Greatest Gains Predicted In Sales And Services NEW YORK---March 18, 2002--Thomas Register, the world's most comprehensive supply-chain purchasing information resource, today announced the results of its February Industrial Purchasing Barometer (IPB) Survey, which revealed that of the survey respondents, 99 percent of industrial buyers believe the Internet will improve productivity this year. Forty-four percent indicated that sales and services will realize the greatest improvement. The February IPB Survey was conducted randomly among Thomas Register's pool of 760,000 opt-in online users and was powered by About.com. Respondents from the manufacturing and engineering industries, wholesale trade, distribution and government buyers, participated in the survey, indicating that the Internet will most improve productivity in the following areas: - Sales and Services 44% - Purchasing 34% - Product Design 11% - Supply-Chain Management 8% - Internet will have no impact on productivity 1% Thomas Register has a long history of monitoring the psyche of industrial buyers. The monthly IPB Barometer was implemented to monitor the changes in industrial purchasing in the current economic environment.