacturing for over 100
years, we were honored when Walmart asked us to
join its domestic manufacturing initiative,” said Tom Greco, vice
president of ThomasNet. “Our Corporate
Edition of ThomasNet.com was designed exclusively for Walmart
to offer its suppliers immediate access to over half a million U.S.
manufacturers of products, components and custom services.”

Cindi Marsiglio, vice
president, U.S. Sourcing and Manufacturing for Walmart,
announced the news during Walmart’s 2015
Manufacturing Summit for more than 2,000 current and prospective Walmart vendors. “If you’re looking for a
product, a component part, a raw material in the U.S., ThomasNet
is a great place to help you,” she told these companies.

An “American Classic”
for More than 100 Years

For over a century, ThomasNet has used its large
resource of North American manufacturers to bring buyers and suppliers
together. Its “big green books”—the Thomas Register—were considered indispensable to business buyers and
engineers. During the last 20 years, ThomasNet has migrated this information to the Internet, which gives new
capabilities to buyers representing corporations, government agencies, the
military, institutions and small businesses. These users can find thousands
of catalogs, millions of 2-D/3-D CAD models and drawings, and hundreds of
thousands of companies on the platform, searchable by more than 67,000
product/service categories.

They can also use Thomas Net.com to solve a variety of challenges—such
as meeting supplier diversity goals, identifying capable local job shops,
finding companies with quality certifications, and getting competitive
pricing on off-the-shelf products.

Exclusive Features

The new Corporate Edition goes a step further. It offers all the
capabilities of ThomasNet.com, along with special features and services for
companies selling through Walmart. For example,
when a Walmart vendor sends a Request for Proposal
(RFP) to a potential supplier, ThomasNet will
follow up to make sure that the company received it, and help expedite
communications. Companies can also add their approved suppliers to the
platform, and invite an unlimited number of manufacturers to reply to a
single RFP.

Learn More

For further information about the special Corporate Edition created for Walmart vendors, see USA.ThomasNet.com.

For more information about the “original” edition, or to start
using this free resource, go to www.ThomasNet.com.