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Manufacturers Invade the Internet
Connecticut companies gear up to use the Web for sales, service and support
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Business New Haven
1/10/2000
By: Linda G. Mele
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Business-to-business e-commerce is going to be the fastest growing segment of all Web-based commerce. That's the conventional wisdom of the cyber-gurus, and it's echoed by Mark Mayer, director of sales and marketing for Bead Industries in Bridgeport.
Although Mayer says his company's current site (www.beadindustries.com) offers little more than a company history, Bead webmasters are busy creating "a new and better site" so they won't be left behind when business-to-business e-commerce explodes as promised.
"The Internet is going to be indispensable to manufacturers," Mayer says.
David Reilly, CEO of NRG Networks (www.nrgnetworks.com), the company that facilitates the Manufacturers Alliance of Connecticut's Web site (www.mact.org) and has created about 1,500 others, agrees.
"It's probably not going to be used as much for sales as other types of sites," Reilly notes, "although interactive ordering systems will be key components. Manufacturers will use Web sites to generate qualified leads that will turn into sales, and to foster name-recognition.
Reilly argues the Internet is "the ultimate level playing field.
"The computer screen page is the same size for everyone," Reilly says. "It's not like the difference between a one-line ad in Thomas Register and a full-page ad. On the Internet, the little shops can compete successfully with the big guys and nobody has to know they're small."
Reilly notes, however, that the old saying, "If you build it, they will come" doesn't apply to the Internet.
While Internet search engines are seen as a magnified Yellow Pages, finding a company that manufactures a specific product or part isn't necessarily that simple.
"The search to find a specific Web site is hampered by the number of sites out there," Reilly explains, "so a company's placement on one or more search engines is the absolute key to a successful Web site.
"And if companies don't have a marketing plan before they design their Web sites, they might as well take the money it's going to cost them and go on vacation or burn it in the parking lot," Reilly says.
Because BIC Corp. manufacturers consumer products, its Web site is largely consumer-oriented, according to Linda Kwong, BIC's director of corporate communications.
BIC's site features a mixture of animation and information for consumers about its facilities, the company's history, job opportunities and facts such as that some three million ballpoint pens, 2.5 million shavers and one million lighters are manufactured every day in the Milford plant.
There is a small section directed at the business community which answers questions about how to become a distributor of BIC products, how to obtain Material Safety Data Sheets, how to submit ideas for new products and how to get logos imprinted on BIC products.
"We've had the site for two and a half years," Kwong says, "and we're looking to change it.
"We plan to use the Internet in new and exciting ways in the new year and beyond," Kwong says.
Reilly, who along with partner Todd Carew founded NRG in 1996, is counting on the fact that manufacturers of all sizes will recognize the need to be on the Internet and how it will change the way companies do business.
"The Web site will be an integral part of the company," Reilly says, "so its development should be given as much care and attention as an annual report or sales brochure."
The ideal site will include a company history, a virtual tour of the facility, online catalogues, an interactive ordering and tracking system and a means to ask questions about products the company makes.
"It's not just a glorified brochure, either," Reilly says.
According to Reilly, to do it right takes at least three to six months of planning and development.
"Anyone who tells you it can be done in two weeks isn't going to produce a top-notch site," he says, "and anything less than a top-notch site is a waste of money."
Reilly also cautions companies which imagine they can buy Web site-development software, create a site, put it on the Web and just wait for the leads to pour in. "It won't work," Reilly says.
"We spent three years with our R&D team figuring out the best way to get the highest listings on the search engines," Reilly says, "because different search engines use different criteria for placement.
"In most cases, if you enter the word 'widget' and ask for a search, you'll get the top ten sites that have widgets. If you want others, you have to keep hitting the 'Next' button," Reilly explains. "How many times will someone hit that 'Next' button? Will they stop before your company name comes up?"
As a professional Web site development company, NRG focuses on getting Web sites in front of their target markets.
"Actually, we do it backwards," Reilly says. "We have a lot of questions we ask like who the target market is, what the Web site is expected to accomplish, what features the company thinks should be on the site and who
is going to monitor it.
