One of the biggest problems engineers encounter when sourcing products and services is simply finding the right person to call. If you need a 3M product, odds are your company is too small to deal directly with 3M, so they’re going to refer you to a distributor’s regional office. That office will probably take your call, but your local sales rep will surely be out in the field, and you won’t get to talk to him. Maybe you can wrestle an email or a cell number from the inside sales rep, if you’re aggressive, but that doesn’t describe most engineers.
Where is your email address? Contacting industrial suppliers sucks!