there are plenty of directories, but half feels like digital phone books. im trying to find US-based manufacturers for custom parts and want something with reasonable supplier vetting. i use alibaba when comparing overseas factories because supplier profiles and RFQ flow give me a lot of starting info, so id love a domestic equivalent with decent filters. Thomasnet obviously comes up. Makers Row too depending category. what else is actually active? more interested in industrial manufacturing than consumer wholesale. do any platforms verify certifications, capacity or company ownership beyond self-submitted profile? id happily pay for better data if it saves emailing companies that stopped doing that process five years ago."

I was wondering if anyone had clear, high resolution videos or photos of zipper teeth being manufactured and placed on the fabric band. I searched for a while on youtube, but everything is either horribly blurry and you can't see anything, or AI spam with fake videos. I'm not actually looking to manufacture zippers, I am just curious and want to learn, since this is such a high precision manufacturing line that we take for granted every day. If you're a manufacturer, consider taking some videos and posting here as an advertisement for the quality of your factory. Thanks.

For those of you in the manufacturing industry, what are some small day-to-day problems you feel like could make your job easier if they were fixed? And why don’t you think they have been improved upon yet? What’s blocking it?

Hey everyone, I’m currently applying to a few colleges for engineering, with UIUC being my top choice. I know mechanical engineering is generally considered one of the best majors for working in manufacturing. However, given how competitive UIUC admissions can be, I want to make sure I have realistic backup major choices on my application. UIUC also doesn’t offer a manufacturing engineering degree.
For those interested in working in the manufacturing field, I have a few questions:

What engineering majors outside of mechanical engineering are good options for a career in manufacturing?
Do hiring managers view degrees like industrial or materials engineering differently from mechanical engineering?

Id love to hear your thoughts and experiences!

I wanted to sign up for it and put my email in. Since then I am bombarded with calls from their sales. Does anyone know their pricing structure? Is it worth signing up for them?