This Thomas Index Report is sponsored by Continental Steel & Tube Company, a leading supplier and distributor of quality metals.
Hello again.
The second quarter of 2018 is in the books, and it’s definitely been an interesting one for industry. In our Thomas Index Report, we’ve covered sourcing activity trends driven by things such as tariffs on steel and aluminum, environmental regulations, increased automation in manufacturing, and more.
This week we’re going to take a look at the top products and services sourced by volume on the Thomasnet.com platform in the second quarter of this year. We’ll also take a look at the products and services that saw the biggest increase in sourcing activity in Q2, year-over-year. Keep in mind, these top categories are from the over 72,000 product and service categories on our product sourcing and supplier selection platform.
I’ll show the top five on each list – for an expanded look at the top 20 categories on each list, please download our free 2018 Q2 Sourcing Activity Snapshot ebook at the end of this video.
So here we go. The top five Products by sourcing activity volume at Thomasnet.com were:
No surprise to see steel and aluminum on this list, as manufacturers seek out domestic sources of supply under the specter of higher prices on foreign metals due to tariffs.
The top five Services sourced by volume on our platform were:
- Plastic Injection Molding
- CNC Machining
- Metal Fabrication
- Metal Stampings
- Tube Fabrication & Bending Services
Again, no big surprises here, as these are core services required across the full spectrum of manufacturing and industry.
Finally, let’s take a look at the categories that saw the biggest increase in sourcing activity in Q2 2018 over Q2 in 2017. Topping the list is Square & Rectangular Tubing, followed by Iron Castings, Repair Services, Polyethylene Bags, and Drinking Straws. If you’re a supplier in any of the categories on any of these lists, there’s significant opportunity happening right now at Thomasnet.com.
Well, that’s what our data shows for the second quarter of 2018. Again, I’ve covered just the top 5 categories on these lists; to see the full top 20 categories on each list, download our free 2018 Q2 Sourcing Activity Snapshot ebook now.
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next week!