If you source industrial products, you know how much time goes into finding the right supplier. If you manufacture or distribute them, you know how hard it can be to get in front of the right buyer. IndustryNet exists to close that gap.
Serving both sides of the industrial supply chain, IndustryNet connects procurement professionals searching for qualified suppliers with the manufacturers, distributors, and service providers that want to be found. This page covers what IndustryNet is, who uses it, what sets it apart from other industrial directories, how its listing tiers work, and how it differs from other MNI products.
What Is IndustryNet?
IndustryNet is an online industrial marketplace and supplier directory that connects buyers with verified U.S. manufacturers, suppliers, and industrial service providers. Free to use for buyers, it serves as a sourcing platform for procurement professionals across virtually every segment of U.S. industry, from raw materials and component parts to machinery, MRO supplies, and specialized services.
The platform lists more than 360,000 verified suppliers across 11,000+ product and service categories. Buyers search by company name, brand, or product type; narrow results to specific categories; review supplier profiles and capabilities; and reach out directly by phone, email, or RFQ. Many suppliers, in turn, invest in enhanced listings to increase their visibility and generate inbound leads from qualified buyers already searching for what they offer.
IndustryNet is a service of MNI (Manufacturers' News, Inc.), which has maintained comprehensive business profiles of U.S. industrial companies since 1912. MNI's in-house team contacts the nation's industrial firms multiple times per year to confirm multiple data points about each company, including products, services, capabilities, certifications, and status. That research infrastructure is what separates IndustryNet from other marketplaces built on self-reported or scraped data.
What Does IndustryNet Do?
IndustryNet serves two groups with different but complementary needs:
For industrial buyers, including engineering, operations, procurement, and facility management professionals, it provides a searchable database of qualified suppliers.
Buyers can search by product category, company name, or capability, filter by location or certification, compare available options, and contact suppliers directly or submit RFQs.
There is no registration required to search, and use is free.
For suppliers and manufacturers, IndustryNet provides a platform to be found by active buyers. A basic listing is maintained by MNI's research team regardless of whether the supplier advertises.
Enhanced listings (Preferred and Featured tiers) give suppliers additional tools to stand out, including the opportunity to post product catalogs, photo and video libraries, company news, social media links, Deep Links to specific pages on their website, as well as priority placement in search results.
How Long Has IndustryNet Been Operating?
IndustryNet launched in the 1990s as one of the first online industrial supplier directories and quote request platforms. It is built on the research foundation of MNI, which has published comprehensive industrial business data since 1912, beginning with the Illinois Manufacturers Directory. Today, MNI's 80-person research team verifies and maintains the supplier records that power IndustryNet's listings.
What Industries and Categories Does IndustryNet Cover?
IndustryNet covers the full range of U.S. industrial supply. Its proprietary classification system spans more than 11,000 distinct product and service categories, including:
- Abrasives, adhesives, and surface treatment products
- Chemicals, gases, and process materials
- Electronics, electrical components, and power systems
- Fabrication and contract manufacturing services
- Fasteners, fittings, and hardware
- Fluid handling, pumps, valves, and filtration
- Food processing and packaging equipment
- Hydraulics and pneumatics
- Industrial machinery and capital equipment
- Instrumentation, controls, and automation
- Logistics, freight, and supply chain services
- Materials handling, conveyors, and storage systems
- Metals, plastics, rubber, and raw materials
- MRO (maintenance, repair, and operations) supplies
- Packaging materials and equipment
- Plastics processing and rubber fabrication
- Power transmission and motion control components
- Safety equipment and personal protective equipment
- Testing, inspection, and quality assurance services
- Textiles, composites, and specialty materials
- Tools, shop supplies, and facility equipment
Buyers can search across this entire range from a single platform and narrow search results by state, ISO standards, ownership type, specialty designations, and distribution scope, on top of IndustryNet's already granular 11,000+ category taxonomy. For buyers with specific compliance, diversity, or geographic requirements.
Who Uses IndustryNet?
On the buyer side, IndustryNet is used by engineering, operations, facility management, and procurement professionals at companies of all sizes, from individual plant managers sourcing replacement parts to procurement teams at Fortune 500 manufacturers vetting new suppliers. Companies including Bridgestone, Caterpillar, Chevron Phillips, Hormel Foods, Michelin, and Nestl Purina have all used IndustryNet as a sourcing resource.
On the supplier side, more than 12,000 Preferred and Featured advertisers use IndustryNet to generate leads and inquiries from active buyers. The platform drives more than 290,000 phone number views, 35,000 quote requests and emails, and 78,000 website click-throughs annually.
Read More: Who Advertises on IndustryNet (And Why)?
What Makes IndustryNet Different to from Other Supplier Directories?
Several characteristics separate IndustryNet from general business directories or competing industrial platforms.
For the Buyer
- Research-Verified Listings: Most directories list only suppliers who pay or who create their own profiles. IndustryNet's research team proactively identifies, contacts, and verifies qualified suppliers regardless of whether they advertise, then continues to update those records throughout the year.
- Depth of Categorization: IndustryNet's 11,000+ category taxonomy is among the most detailed in the industrial sector, enabling more precise supplier searches than platforms with broad, general-purpose classification systems.
- MNI Data Foundation: IndustryNet draws on the same verified business profiles that power IndustrySelect, MNI's industrial sales and marketing database. This unique underlying data infrastructure has over 100 years of research behind it.