"A good Web site is never 'done.' It should always be evolving and changing. The information should be updated daily, like a newspaper. People don't want to read the same news day after day and neither will they want to see and read the same information on a Web site day after day," Reilly says.
MAC Sales and Marketing Director Donald Marold says many of his organization's members have "benefited greatly" from the Internet.
"The search to find a company that makes a specific product or part is made a lot easier when customers can log on and find them rather than calling many companies on the phone and waiting for someone to call back," Marold explains.
"And organizations like ours can use the Internet to provide our members and others with information that directly concerns them," Marold adds.
The MAC site, for example, lists its members and includes the Internet addresses of those members that have Web sites and information about who to contact regarding the development and creation of Web sites in general.
Reilly says manufacturers need Web sites because the economy is moving toward more standardized processing "and those without an Internet presence are eventually going to be left behind."
In addition, a Web site can be a boon to smaller companies with limited personnel resources.
"With a Web site, customers can contact the company 24 hours a day, seven days a week," Reilly says, "using interactive processes or e-mail making it easier for smaller companies to answer questions, track orders or provide information."
Also, "Administrative costs can be reduced because one or two people can do the work of many in less time through the use of the Internet and a successful, properly planned and developed web site."
Obviously, since Reilly has a Web site-development company - one that creates Web sites for retail operations, businesses, corporations, manufacturers and others involved in e-commerce - he believes companies should use a professional Web site firm to design and create their sites.
"We have the expertise in this field," Reilly says. "Manufacturers should concentrate on what they do best - manufacture things. They wouldn't consider handling their own legal matters; they would hire a professional. This is no different."
Reilly says the old adage "You get what you pay for" holds true when it comes to Web site development. Companies that are considering the purchase of a $49.95 software program from the local computer store would do well to remember that.
In addition to being an advertising medium, Web sites can be important direct sources of revenue generation even for manufacturers.
For example, by including information about bulk sales and private imprinting on its site, BIC can reach other businesses that might be interested in large purchases to give away as premiums to its customers.
A company that manufactures paper bags, pencils, quarter-inch washers or hex bolts conceivably could eliminate its salaried sales force or distribution network and do business solely online.
And, if properly developed, companies that produce customized products could use the Internet to advantage by providing online work/order sheets that would be transmitted via e-mail or an interactive ordering system.
"The possibilities are endless," Reilly says, "and the key is knowing what people want and respond to on a site."
The most important thing, in Reilly's view, is interaction.
"The days of the static site are over," Reilly says. "People just aren't interested in clicking from page to page to read a bunch of stuff. They want to be actively involved.
"A site can't be so graphics-heavy that it takes forever to load, either," adds Reilly. "There has to be a balance between graphics, text and animation.
"In addition, people must be able to search a site and quickly find the
information they want, or they'll look somewhere else," Reilly adds.
Then there's the language of the Internet itself to consider. Everything that goes on a Web site must be translated into HTML or HTM format, computer "languages" that take time and patience to learn and use.
With all this in mind, Reilly says planning a developing a site is a lot more complicated than most people realize.
Online ordering and tracking systems are particularly helpful components of a manufacturing Web site, according to Reilly.
"By giving the customer the ability to order, track and perhaps change an order online, you're giving the customer some control. Like tracking a UPS shipment online, it saves the need to answer a lot of calls and spend valuable time looking for specific order information, and thus reduces administrative costs," Reilly says.
Reilly says while it's available now at a premium cost, the next big step is an online assistance system.
"Customers will be able to access the Web site and click on a button that will let them immediately talk to someone about their problem in real time. It's expensive now, but it's out there and, like everything else, the price will eventually come down," he says.
In addition to identifying new customers, a good Web site can also be critical to retaining them. "What good is it to get new customers if you can't retain them?" Reilly asks.
"The ability to get online technical information and assistance will be something customers will look for when deciding which company to do business with," Reilly says, "and how manufacturers respond to them online will also be a key component of their success."
Both Mayer and Kwong say their companies are acutely aware of the need to have an effective Web site, and that's why they will be revamping their own.
And look for other manufacturers to follow suit once they get the message that a badly designed Web site is worse than no Web site.
"Other Web sites are just a click away," Reilly says, "and those that don't measure up will be passed over."
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