A commonly sourced product using e-negotiation tools in the office supplies space is that of toner cartridges for laser printers. The majority of toner sold is made from petroleum based products. Another common practice when sourcing toner is to source recycled toner cartridges. We are all aware that recycling is a good thing.

There is a less expensive and greener alternative today that not many companies are considering yet. That is the use of toner derived from soybean oil. In fact, soy based toner can be as much as 20% less expensive than traditional toner that is based on petroleum products. Recycled petroleum based toners are still less expensive than new soy cartridges. Another benefit to soy based toner is that paper printed with soy based toner is also easier and less costly to recycle.

A very simple four step process for adding soy based toner to your next e-negotiation is as follows.

1. Add a question to your RFI as to whether or not your prospective or incumbent suppliers carry soy based toner products.
2. Include a line item in game planner for an identical specification of soy based toner for each petroleum based line item.
3. Ask for pre game samples of soy based toner.
4. Test the toner sample for volume and print quality.

The above process may also allow you to evaluate companies you wish to do business with in the future that are more flexible and support your environmental social responsibility initiatives by offering these types of green alternatives.

This simple process supports the reduction of petroleum based products, supports the environment and may in fact save you some money. Best of luck.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

Last year Canada declared this product toxic. It is time we do the same in the United Sates.

Last week during their meetings in Washington DC, the Endocrine Society indicated that there is strong evidence that chemicals that interfere with the hormone system can cause serious health issues.

Bisphenol A or BPA is a hormone disrupting chemical. On May 16th this author posted again on this subject because it concerns me greatly. The post is titled ?Do retail industry procurement professionals really know which products they buy contain BPA?

According to Robert Carey, President t of the Endocrine Society they decided to release their statement because these chemicals affect everyone. The report also indicated that 93% of Americans tested have been exposed to BPA.

This author continues to recommend that when buying any of the products listed above that procurement professionals ask their suppliers the specific question; do these products or the containers for these products contain BPA? If so, do you have the same product for the same price in containers that do not contain BPA?

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

Friday’s post shared a SafeSourcing employees novel idea on how to increase a retailers category sales, promote energy efficiency and increase reverse auction revenue for SafeSourcing all at the same time. I like these kinds of ideas. I think they’re called win-win-win. Please read on to view a great extension to this idea.

Friday’s category focus was on light bulbs. The specific product we discussed was compact fluorescent light bulbs or CFL’s. Today’s extension to that product is motion sensors.

As discussed during Fridays post, compact fluorescent light bulbs or (CFL’s) will save about $30 over its lifetime according to energy star and will pay for it in about 6 months. It uses 75 percent less energy and lasts about 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb.

Today’s product motion sensors can also be provided to a retailers employee in the same way that CFL’s were, as part of a program focused on energy consumption reduction. As an extension to the CFL program, energy sensors can be placed in an associates low traffic areas of their home such as spare rooms, basements and garages. When someone enters that area, the motion detector will turn on the lights which are already CFL’s, thus adding to the savings opportunity. When leaving the area, the light will also turn off after a certain period of time. Motion sensors could also be used outside of the home in security areas to eliminate having to remember to turn them on and off each day increasing safety in the home

The same program used to promote associates use of CFL’s can be used for motion sensors.

1. Retailer promotes a program that offers all associates an opportunity to buy motion sensors for their home. The employee can also receive their employee discount.
2. The motion sensors have to be purchased at the retailers store within a specified period.
3. The retailer offers to reimburse associates for the entire purchase.
4. The retailer holds a reverse auction for the sensors in order to reduce costs and make up for margin loss.
5. The sensors and the CFL’s can be sourced during the same reverse auction.

A creative retailer might also figure out a way to package these products for a marketing campaign to consumers that supports their CSR initiatives and would provide for great PR.

Please see Fridays post for additional benefits.

We look forward to and appreciate you comments.

Friday?s post shared a SafeSourcing employees novel idea on how to increase a retailers category sales, promote energy efficiency and increase reverse auction revenue for SafeSourcing all at the same time. I like these kinds of ideas. I think they?re called win-win-win. Please read on to view a great extension to this idea.

Friday?s category focus was on light bulbs. The specific product we discussed was compact fluorescent light bulbs or CFL?s. Today?s extension to that product is motion sensors.

As discussed during Fridays post, compact fluorescent light bulbs or (CFL?s) will save about $30 over its lifetime according to energy star and will pay for it in about 6 months. It uses 75 percent less energy and lasts about 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb.

