Eagle's re-engineered Internet tracking system takes flight.

When steel caster Eagle Alloy, Muskegon, Mich., developed a website six years ago, it had an idea it hoped would make the company more accessible to customers.

"We wanted something interactive, something a little more than a billboard," said Jeff Cook, the sales manger for Eagle. "But customers for whatever reason didn't warm up to the idea."

However, like the fast spark of an electric arc furnace, the website's most interactive feature has suddenly become hot. At the top of the metalcasting facility's homepage, users can click on "Order Tracking." After inputting a unique username and password, they see a complete listing of all the orders they have placed with the company. The tracker tells the customer that its order has been received and inputted, the due date, the quantity and when it is scheduled to ship. If the order has already been shipped, then the customer knows the casting is in the mail.

"I'm getting an overwhelming response from our customers," Cook said. "Based on customer reaction, I'd say the participation is up 30-40%."

About a year and a half ago, Eagle switched to a new operating system, and it took some time to get the tracker back up and running. Eagle re-launched the service in July of this year.

"The tracking feature is identical to what it was before we switched systems, but our customer base has evolved rapidly," Cook said.

It's difficult to say exactly what has caused the evolution, but Cook guesses that the popularity of the internet as a business tool has grown, and metalcasting end-users have turned to it to keep their businesses running smoothly.

Customers who used to call in for updated information are now turning to cyberspace, according to Cook. That means less traffic for receptionists. And it means there is no waiting until the next day for updated information.

"One of the reasons behind doing it is that we have customers in different time zones," Cook said. "So if they call after 2:00 from the west coast, the receptionist is gone. After 5:00 EST, all of the information is updated, and they can check it on the internet."

Not everyone has come around, of course. Plenty of Eagle's customers still call in for certain information. It takes a day or two for an order to get processed through the contract review phases, so some get anxious to know that the steel is in motion. And while the program shows customers that their order is correct in both form and quantity, if they want to expedite or change an order, they also have to contact a customer service representative directly.

There is room for improvement, but there has been little outside pressure to change things so far.

"When we first launched the service, I told all of our customers about it," Cook said. "But it was a relatively new concept, and no one else was doing it, so it took a while for people to catch on."