The Web? There's No Reason To Rush

David H. Hannah doesn't consider himself a technophobe. It's just that as the chief executive of Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., a Los Angeles metals distributor, Hannah wasn't convinced that a wrenching, Net-centered overhaul was necessary--not for such a prosaic operation. Now, he's starting to wonder. Rather than bet the company on such a move, Hannah is following a game plan familiar to many Old Economy companies: He is dipping his toe cautiously into Web-based sales with the help of a couple of Net-savvy partners.

Founded in 1939, Reliance operates in 21 states. It booked a record of nearly $1.6 billion in sales in 1999. Almost all of that came in the old-fashioned way: over the phone, the fax, or from in-person sales calls. And rather than rely on snazzy, Internet-style logistics and outsourcing, Reliance ships product--typically thousands of pounds of steel or aluminum coils--just as it did in the 1970s, via a fleet of heavy trucks operating from one of its 74 processing and distribution centers scattered across the country.