Based in Los Angeles, C. R. Laurence Co. Inc. (CRL) has added real-time order access to its website, www.crlaurence.com. According to the company, the new feature not only allows customers to place orders, but they can also access, in real time, the CRL internal system to check on or change orders.

"We feel that this new element is one of the most innovative features of any business-to-business (B2B) website in the industry," said Donald E. Friese, president and chief executive officer. "We have always believed that our customers' most precious resource, time, should be devoted to his or her own business, and [we] have strived to make the most time-efficient systems for ordering information."

Friese continued, "Several years ago, we set up an efficient and easy to use website ordering system that provided customers access to our entire electronic catalog, enabling customers to make purchases securely online, at any time.

Now, however, we have improved that system to allow real-time access to information regarding orders. Not only can [our] customers immediately view open orders and change or add to them, they can also have questions answered by staff members dedicated solely to B2B commerce and online questions."

Site visitors will find information on the company's more than 30,000 products, as well as each of its catalogs in PDF format. Project tutorial videos, specification data and more are also included on the site .