How to Find the Industrial Plants and Supplies Your Business Needs

If you’re in any facet of the construction business, you work with dozens of different companies and services. Every business has its specialty, and together, you work to meet every need for supplies and materials your finished project will require. But it’s not always easy to find good partners to work with; some companies are more reliable than others, and some don’t have the supplies you need.

So how can you find the industrial plants and supplies your business needs to deliver your project in a timely and economical way? Here are a few idea to get you started making the connections you need.

Online plant and supply locators. This is probably the resource you think of first, and it can be a good one. If you know which type of industrial plant or supplies you need, plant and supply locators on the internet can point you in the right direction. Unfortunately, there are very few plant and supply locators that will help you locate all of the companies you need on one site, no matter where you’re working or what business partners you need. Unless you know about these great, one-stop sites, you might spend some time tracking down websites for every different kind of business and supplier you need to hook up with.

Word of mouth. Sometimes your competitors can be your best allies. Call up an acquaintance who does good work, and ask him who his suppliers were on his last job. Ask him, also, if he was satisfied with their work and would use them again. This kind of human plant and supply locator might seem old fashioned, but the fact is, in business, nothing gets and keeps more customers than a favorable review from another human being.

Phone books. This is an easy, at-your-fingertips way of finding the businesses you need. If you need an industrial plant, open up that yellow book to “industrial.” This resource is clearly limited in many ways; phone books only cover a certain geographical area, and it may not correspond to your area of work or service. You also have to know specifically what you’re looking for, because unlike online resources, you can’t follow links around until you stumble across what you need.

Association directories. Many professional associations, such as the American Institute of Constructors and the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, have professional mailing lists that will help you locate the colleagues you need. These can be handy plant and supply locators, but are limited to one kind of industry.

It’s not always easy to find the business partners you need to complete your projects the way you want. Plant and supply locators are available, though, either on line or in hard copy, to help you find the colleagues you need.