It’s No Longer Your Grandfather’s Big Green Book

How many of you have used the Thomas Register? The answer may depend on whether you are a boomer or millennial. Most boomers in virtually any industry have at one time or another seen or used the Big Green Book, previously known as the Thomas Register of American Manufacturers. I can’t recall when I first opened one – it’s been awhile.

A little research showed the books were first published in 1898 and at its peak was a 34-volume, 3 section buying guide offering sourcing information on industrial products and services, including aviation and aerospace.

But the Big Green Book has also succumbed to modern technology and the Internet, in a really good way. Now an online platform only for researching suppliers and products and called ThomasNet.com, I was recently given a demonstration of ThomasNet.com and we searched for many suppliers of aerospace products and services. It’s a very powerful system with numerous features.

The Supplier Discovery application allows you to quickly get a short-list of suppliers specific to certain products. And, it also has the ability to issue a request for information (RFI). Other interesting search functions were a Diversity application for those of you searching for a minority-, women-, or veteran-owned company, a Certification application, Custom Quotes, and a Product Sourcing application.

Certainly not the Big Green Book of yesterday – check it out at http://www.thomasnet.com/. You may just find it useful when researching potential suppliers and product sourcing.

Ron