Many people use the Internet every day to purchase books, CDs, groceries and other small, inexpensive items...but a $50ꯠ palletizer? When Dallas-based Kimberly-Clark Corp. needed a palletizer, purchasing engineer Angel Hernandez point-and-clicked his way to a perfect fit before contacting the supplier. West Linn, OR-based Top Tier’s Web site (www.toptierpalletizer. com) made the purchase possible.
After looking at other models, Hernandez spotted an advertisement in a packaging trade publication and surfed over to Top Tier’s site. Within a short time, he had almost all the information he needed–including price–to make an informed purchasing decision. “When I saw the price I was a little bit surprised, because we had looked at other machines” that were priced higher, Hernandez says.
Top Tier’s site, which features the company’s two palletizer models, instructs users on “How to create a quote.” Having perused the machines’ features, specs, diagrams and operational information, users can select the machine that best fits their needs. After adding in the cost of accessories (all prices are given), users arrive at the final cost for the machine. Then they download, fill out and fax the order sheets to Top Tier. Hernandez notes his machine’s price changed slightly from the one quoted because he needed a few additional accessories, but the quote was mostly accurate.
Hernandez was very satisfied with using the site as a sales resource. “The Web site is very helpful because everything is in there,” he says. “I just selected what I wanted. The diagrams of the machine [helped us] figure out where we were going to put it on our floor layout. And the video clip was helpful because it shows you how the machine works. The site is very good.”
