E-Catalogs: Long Journey To Rewards

摘要

As a leading distributor of nuts, bolts, screws, and other industrial products used by manufacturing and construction companies, Fastenal Co. is on the front lines of a major effort among businesses to automate routine purchasing activity by routing orders through the Web. As the number of E-marketplaces and E-pro-curement projects ballooned in the last two years, the $746 million Winona, Minn., distributor has become expert at building electronic catalogs in all the popular E-commerce formats. In just three or four days, it can crank out a catalog on demand with custom pricing for a selection of 100,000 products that's compatible with E-procurement systems from vendors such as Ariba Inc. and Commerce One Inc.