To me, a lot of the principles are common sense, but the customer wants them in writing. Another issue distributors may contend with when selling to manufacturing companies is electronic data interchange. Many manufacturers now use EDI to order supplies and parts, among other business applications. A 1994 survey of 1,560 EDI users by EDI Group Ltd., Oak Park, Ill., showed that 55 percent to 62 percent of companies using EDI do so because they were told to by their principal customer or supplier. Bar coding is another technology frequently used in the manufacturing industry.
Many plants use it to track items in production and in warehouses.
Bar coding also can simplify shipping. Aside from EDI and bar coding, however, some distributors say technology hasn't had a great effect on business printing within manufacturing firms. Miller says many forms, such as those used by accounting departments, are now cut sheets. But plants still use an abundance of traditional business products, from unit sets to tags. Prior to giving a sales presentation to one large manufacturing plant, Middleton was interviewed by an administrator who screens vendors.