Each manufactured product has an associated set of information related to that product. Manufacturing organizations are looking for ways to reduce distribution costs, speed products to market, and to get the right products to the right place at the right time, price and cost. To achieve these goals, enterprises are rethinking their relationships with customers, retailers and distributors. The more efficient the relationships with partners, the greater the competitive edge these organization's will enjoy. The secret to building this competitive advantage centres on providing controlled access to the intellectual property of the organization.
Customers often desire follow-up support for their purchases.
In the electronics industry, AMP, a leading supplier of electrical and electronic connectors and interconnection systems, uses its website to support its customers, typically design engineers, in the aerospace, automotive, computer networking, consumer goods, industrial, power utilities and telecommunications industries. A search engine called StepSearch creates each page on the fly, based on the information the customer is looking for. Drawing specifications, product availability, pricing information, a competitor cross reference database, and a technical glossary are also provided to assist the customer with the selection and use of AMP's products. Herman Miller's extranet, reduces production cycle time and raises product quality by providing suppliers with access to receipt, quality, material inventory, invoice and payment information. Product information for distributors Websites can also be used effectively to support an organization's distributors.