Besides listing their products, vendors can supply inventory information, pricing, technical information and more. Purchasing and engineering professionals now have a one-stop resource for securing part information from thousands of manufacturers. Manufacturers and distributors also have a significant channel for effectively reaching design and purchasing decision-makers. By using UPC, users can bypass time-consuming searches through paper catalogs or manufacturers' Web sites. This also eliminates the need to reference multiple sources to locate vendor information for a specific part.
Users can view historical data for parts and even conduct searches with only partial part numbers.
When vendors add their parts information to UPC, they can include links from the UPC homepage that lead directly to their corporate Web sites. Plans are underway to add e-commerce capabilities to UPC so that users can quickly purchase parts. In addition, UPC plans to include repair and overhaul information on individual parts so that users can decide whether it is cost-effective to repair or replace individual parts. Its companies serve the vital information needs of customers across the world's technical, business and professional sectors. IHS Group employs over 3,200 people worldwide.