Research Guides: Supply Chain Management: Suppliers and Customers

Suppliers and Customers

The resources below are places to start of research on suppliers.

For researching a company's suppliers and customers, look at news and trade journals and SEC filings, as well as a company's investor relations webpage and annual reports for information on joint ventures and partnerships.

IBISWorld USA This link opens in a new window
IBISWorld provides reports on industries, including analysis on environmental, supply, and demand impacts.

ThomasNet
ThomasNet is a network of B2B suppliers and buyers, with profiles on over 500,000 suppliers and catalogs on over 4 million industrial products.
Kompass
A directory of businesses who supply to specific industries. Although the Libraries does not subscribe, some information is available.
IQS Directory
Free, comprehensive listing of manufacturers and suppliers serving major segments of the OEM industrial manufacturing marketplace across the United States and Canada.
Zycon
"The Search Engine for Manufacturers", zycon is a source for buyers and technicians looking to find manufacturing companies, distributors and more.
IndustryNet
"The Industrial Search Engine", IndustryNet is a directory of manufacturers and suppliers.
World Industrial Reporter
The World Industrial Reporter Website brings you the latest in industrial innovation, additive manufacturing, and logistics. Includes white papers, market trend reports, and more.

News and Trade Journals

Sometimes news articles, press releases, and trade journals mention a company's suppliers. These databases contain news and trade articles.

Tip: In addition to using keywords like supply chain and suppliers to search for articles, also search for business logistics, joint ventures, partnerships, distributors, procurement, purchasing, inventory management, outsourcing, warehousing, logistics, and operations management.

Business Source Ultimate This link opens in a new window
Full text articles and abstracts from peer-reviewed journals, trade publications, conference proceedings, and news organizations on a wide-range of business topics.
Factiva This link opens in a new window
Search for news articles and press releases from the U.S. and international countries. This collection includes the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Dow Jones and Reuters news wires, and the Associated Press.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text documents from news, business, legal, medical, and reference publications.
ABI/INFORM Complete This link opens in a new window
Database includes articles from business periodicals, news sources, and scholarly research, covering a wide-range of business topics.

SEC Filings

The SEC requires companies to report customers that represent more than 10% of their revenues. Search companies' 10-K or 10-Q reports for customers. 8-K reports will report if a key supplier poses a risk to the company's finances.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission SEC Filings (EDGAR) This link opens in a new window
All companies, foreign and domestic, that trade on a U.S. exchange are required to file statements, periodic reports, and other information electronically through the SEC's EDGAR system. Filings include annual reports and 10-K statements.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text documents from news, business, and reference publications. To search SEC filings, click on "Get Company Info", search for company, and select company from results list. On the left, click on "SEC Filings".
Mergent Online This link opens in a new window
Provides current and historical financial data with links to SEC filings. To search SEC filings, click on "Government Filings" tab at the top. Fill out the search fields and click "Search".

Bloomberg Terminal

The Business Library and Collaboration Commons has two Bloomberg Terminals which can map a company to its suppliers and customers. After logging into a Bloomberg Terminal, search for the company's ticker and then enter the function SPLC <Go>. For example, to search for Apple Inc., use: APPL <Equity> SPLC <Go>. The supplier information cannot be printed or saved.

Supplier news can be accessed with function NI SPLC <Go>.