MSE 443 Materials Engineering Design: Library Resources Guide
Locating & Pricing Materials/Parts/Production Equipment
Questions to consider:
- Who manufactures and/or sells parts and chemicals? How much do they cost?
- How much will it cost to produce the product? How do you estimate costs of the product and facility?
- What kind of equipment do you need to produce your product?
- Who manufactures/sells the equipment you need?
- On what scale are you going to be producing?
- What is the minimum amount of materials/units to fit your market? Is there a minimum? (Economy of scales - generally, the more you produce, the less it will cost you per unit)
Background Information on Cost Estimating & Engineering Economics
ASM Handbooks Online
Search for "costs" to retrieve the "Techno-Economic Issues in Materials Selection" chapter.
The Engineering Handbook (CRC Press / IEEE Press)
Large section on engineering economics and management.
Handbook of Industrial Engineering (Institute of Industrial Engineers)
T56.23 .H36 1992 Science
Includes chapters on cost estimating; human factors; risk analysis; facilities design; performance measurement; quality control; etc.
Directories for Finding Manufacturers/Vendors and Prices
Materials & Equipment
Thomas Register of American Manufacturers (registration required)
Also available in print at HD9720 .T6 Main Ref
Thomas Register is the most comprehensive online resource for finding companies and products manufactured in North America.
Chemical Engineering Buyers Guide (registration required)
Also available in print at TP158 .C47 2004 Science Ref.
GlobalSpec.com (registration required)
Searchable engineering catalogs featuring products and suppliers that can be quickly located using your own technical requirements.
Chemicals
Chemcyclopedia Online
The ACS Manual of Commercially Available Chemicals
Chemical Abstracts/SciFinder Scholar
This database requires that you download and install a client program to use it. SciFinder Scholar is also available on public workstations in the Science-Engineering Library.
SciFinder Scholar provides access to a database of commercially available chemicals from over 500 suppliers. Search the database by chemical name (see http://www.cas.org/SCIFINDER/SCHOLAR/scholname.html for an example) and then follow the steps outlined in http://www.cas.org/SCIFINDER/SCHOLAR/chemlist.html to identify commerical distributors for that substance.
Librarians:
Mary Feeney, Business Librarian
Jim Martin, Science-Engineering Librarian
Website created by Mary Feeney.