Online Metals.com’s site, www.onlinemetals.com, requires no minimum order for copper, brass, stainless, aluminum and titanium, enabling smaller customers to buy only what they need. Some service centers previously required a minimum order of $250, even if the customer only needed $20 worth of material.

The Web site also includes complete material data sheets on more than 5,000 industrial metals.

Meanwhile, the Industrial Distribution Association has introduced an interactive Web site to assist wholesalers in moving surplus and obsolete inventory. Visitors to www.ida-assoc.org can click on Resource Links and sort the provided listings by manufacturer, UPC code, catalog item number or description, then download the information onto their own computers.

Information on the products must be submitted electronically using a template available on the Web site or on a floppy disk. Beginning in September, the information will be updated monthly. The service is free for IDA members.

For details, call the association at 404/266-3991 or send an e-mail to stevehearn@ pop.mindspring.com.

In addition, Information Assets Inc. announced the launch of two new Web sites geared toward end users: www.plant-design.com caters to the needs of the process and power-plant design industry, while www.pipemall.com supports sales and use of pipe, valves, fittings and related equipment.