Watch your e-mail box
By Jeanine Katzel, Senior Editor, Web Content, 630-320-7142, jkatzel@cahners.com -- Plant Engineering, 7/1/2000
No, we're not warning you about another virus. We're alerting you to an upcoming Plant Engineering e-mail survey and asking for your help. Coming later this month to an e-mailbox near you is an important request for information about your internet use patterns and your e-commerce attitudes. Keep an eye out for it.
Please take a moment...
Use of the internet for buying and selling equipment, products, and services is growing daily. The web is becoming an integral part of the plant engineering environment and we need to know more about how much-or how little-you are using this resource. Our survey is designed to target specific uses and purchasing habits.
Questions focus on how you use the internet at work, what kind of information you seek, what resources you find most useful, and what kinds of purchases you make. The results of this study will be compiled and presented in a special Plant Engineering magazine supplement this winter. They will also form the foundation for determining the kind of editorial coverage we provide to you in this area.
The survey is brief and should take only a short time to complete. If you are among the random sample of readers who receives our e-mail survey, please take a few minutes to answer the questions and return the form to us. You will be directed to return your responses to a special e-mail box. Be forewarned: do not use your reply button to return your opinions. Responses returned in that way will not register.
Out and about on the 'net
If you're just getting acquainted with the internet, take a moment to visit CEOExpress: The Executive's Internet (www.ceoexpress.com). It provides links to a wealth of information on a variety of topics, including business news, technology magazines, and company research. The site offers direct links to dozens of sites. Users must register (free) for access to industry specific information.
A recent poll by Harris Interactive, a leading market research firm, and IndustrialAmerica, an online business-to-business industrial supply trading site, indicates use of the internet to conduct commerce transactions will almost double in the next year. The survey polled nearly 1000 buyers, sellers, and distributors of such industrial supplies as electrical equipment, pipes, valves, and fittings.
Findings show that today 34% of those in the trillion dollar industrial supply industry are using the internet to fulfill business objectives. That number is expected to increase to 67% by next year, and 83% by 2004. Until now, transactions have primarily been made by telephone or fax. For details on this survey, visit News and Events at www.industrialamerica.com.
Mark your calendars: For information on the upcoming ISA Expo/2000, visit www.isa.org/events. More than 750 exhibitors and 140 presentations and seminars will highlight the measurement, control, and automation conference and exhibition to be held in New Orleans, Aug. 21-24. The site provides detailed information plus online registration.
