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Paper catalogs
- Thread starter snoopdog
- Start date
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2015
- Messages
- 9,996
I usually keep the latest edition of a paper catalog for reference. If you don't know what you're looking for, it is the easier way to find something.
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2014
- Messages
- 3,606
100% agree with all of the above.
I worked for a major aerospace systems company and had a company Master Card (and used it plenty).
McMaster-Carr would not give me a discrete customer number because my shipping street address was the same as the company's.
No discrete customer number meant they couldn't identify my specific spending so they would not send ME a catalog. McMaster told me "We just sent a half a pallet of catalogs there within the last month". None of those catalogs got to my desk in an engineering department. I bet very few got to buyers in procurement. I also bet that most of them went into a dumpster (or maybe sold on eBay). It was extremely frustrating.
On a lighter note, for some time in the '90s, McMaster ran a forum on their site. People would ask questions and the community would reply, but more importantly, a McMaster person would reply with a suggestion that Part Number 9XXXXAXXX would solve the problem. There was a sub-forum where the catalog was the main subject, IIRC. Anyway, I read replies there for hours and laughed, ROTF. It was the funniest few hours in my life. It was liberating to read that so many others were equivalently frustrated by the McMaster catalog distribution policies. The expressions of the frustration covered the spectrum from calm, specific, rational to ranting rage and questioning peoples characters.
I don't know when the forum evaporated, but it did.
AFAIK, McMaster does everything else in a world class manor. The catalog distribution . . . not so much. Their policy seems, to me, to based on a doctrine developed in the 19th century. It's incredible to me that they won't even sell the catalog.
I worked for a major aerospace systems company and had a company Master Card (and used it plenty).
McMaster-Carr would not give me a discrete customer number because my shipping street address was the same as the company's.
No discrete customer number meant they couldn't identify my specific spending so they would not send ME a catalog. McMaster told me "We just sent a half a pallet of catalogs there within the last month". None of those catalogs got to my desk in an engineering department. I bet very few got to buyers in procurement. I also bet that most of them went into a dumpster (or maybe sold on eBay). It was extremely frustrating.
On a lighter note, for some time in the '90s, McMaster ran a forum on their site. People would ask questions and the community would reply, but more importantly, a McMaster person would reply with a suggestion that Part Number 9XXXXAXXX would solve the problem. There was a sub-forum where the catalog was the main subject, IIRC. Anyway, I read replies there for hours and laughed, ROTF. It was the funniest few hours in my life. It was liberating to read that so many others were equivalently frustrated by the McMaster catalog distribution policies. The expressions of the frustration covered the spectrum from calm, specific, rational to ranting rage and questioning peoples characters.
I don't know when the forum evaporated, but it did.
AFAIK, McMaster does everything else in a world class manor. The catalog distribution . . . not so much. Their policy seems, to me, to based on a doctrine developed in the 19th century. It's incredible to me that they won't even sell the catalog.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2014
- Messages
- 3,606
That is so very true.
I've had cases where searching McMaster on words from their own headline product nomenclature will not return that part category.
That's when I push the very convenient "How can we improve" button.
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2014
- Messages
- 3,606
They all seem to end up in my basement .We get pallet loads of them but not many people seem to use them .
Put some current catalogs up for sale and I bet you'll have plenty of takers.
I miss having a McMaster catalog. I used to be buried in them at work and would always have one at home. I pitched them (not recognizing that they were worth anything) and haven't had one since. You can get a lot of education about fasteners and other hardware, as well as tools, just perusing their catalog. Their site is great, probably one of the very best, for finding what you need, but it's not the same for browsing.
That's about the only paper catalog I need. Browsing other catalogs just costs me money...
GsT
edit: egregious typo
That's about the only paper catalog I need. Browsing other catalogs just costs me money...
GsT
edit: egregious typo