Doug Hradek, OEM sales manager at Tring Corporation, Orrville, Ohio, isn't much as he once making cold-call visits to the 35-person fabrication and machine shop he uses First Index, a business-to-business e-market-place for industrial components.

First Index lets buyers reduce procurement costs quickly finding the right suppliers for their needs. In turn, the service helps suppliers find profitable work while cutting sales and marketing costs. First Index’s database covers machining, casting, forging, sheetmetal, medium and heavy fabrication plastic molding, and electronics.

Initially, Hradek was skeptical of First Index. "I didn’t believe it could do what said it would do, but after making contact on some of the first RFQs it provided, I was amazed by the responses I received.

First Index ha 7,000 active buyers, date, posting work and more than 2,000 new

RFQs and RFIs each month. "It's a numbers game," says First Index U.S. President Bill Burke, "and we're generating the numbers needed for shops to be successful.

Now when Hradek travels, it's to visit with the buyers he's made contact with First Index's services. "We've added 24 new customers through First Index", he says, "and the amount of money service doesn't come close to what I spend on hotels, gas, entertainment and long-distance calls. I can't even calculate the savings."

First Index, Whippay, N. J., http://www.firstindex.com