A directory tells you what a plant makes.
Not that it broke ground on a second building in August and is speccing equipment for it right now. Capabilities are static; projects have dates.
Fresh leads from the live internet · for industrial & manufacturing sales
Manufacturing lead generation that starts at the groundbreaking.
Describe the plant you sell into, or the buyer you build for, in one sentence. Jesse searches the live internet and returns the companies showing a signal right now: a new facility, a capacity expansion, an automation investment, a product launch. With the source page and the date.
1200+ sales teams use Agent Jesse · no credit card required
› Find me manufacturers in the Southeast US with 100–1,000 employees that announced a plant expansion or new facility in the last 90 days
Talbot Metal Forming
Greenville, SC · 420 employees
20 Aug$38M expansion, 90,000 sq ft and 120 jobs · state economic development release
5 SepHiring controls engineer and 3 CNC programmers · careers page
Verity Packaging
Chattanooga · 260 employees
28 AugSecond line commissioned, "moving to 24/7" · LinkedIn post by plant manager
3 SepPosted maintenance technician and automation lead roles · careers page
Plants buy on a project calendar. Directories don't have one.
Plant managers don't answer "checking in."
They answer the email that names the expansion in the state press release, because that is the project they are being asked about every day.
The spec window closes fast.
From announcement to purchase order on a new line is often two quarters. A list refreshed last quarter has you calling after the vendor is chosen.
Signal 1
Find companies opening new manufacturing facilities.
A new plant is the most public signal in industrial sales. State economic-development releases carry the investment, the square footage, the job count, and the timeline. Everything in that building gets bought between the release and the ribbon cutting.
For equipment and automation vendors, industrial distributors, contractors, MRO suppliers, and staffing firms. Buyer: plant manager, VP Operations, or the project engineer named in the release.
› Find me 100 companies opening new manufacturing facilities
Example result
Manufacturer
datedLocation, investment, square footage where published, and the announcement source
Signal 2
Find manufacturers expanding production capacity.
A second shift, a new line, or "we're moving to 24/7" means more throughput, more maintenance, more consumables, and more people. The plant manager posts it on LinkedIn before the purchasing department has written a single RFQ.
For machine builders, tooling and consumables suppliers, MRO, industrial software, and contract staffing. Buyer: plant manager or operations director.
› Find me 100 manufacturers expanding production capacity
Example result
Manufacturer
datedThe new line or shift, the roles posted since, and the source
Signal 3
Find manufacturers investing in factory automation.
A first controls engineer, a robotics integrator named in a press release, or a "smart factory" line in an annual report means capital has been approved. Integrators, sensor and vision vendors, and MES software all get shortlisted in the same quarter.
For automation integrators, robotics and vision vendors, MES and IIoT software, and industrial cybersecurity. Buyer: VP Engineering or the new automation lead.
› Find me 100 manufacturers investing in factory automation
Example result
Manufacturer
datedThe initiative, the automation roles posted, and where it was announced
Signal 4
Find buyers who need what you make.
If you are the manufacturer, your lead is the OEM launching a product, the brand adding a SKU, or the company bringing production back onshore. Each is announced, and each needs a supplier with capacity and the right certifications.
For contract manufacturers, machine shops, fabricators, and component suppliers doing their own industrial lead generation. Buyer: sourcing manager or VP Supply Chain at the OEM.
› Find me consumer electronics companies in the US that announced a new hardware product or a reshoring plan in the last 90 days
Example result
OEM
datedThe product or reshoring announcement, sourcing roles posted, and the source
How it works
One sentence in. A short, dated list out.
01
Describe the plant or the buyer
Company type, signal, one constraint. "Food manufacturers in the Midwest that added a line this year." That sentence is the whole input.
02
Jesse searches the live web
Every query runs against the internet now, not an industrial directory. Each company comes back with the signal, the source page, and the date. 10 credits a search.
03
Write to the signal
Enrich only the people you will email, 5 credits each. Open with the expansion or the new line. Re-run weekly and work only the new rows.
Worked example
From query to email in one screen.
› Find me metal fabricators and machine shops in the Southeast US with 100–1,000 employees that announced an expansion in the last 90 days and are hiring controls or CNC roles
Talbot Metal Forming
Greenville, SC · 420 employees
20 Aug$38M expansion, 90,000 sq ft and 120 jobs · state economic development release
5 SepHiring controls engineer and 3 CNC programmers · careers page
To: VP Operations, Talbot Metal Forming · Subject: the 90,000 sq ft and the controls engineer
Congrats on the Greenville expansion. Hiring a controls engineer before the building is up usually means the new cells are being specced now, not after move-in.
