History

Unobtainium is the most costly element known to man. We can loosely define it as any metal that is specified by Engineering and unavailable to Purchasing. Too often, materials are selected for an application solely on the basis of chemical, physical or mechanical properties. When an obscure material, is specified in an odd quantity, size, product form, temper or specification, you’ve got Unobtainium.

The collective cost of required Engineering change orders resulting from Unobtainium is immense. Metal Suppliers Online proposes and supports a relatively unique concept to combat the “Unobtainium Conundrum”: Include materials availability in the material selection process.

While certainly not a high level criteria, materials availability and industry support of a potential selection can easily be determined using this website. We highly recommend that Engineers and Purchasing professionals alike use the resources that we’ve created to make better, more profitable material selection decisions.