For the Supplier
- Pricing: Enhanced listings on IndustryNet are priced at a fraction of what comparable visibility costs on other industrial marketplaces. For suppliers evaluating their marketing budget, that cost efficiency matters, particularly when the buyer audience is comparably qualified.
- AI Visibility: IndustryNet holds an Ahrefs Domain Rating of 65 and an AI visibility score of 31, reflecting active citation in AI-generated supplier answers. Suppliers listed on the platform benefit from that credibility when AI tools respond to sourcing queries.
- SBA Recognition: IndustryNet is one of three industrial marketplaces featured on the SBA's Make Onshoring Great Again Portal, a federal initiative connecting U.S. businesses with domestic manufacturers and suppliers. The portal gives businesses direct access to IndustryNet's verified supplier listings.
- Sponsored Content: IndustryNet gives advertisers the ability to publish content directly on the IndustryNet blog, with distribution to 30,000+ IndustryNet Insider newsletter subscribers and promotion across 38,000+ social media followers. That reach is built into the platform, not something suppliers have to build from scratch.
- Visitor Alerts: Preferred and featured advertisers on IndustryNet can receive notifications when buyers view their listing, giving suppliers real-time intelligence on buyer interest and a timely prompt to follow up.
- Scale: With 2 million annual user sessions, 3.8 million product searches, and 3.3 million supplier listing views per year, IndustryNet delivers meaningful reach to suppliers who invest in enhanced listings.
What Are the Advertising Options on IndustryNet?
IndustryNet offers three tiers of supplier visibility, and the most important difference between them is placement in search results.
When a buyer searches a product category on IndustryNet, Featured suppliers appear first, followed by Preferred suppliers, followed by all other verified listings.
Featured and Preferred listings also display the supplier's logo, a company description, and a "View More Information" button that drives the buyer directly to their full profile.
Free listings appear at the bottom of search results with only a company name and location.
Beyond placement, enhanced listings also give suppliers control over what buyers see when they click through: product catalogs, photo and video libraries, company news, cover photos, logos, social media links, and Deep Links to specific pages on their website.
Preferred and featured suppliers can also publish up to four articles about their company on the IndustryNet blog, distributed to 30,000+ Insider newsletter subscribers across purchasing and procurement and promoted across 38,000+ social media followers.
What Is the Difference Between IndustryNet and IndustrySelect?
Both IndustryNet and IndustrySelect are services of MNI and draw on the same underlying database of 360,000+ verified U.S. industrial companies. But they serve fundamentally different purposes, and the distinction is worth understanding clearly.
IndustryNet is a buyer-facing marketplace. It is where procurement professionals, engineers, and operations managers go when they need to find a supplier. The platform is free to use for buyers, organized around product and service categories, and designed to help buyers identify, evaluate, and contact qualified suppliers.
Suppliers benefit from being on IndustryNet because buyers are actively searching there.
IndustrySelect is a sales and marketing database for companies selling to manufacturers. It is a prospecting tool, not a sourcing tool. A sales representative at an industrial distributor, a manufacturer's rep, or a company selling equipment, software, or services to the manufacturing sector would use IndustrySelect to build targeted lead lists, find executive contacts, filter by company size or location, and run outreach campaigns. IndustrySelect users are not looking for a supplier. They are looking for their next customer.
The simplest way to frame the difference: IndustryNet connects buyers to suppliers. IndustrySelect helps sellers find manufacturers to sell to.
Frequently Asked Questions About IndustryNet
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Is IndustryNet free to use? | Free for buyers, no registration required. Suppliers pay for enhanced listing tiers. |
| How many suppliers are listed on IndustryNet? | 360,000+ verified U.S. industrial suppliers across 11,000+ product and service categories. |
| Who owns and operates IndustryNet? | IndustryNet is operated by MNI (Manufacturers' News, Inc.), founded in 1912. |
| How does IndustryNet verify its supplier listings? | MNI's 80-person team contacts every company multiple times per year to confirm accuracy. |
| Does IndustryNet cover small manufacturers? | Yes. IndustryNet lists suppliers of all sizes across every U.S. industrial sector. |
| What are Visitor Alerts on IndustryNet? | Notifications sent to advertisers when a buyer views their listing. |
| How does IndustryNet's pricing compare to other industrial marketplaces? | Enhanced listings are priced well below comparable visibility on larger platforms. |
| What is the difference between IndustryNet and IndustrySelect? | IndustryNet: find suppliers. IndustrySelect: find manufacturers to sell to. See full section above. |
| What industries does IndustryNet serve? | The full range of U.S. industrial supply across 11,000+ product and service categories. |
| Can buyers submit RFQs through IndustryNet? | Buyers can contact suppliers directly, via web form, or by submitting an RFQ. |
The Bottom Line
IndustryNet is where industrial buyers go to find suppliers and where suppliers go to be found. Built on more than 110 years of MNI research expertise and covering 360,000+ verified suppliers across 11,000+ categories, it is one of the most comprehensive and actively maintained industrial sourcing platforms available.
For suppliers, an enhanced listing is a direct channel to buyers already searching for their products. For buyers, it is a research-verified starting point for sourcing decisions that often involve significant spend.
To explore supplier listings visit IndustryNet and set up your free, quick-start account.
For advertising options, learn more about enhanced listings or compare listing types.
