'M2M' Manufacturers Marketplace Opens

In the e-commerce marketplace it's all about buzzwords. A new online exchange, AmericanManufacturers.com Inc., has claimed it's one of the first to enter the M2M (manufacturer-to-manufacturer) market. (Although there are certainly other exchanges that link manufacturers to manufacturers, the most common acronym has been B2B for business-to-business). Nevertheless, the site promises to fulfill manufacturers' need to connect with sellers and buyers. The site features patent-pending sellers and buyers modules, relevant real-time industry information, and an electronic request for quote process -- which is in development and will be available in the second quarter, according to the company. The site's prospecting tool draws from a database of 400,000 manufacturers, according to the company. The seller module uses a three-pronged approach: identifying industries that use certain products, identifying companies that are new potential customers, and producing detailed reports on those companies.