We integrated a four-cell robotic welding line for a 400-person fabricator in Spartanburg on the same timeline last year, commissioned two weeks before their ribbon cutting.
Worth 15 minutes before the equipment RFQ goes out?
Honest fit
When Jesse is the right tool for manufacturing sales leads, and when it isn't.
| Choose | If you | Because |
|---|---|---|
| Jesse | sell into plants, or sell what you make, on timing: new facilities, expansions, automation investments, product launches | A sentence against the live web gives a short list with a dated reason to write. Free to start; Pro $9/mo. |
| Industrial directories (Thomasnet and similar) | need capabilities, certifications, and equipment lists to qualify a supplier or a plant | Reference data on what a company makes and how, which Jesse does not hold. Jesse finds what changed; a directory tells you what is there. |
| ZoomInfo | sell into large multi-plant manufacturers and need org charts by site | Depth in enterprise org charts and procurement-friendly contracts Jesse does not offer today. |
| Apollo.io | run high-volume outbound to Plant Manager and VP Operations titles with a sequencer | Database plus sending at the lowest per-seat cost, from $49/user/mo. Jesse has no sequencer. |
Most industrial sellers run two: Jesse for who broke ground this week, a directory or database for the rest. Jesse pricing read 14 Sep 2026; Apollo.io 20 Aug 2026; Thomasnet described from public positioning, not re-verified.
Pricing
Search is 10 credits. Email is 5.
$0
1,000 credits, once
≈100 searches, no card
$9/mo
1,000 credits/mo
Alerts, CSV export, lookalikes
$29/mo
8,000 credits/mo
API, MCP, n8n
$100/mo
30,000 credits/mo
Priority support
As of 14 September 2026. Phone enrichment is 30 credits.
Frequently asked questions
How do I generate leads for a manufacturing company?
Start from the buyer's event, not your capability list. If you sell into plants, the event is a new facility, an expansion, or an automation project. If you make things, the event is an OEM launching a product or reshoring production. Find the event, open your email with it, and re-run the search weekly. Jesse's free plan covers about 100 searches.
How do I find companies opening new manufacturing plants?
State and county economic-development offices announce them with the investment, square footage, job count, and timeline. In Jesse, "Find me 100 companies opening new manufacturing facilities" returns those companies with the release, the date, and the roles posted since. Write to the plant manager or project engineer named in the release, months before the RFQ.
How do I find industrial sales leads without a directory subscription?
Search for change instead of inventory. Expansions, second shifts, automation hires, and new product lines are all announced publicly and dated. One live search such as "manufacturers in Ohio that added a shift this year" returns a short list with sources. Keep the directory for qualifying capabilities; use Jesse for finding who is buying now.
How do I sell industrial equipment to manufacturers?
Sell to the project, not the plant. Equipment gets bought when a line is added, a facility opens, or a process is automated, and each of those is announced before purchasing starts. In Jesse, "Find me 100 manufacturers expanding production capacity" returns the companies and the announcement. Open with the expansion by name and ask about the spec timeline, not about your catalogue.
How do I find manufacturers investing in automation?
Follow the hires and the partners. A first controls engineer, an automation lead, or a robotics integrator named in a release all mean approved capital. In Jesse, "Find me 100 manufacturers investing in factory automation" returns those companies with the roles and the source. Reach the VP Engineering while the integrator shortlist is still open.
How do contract manufacturers and machine shops find new customers?
Watch for OEMs with a new product, a new SKU, or a reshoring plan; each needs supplier capacity with the right certifications. In Jesse, one sentence such as "medical device companies that announced a new product in the last 90 days" returns those OEMs with sources. Write to the sourcing manager about the specific product and your relevant certification.
Is Jesse a replacement for Thomasnet or an industrial directory?
No. A directory tells you what a company makes, its certifications, and its equipment; it is the right tool for qualifying a supplier or a plant. Jesse tells you which companies changed this week: a new facility, an expansion, an automation project, a product launch. Most industrial sellers use a directory to qualify and Jesse to time the outreach.
When do manufacturers buy equipment and services?
Between the announcement and the commissioning of a project, usually one to three quarters. Capital is approved before the release, the spec is written in the first quarter after it, and vendors are chosen before the building is finished. Budget season matters less than the project calendar, which is why the announcement is the thing to search for.
Ten plants that broke ground this month. That's the list.
Run one of the four manufacturing prompts, or write your own, on the free plan. 1,000 credits, no card.
Prices read from agentjesse.ai/pricing on 11 September 2026 (page dated 14 September 2026). Result cards on this page are illustrative examples.