The American Fastener Journal released their March/April edition last week and it featured an article that I wrote about trade data. While the article specifically focuses on how companies in the fastener industry are using different types of trade data, the content applies across nearly every industry.

In the article, I focus on three main points:

• Understanding what types of trade data exist for companies to better understand their markets.
• Deciding what type of data to use to answer specific needs across different departments including sourcing, marketing, legal, and sales.
• Choosing the right trade data provider to work with.

In the last section, I give an unbiased description of the most important factors to consider in your trade data purchasing process. The most important point to remember is that while all trade data providers receive their data from the same sources (U.S. Customs and U.S. Census), there are significant differences between the tools you will ultimately use. The trade data tool you choose will have a major impact on how much time and effort you will spend getting to and analyzing the data.

To take a look at the full article, see International Supply Chain Trade Data on our News and Events page.