Today?s product motion sensors can also be provided to a retailers employee in the same way that CFL?s were, as part of a program focused on energy consumption reduction. As an extension to the CFL program, energy sensors can be placed in an associates low traffic areas of their home such as spare rooms, basements and garages. When someone enters that area, the motion detector will turn on the lights which are already CFL?s, thus adding to the savings opportunity. When leaving the area, the light will also turn off after a certain period of time. Motion sensors could also be used outside of the home in security areas to eliminate having to remember to turn them on and off each day increasing safety in the home

The same program used to promote associates use of CFL?s can be used for motion sensors.

1. Retailer promotes a program that offers all associates an opportunity to buy motion sensors for their home. The employee can also receive their employee discount.
2. The motion sensors have to be purchased at the retailers store within a specified period.
3. The retailer offers to reimburse associates for the entire purchase.
4. The retailer holds a reverse auction for the sensors in order to reduce costs and make up for margin loss.
5. The sensors and the CFL?s can be sourced during the same reverse auction.

A creative retailer might also figure out a way to package these products for a marketing campaign to consumers that supports their CSR initiatives and would provide for great PR.

Please see Fridays post for additional benefits.

We look forward to and appreciate you comments.

During a company white board session last week, one of our associates came up with a novel idea how to increase a retailers category sales, promote energy efficiency and increase reverse auction revenue for us at the same time. I like these kinds of ideas. I think they’re called win-win-win.

The category in question is light bulbs. The specific product is compact fluorescent light bulbs or CFL’s.

A compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) will save about $30 over its lifetime according to Energy Star and will pay for itself in about 6 months. It uses 75 percent less energy and lasts about 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb. If every home in America replaced just one incandescent light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified CFL, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to that of 800,000 cars.

Like any other product containing potentially hazardous materials that you use in your home, CFLs come with some special instructions for handling, disposal and recycling.

Without going into all of the detail or long term savings calculations of our white board or idea sharing session, here are the specifics of the recommendation…

1. Retailer promotes a program that offers all associates an opportunity to buy CFL’s for their home if they are willing to replace all light bulbs in their home. The employee can receive their employee discount.
2. The CFL’s have to be purchased at the retailers store within a specified period.
3. The retailer offers to reimburse associates for the entire purchase.
4. The retailer holds a reverse auction for the CFL’s in order to reduce costs and make up for margin loss.

The Benefits:

1. The retailer promotes a program that is good for and has a direct measurable impact on the environment.
2. The retailer’s category sales go through the roof.
3. Associates household expenses are reduced with no out of pocket expense.
4. Retailer experiences a rise in associate satisfaction
5. Minimal margin impact is experienced on the category based on reverse auction savings.
6. This is a perfect example of supporting TBL or triple bottom line

In this environment, the retailer wins, the associate wins, and the reverse auction solutions provider wins.

Just imagine the impact if some of the largest retailers with thousands of employee’s were to adopt this program.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

During a company white board session last week, one of our associates came up with a novel idea how to increase a retailers category sales, promote energy efficiency and increase reverse auction revenue for us at the same time. I like these kinds of ideas. I think they?re called win-win-win.

The category in question is light bulbs. The specific product is compact fluorescent light bulbs or CFL?s.

A compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) will save about $30 over its lifetime according to Energy Star and will pay for itself in about 6 months. It uses 75 percent less energy and lasts about 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb. If every home in America replaced just one incandescent light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified CFL, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to that of 800,000 cars.

Like any other product containing potentially hazardous materials that you use in your home, CFLs come with some special instructions for handling, disposal and recycling.

Without going into all of the detail or long term savings calculations of our white board or idea sharing session, here are the specifics of the recommendation…

1. Retailer promotes a program that offers all associates an opportunity to buy CFL?s for their home if they are willing to replace all light bulbs in their home. The employee can receive their employee discount.
2. The CFL?s have to be purchased at the retailers store within a specified period.
3. The retailer offers to reimburse associates for the entire purchase.
4. The retailer holds a reverse auction for the CFL?s in order to reduce costs and make up for margin loss.

The Benefits:

1. The retailer promotes a program that is good for and has a direct measurable impact on the environment.
2. The retailer?s category sales go through the roof.
3. Associates household expenses are reduced with no out of pocket expense.
4. Retailer experiences a rise in associate satisfaction
5. Minimal margin impact is experienced on the category based on reverse auction savings.
6. This is a perfect example of supporting TBL or triple bottom line

In this environment, the retailer wins, the associate wins, and the reverse auction solutions provider wins.

