News in Brief

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Neosho joins disaster program|ret||ret||tab|

The city of Neosho Aug. 3 became an official member of Project Impact: Building Disaster Resistant Communities, a program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to a FEMA press release. |ret||ret||tab|

"Neosho has identified through an assessment of natural and man-made risks and hazards that flooding is the city's No. 1 concern," said Arthur L. Freeman, acting regional director of FEMA Region VII. |ret||ret||tab|

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E-commerce survey shows striking gap |ret||ret||tab|

The National Association of Manufacturers Aug. 8 released its second quarter e-commerce survey that indicated mid-size and large firms (those with 500 or more employees) are much more engaged in every facet of e-commerce than smaller firms.|ret||ret||tab|

"The NAM Survey shows a substantial gap between large and small firms in regard to the attitude toward and use of e-commerce. Small firms are generally skeptical that e-commerce can dramatically change the way they do business, particularly in reducing order processing and transaction costs," said Jerry Jasinowski, president of NAM, in a press release.|ret||ret||tab|

He said with respect to current usage, small companies are way behind larger firms in using the Internet for MRO product purchases and supply chain management."Perhaps the key reason for the differing large and small company responses in much of the survey can be attributed to the gap in in-house information technology staffs. More than 53 percent of small manufacturers do not have an internal IT staff, whereas only 4 percent of large manufacturers are without this vital e-business resource," he said.|ret||ret||tab|

The survey indicated that moving to MRO purchasing on the Internet in order to reduce order processing and transaction costs is a top priority for 30 percent of the medium and large companies surveyed.|ret||ret||tab|

"Larger firms also are much more engaged in supply chain management (35 percent) and the use of electronic communications to perform internal personnel and administrative functions," he said.|ret||ret||tab|

The survey also indicated a high level of interest among small and large companies, in improving Web sites, bringing product catalogs online and providing online customer service.|ret||ret||tab|

"This second quarter survey shows that e-business is evolving into a strong competitive strategy for large companies, but also highlights the tremendous amount of work to be done in communicating that value to small firms. The NAM is moving aggressively to meet and exceed that challenge on behalf of American industry through our own e-commerce portal, www.manufacturing central.com, and close coordination with our members regarding federal e-commerce policy," he said.|ret||ret||tab|

The second quarter NAM e-commerce survey was sent to 5,000 manufacturing firms of all types and sizes nationwide. |ret||ret||tab|

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Study ranks buyers of promotional products |ret||ret||tab|

Financial institutions are the single largest purchasers in the $15 billion promotional products marketplace, with healthcare institutions following at a close second, according to an independent research study for Promotional Products Association International.|ret||ret||tab|

Baylor University conducted the 2000 Top Promotional Products Buyers study. The goal of the study was to determine frequent purchasers of promotional products, to identify potential new clients for professional distributors and to reveal emerging industries using promotional products marketing. A complete list ranking the top promotional products purchasers can be found at PPAI's end-buyer Web site, www.promobusinessbuilder.com.|ret||ret||tab|

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