Find It. Research It. Buy.

We call this special annual issue a Buyer’s Guide. And that it is. However, it’s actually more of a “front door” to help manufacturing equipment purchasers with a first step to make the best and most informed decisions through 2017.

The print version you are holding is designed to help organize where and what is available to shops like yours. Businesses must buy things. It’s a necessary part of doing business. Some purchases are relatively routine and can be handled, well, routinely. Other purchases, such as capital equipment and productivity-enhancing technologies, require a bit more research. But often, many companies don’t know what they don’t know.

For important purchasing decisions, companies need to spread as wide a research net as possible to find the right supplier to work with. That’s where a guide such as the one you’re holding is valuable. Moreover, the shelf life for this issue means that it’s available to you throughout the year, whenever you’re ready to research a purchase.

This Buyers Guide, coupled with the power of its online component, the PM supplier directory, provides researchers with a powerful one-two combination method of finding that best-fit supplier, and most important, the right product or service for your business’ needs. In today’s multi-media world, accessing the best tools available is key to reaching the best purchasing decision.

Together, the Buyer’s Guide and PM supplier directory represent comprehensive and accurate tools for manufacturers in the precision machined parts industry to find products and services key to their continued competitive operation. Together, print and the web work to help businesses create a list of potential suppliers. Research the list and then narrow it to the most likely candidates to supply what is needed. All research is done anonymously. In other words, no salesman will call until you ask to be called.

To create this Guide, we send out an extensive survey to suppliers that are relevant to our readers’ businesses. We know who they are, and they, in turn, provide us with the product and services categories that give you the “who makes what” section. In effect, we edit the content of the guide to fit you. For anyone of you who has tried to use the Internet through Google or other universal search engines, the value of having such a search narrowed by editors who understand your business needs becomes obvious.

Because our circulation is controlled, meaning you must ask to receive Production Machining, we also have a pretty good idea of what kind of products and services you use. It’s our goal and yours as well to help manufacturers be as competitive as possible. It’s a global market, and providing shops with access to the world through the Buyer’s Guide listings and our online suppliers directory is a valuable resource to extend the reach of a business, regardless of its size or location.

That’s the start of the purchasing process as it exists in 2017. Step one is familiar to most: Use the guide and its organized categories to identify the companies that can provide what you are looking for. These categories are comprehensive, yet not off target for precision machined parts manufacturers.

Step two is to use the contact information comprised of companies many of you may already know, but it also contains companies you may not be familiar with. There is a tendency to go with those you know, but including some you don’t know in the research is worth checking out as well.

With a contact list in hand, visit our online supplier directory on productionmachining.com to link to the company’s website to get more detailed information as well as contact information. There is also a printed supplier directory in the back of this Buyer’s Guide for reference. Research is possible without leaving your desk.

We publish this Buyer’s Guide annually and urge you to hang onto it through the calendar year. While many purchases are planned, many are not and may require a rapid response.

In business today, it’s never been more important to be as efficient in spending as possible. It’s equally important to get the right products and services, which will perform as promised, at the best price. The use of this guide and supplier directory, in tandem, is a tool that can help you make your necessary purchases more efficiently.