The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) and Forrester Research released the latest ISM/Forrester Research Report On eBusiness, a first-of-its-kind report that tracks online activity for both manufacturing and non-manufacturing organizations. The primary finding of the new Report indicates that the percentage of direct materials purchased online surpassed the percentage of indirect materials purchased using the Internet for the first time since the fall of 2000 when this Report was developed.
(Direct materials are analogous to OEM in ISM's parlance, while indirect refers to MRO supplies.)