Vendors are waking up to Web's potential

Materials handling suppliers are slowly starting to offer services online.

By -- Modern Materials Handling, 7/1/2000

In last month's Internet Update, we observed that vendors are not offering much in the way of e-commerce or online services. There are exceptions, though. At the North American Material Handling Show (NA 2000), we got the opportunity to do an informal canvassing and see what different companies are doing on the Web. Here are three that we came across:

• Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks sells lift truck parts through its MASTERSOURCE Online site (www.mastersourceonline.com). The company also sells parts that meet OEM specifications for other manufacturers' vehicles. Users can search for a part by number, manufacturer, or model number. A Showroom section contains pictures of and information about lift truck accessories, batteries, etc. A Dealers section lets the customer find nearby U.S. or international dealers.

• Caterpillar Lift Trucks sells parts through its PROMATCH Online site (www.promatchonline.com ). PROMATCH Online has all the same features that MASTERSOURCE Online does.

• Container and Pallet Systems (CAPS) offers the CAPS-TRAC tracking system, which uses bar codes, radio frequency ID tags, or both to track containers. End users can access the tracking information anywhere, at any time, via the company's Internet site, www.usecaps.com . Users can get reports on daily account activity, container inventory levels and availability by type, packaging costs, shipping-cycle length, number of containers currently in transit, number of containers at each depot, dwell time, and usage history.

CAPS-TRAC also can match dunnage with merchandise so that dunnage specialized for a particular product or part can be reused, according to the company.

"We spent 6 months researching thousands of sites to put up something that is easy to use and intuitive," notes Michael McCartney, VP of marketing and business development at CAPS.