CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
17 January 2012
Financial News
CDS Announces >30% Growth Driven by Industrial Suppliers Adapting to the New Selection and Buying Process
CDS (Catalog Data Solutions) announced greater than 30% revenue growth in 2011 compared to 2010.
“As product selection and buying continues to change and evolve, sales and marketing organizations need to continually adapt and come up with ways to get in front of the selection and buying cycle. Our accelerating growth proves that industrial suppliers (manufacturers and distributors) are increasingly doing just that, via online product catalogs, configurators and the key ingredient of CAD downloads,” said John Major, CEO, CDS. “Designers now research and select products online so a supplier’s website is their primary marketing vehicle. An accelerating number of industrial suppliers recognize this and are ensuring their parts are easy to find and select on their own website. Adding downloadable CAD aids selection, simplifies incorporation of your product into a new design and leads to a sale once that design goes to market. The pattern we are seeing is that industrial suppliers are:
1. Improving the product search, usefulness and lead generation of their own websites by implementing our low cost Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions - CDS Catalog™, CDS ModelServer™, CDS Configurator™. In 2011 this became even more vital as the Google Search changes (Panda) demoted directories and portals in favor of taking users directly to the ‘home’ of the data – the manufacturers website.
2. Managing their content from a single master set of data, primarily promoting that data on their own website, then promoting their website by increased focus on SEO and SEM, and finally syndicating their data to secondary locations, such as 3DModelSpace.com™, that drive customers directly to their websites.
3. Initially or at a later stage, integrating these into existing CRM, ERP, Manufacturing systems, etc by utilizing the extremely flexible and configurable architecture of these SaaS solutions.
Some of the customers we welcomed last year include ITT (Compact Automation), CUI, E-Z Lok, HBD Thermoid, Kurt Workholding, Magnet-Schultz, Mueller Industries, Ruland, Newport, Peerless Winsmith, Stucchi, Symmco (via West Media), Stainless Drains, Schioppa Casters and Wheels, Taco, Boca Bearings, Wink Fasteners and others.
Of all the types of online marketing content a supplier can use (white papers, case studies, brochures, videos, demos, recorded webinars, reviews, CAD model downloads, etc.) only CAD model downloads are known to lead to a sale nearly 50% of the time! CAD downloads get a supplier’s products specified into new designs, and provide sales leads by registration – this may be the most efficient and effective online marketing tool available to industrial suppliers.
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