Online supplier search casts wide net, narrows search

Mark T. Hoske -- Control Engineering, 8/1/2006

Sourcing the right components for a project and finding the right suppliers can be a major challenge in any project. Years of Control Engineering printed Buyer's Guides have helped subscribers accomplish that. This year, we're saving trees (except for this page) and pointing to the online resource, www.cesuppliersearch.com, to ensure the most up-to-date information is available to subscribers.

This supplier search tool, a partnership between Control Engineering and Kellysearch, integrates the latter's search engine with our online buyer's guide to deliver thousands of categories of suppliers and products for automation, controls, instrumentation, sensors, networks, software, and related systems. Kellysearch began in 1799 (207 years ago) as part of Kelly's Industrial Directory; like Control Engineering, it is part of Reed Business Information.

For example, in the search box at www.cesuppliersearch.com, typing in PLC produces 126 categories; searching on flowmeters offers 156 categories; and temperature sensors delivers 67 results.

In the widest sectors, results are likewise large. Under electrical and electronic products and services there are 18,940 results.

Instrumentation products and services deliver 10,150 companies.

Eight broad categories under engineering range from 431 to 26,056 companies.

Beyond a massive database updated daily (more than 2 million companies and 10 million products), www.cesuppliersearch.com offers a logical means to help narrow a search for particular products or services.

Deeper in the temperature sensors search, clicking into thermocouples returns 567 U.S. suppliers with top-line locations, summary information, links to company URLs, e-mail fields, and company details. Atop the results page, the search can be narrowed to a specific state or widened to North America or worldwide.

Continuing on temperature sensors, clicking on Texas narrows the field to 30 suppliers.

Company details provided can include product images, logos, image of the company, URL, phone, fax, Web, and fields to e-mail the company to ask a question or request a quote.

A company listing has fields to provide contact information, make an inquiry, request a quote, or get a catalog. There's a field to type a message, and a code box to fill in to help prevent spam e-mails.

At the bottom of the page, there's a list of other categories that a company has checked off at www.cesuppliersearch.com, to provide perspective on breadth.

Each listing with city location also has a link that will show other companies in the same city.

Mark T. Hoske, Control Engineering, Editor-in-Chief

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