Articles
In the last years a major change happened in the way the internet is used and perceived in the public. This change seeped to many industries, and made a major change in the way companies interacts and does business. The metal and metal processing industries on the other hand didn't adept as well to these developments. In a industry that have major players in the global market and in volume of more than 1.5 trillion dollars, one would expect the industry to be more sensitive to changes in the working trends and new technologies.
The traditional industry still have a habit of using the same marketing and purchasing methods as they did in the last decade or more. These channels are mainly exhibitions, conventions and personal contacts. The marketing process is very expensive and the results are not guaranteed, this cases a big range of small and medium businesses to hesitate when getting from local businesses to a more global arena, the costs of getting global are just too much for them.
In this gap the new media and the internet comes and give the global option not only to small and medium businesses but also to big and well developed ones. The low cost and high availability allows companies with minimal cost to establish contacts all over the world and convey unique abilities of a company to potential partners around the world.
So if it so good why it doesn't happen and the industry still keep to the traditional ways?
Part of the problem is implied in the question, it is a very traditional industry and allot of changes take long time and effort. The industry have some means that work to some extant or even allow the normal growth of companies. However this is a changing world and the ones that won't keep up with the technology and innovation are bound to fall or join eventually. This process has happened in other areas- mainly retail ones, but this is a matter of time until this will flow into other industries.
The second reason for the slow rate in which the traditional industries are getting into the internet and the new media is the lack of fitting tools. The current tools, especially in the metal processing industry, are mainly concentrated on the seam between retail and industry moreover the conservative industry fears to spend money and time in a new and less proven marketing channels.
The solution is to create a tool that will give all the different potential layers of site users a good solution with big value and high efficiency. Moreover this site must come from inside the industry and start to work with industry leaders in order to remove the uncertainness from site and allow the industry to move to the new age.