Just imagine the impact if some of the largest retailers with thousands of employee?s were to adopt this program.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

The answer to this question is simpler than most would offer as an answer. Some might answer that it is savings, some might answer that it is cost avoidance. Both are a nice end result.

This author?s answer however is that without what I believe to be the primary answer the first two answers won?t happen. At least they won?t consistently.

A lot of work goes in to building and hosting a reverse auction. The people conducting that work are known as knowledge workers. At least that is my point of view. What they are building is content that supports the entire procurement process. Without the adequate content and easy access to it, suppliers can not properly bid without putting themselves at risk and buyers can not buy without putting themselves at risk. A primary risk to the above mentioned benefits of savings and cost avoidance is that the low quote you received might not be honored for a variety of loopholes created by a lack of adequate content.

The process begins with properly assessing a companies needs and documenting them properly and then targeting suppliers that have offers that match those needs plus some. Surprisingly, many buying organizations do not even have this content for their existing suppliers let alone access to new sources of supply. In many cases contact information is not up to date which can include simple data such as names, phone numbers, email addresses, payment processing addresses and the like.

Ask your solution provider to detail the content they collect for a reverse auction and to show you how both buyers and suppliers can access that information before, during and after an auction in order to insure that what you are offering for bid is what they are bidding for.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

With the growing concern over food safety, this author has posted often on the importance of traceability in the food chain. The movie Food Inc. is a great place to begin to learn what traceability and social consciousness really means.

The about the movie website titled Hungry For Change shares that In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA.This movie Features interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield’s Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms’ Joel Salatin.

This movie provides a great opportunity to raise your company, individual and procurement teams education level relative traceability, safety and social consciousness in the procurement process.

Please share this post with a friend and visit http://www.foodincmovie.com to learn more.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments

Fridays post relative to food safety in the pet food arena discussed the potential risks and associated costs of not adhering to product safety standards. The Mattel settlement and fine is from that same time period.

Ultimately not adhering to standards can result in significant fines or if the violation is severe enough can cause a supplier to go out of business. For a business such as Mattel with annual sales of approximately $6B USD based on their 2008 annual report a fine of $2.3M is relatively small. The total cost is probably double based on the length of the litigation and associated legal fees. For other companies violations can cause them to entirely go out of business in a much shorter period of time; as was the case for the Peanut Corporation of America from the peanut butter recall associated with the Salmonella outbreak earlier this year.

Even though two of the examples sighted above are relative to food products, product safety is not just about food borne illnesses. That was actually the title of a recent post that discussed the lack of accountability at the top of organizations relative to Triple Bottom Line (TBL) which measures organizational success based on economic, ecological and social results or more simply put based on people, planet and profit impact.

The question this begs is do any of the companies above meet that level of success based on these legal findings and results. If these things happen once in accompany can they or will they happen again? Will consumers let it? As we enter a heightened time of social consciousness only time will tell.

In recent history we have peanut products, medical devices, toys, produce and ballpark turf etc. all causing serious illnesses or death. It is time for all companies to require active diligence in order to ensure that safety and other standards are adhered to without exception in the sourcing process. Ask your solutions provider how they can help you accomplish this?

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

This author is not sure that the total financial or emotional impact of the 2007 Pet Food Scare will ever be totally calculated. As a concerned pet owner whose best friend was affected by this scare and survived, I do know our dog no longer eats pet food.

According to Consumer Reports, an attorney for Stephen S. Miller, co-owner of ChemNutra Inc., said his client, Miller’s wife, Sally, and the company plan to enter guilty pleas at a hearing June 16, according to court papers. The Millers and ChemNutra, along with two Chinese companies, were indicted in February 2008 on charges that ChemNutra imported wheat gluten tainted with the chemical melamine, which was then sold to pet food makers.

According to Wikipedia ChemNutra imported ingredients for food, animal feed and pharmaceuticals, so the impact of the products they imported had the potential to have a more far reaching impact than just pet food.

As this author has continued to stress, managing and keeping supplier information fresh and accurate is a constant challenge for all retailers. Food recalls such as the 2007 Pet Food Recall can be mitigated by following the correct processes and keeping up with and holding suppliers accountable to food industry safety standards as we discussed during yesterdays post.

As we are not aware of the plea arrangement in this case, we may never know the financial impact to retailers, wholesalers, suppliers, employees and shareholders that were negatively impacted by companies using ChemNutra as a source of ingredients.

What we do know is that thousands of dogs and cats gave their lives when all they do day in and day out is trust us to keep them safe. What a shame.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.