Archive for December, 2015

Stretch Wrap- Cast Film (Part 2)

Thursday, December 31st, 2015

 

Today’s post is by Alyson Usserman, Project Manager at SafeSourcing.

Within the Stretch Wrap industry, there are hundreds of thousands of SKUs of stretch wrap. Most of the stretch wrap that SafeSourcing sources are for warehousing purposes and shipping freight.   When reviewing the specifications there are some things to note.

The second type of film that I will be focusing on is the Cast Film. The “Cast” indicator on the stretch wrap refers to the manufacturing process that the film undergoes. There are advantages and disadvantages using cast film versus blown film outlined below:

Advantages:

  1. Cast film is much stronger than blown film.
  2. Cast film is more durable in warehousing situations.

Disadvantages:

  1. Depending on the manufacturer, cast film can be more expensive.
  2. Cast film can be difficult to read through after layering it.
  3. Stretch Wrap Machines may have difficulty stretching the cast film properly.
  4. Cast film is considered the old technology.

In order to achieve the best specification, call SafeSourcing today.For more information on how we can help you with your procurement needs or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.  We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.

 

 

 

Stretch Wrap- Blown Film (Part 1)

Wednesday, December 30th, 2015

 

Today’s post is by Alyson Usserman, Project Manager at SafeSourcing.

Within the Stretch Wrap industry, there are hundreds of thousands of SKUs of stretch wrap. Most of the stretch wrap that SafeSourcing sources are for warehousing purposes and shipping freight. When reviewing the specifications there are some things to note.

The first type of film that I will be focusing on is the Blown Film. The “blown” indicator on the stretch wrap refers to the manufacturing process that the film undergoes. There are advantages to using blown film versus cast film.  It all depends on the use that the stretch wrap is intended for.

Advantages:

 Blown film is often more taught in order to keep shipments from moving during freight.

  1. Blown film is also lighter weight than cast film, making it is easier to move by individuals in the warehouse.
  2. Blown film is more durable around corners and breaks less during application.
  3. Blown film is the newer technology in the industry.

Disadvantages

  1. Depending on the manufacturer, blown film can be more expensive.
  2. Blown film can puncture more often.In order to achieve the best specification, call SafeSourcing today.For more information on how we can help you with your procurement needs or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative. We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.

 

 

 

Are you in the market fora new projectors?

Tuesday, December 29th, 2015

 

Today’s post is by Troy Lowe; Vice President of Development at SafeSourcing.

There are many brands and options available and researching can take a lot of time.  Knowing what type of application you will be using can help narrow the search criteria.  Do you need a projector for presentations while traveling, for an office conference room or for a home theater?  In each of these cases, the size and features may be different.  If you are going to be traveling, you may want a smaller lighter weight model.  For the projector in the conference room, you may want to have a larger model that has a brighter display.  For the home theater you may want a model that supports a widescreen display and higher definitions.  There are several different types of technologies available including DLP, LCD and LED.  Each one of the technologies offers different advantages and disadvantages so it important to research which will work best for you.  Below are some other things to consider when doing your research.

  • Display Resolutions
  • Lamp Life
  • Type of Inputs
  • Brightness
  • Size
  • Weight

If you would like some help finding a projector, we can gather all the necessary information for you and help you decide which one meets your needs. If you would like more information on how SafeSourcing can help you, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative. We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

 

We look forward to your comments.

 

 

 

What is a group purchasing organization (GPO) and some of their benefits?

Monday, December 28th, 2015

 

 Today’s post is by Tyler Walther; Account Manager at SafeSourcing

Have you heard the term GPO, group purchasing organization, or purchasing consortium? What is that? A group purchasing organization is a partnership that is created to improve the purchasing power of a group of businesses allowing them to attain greater discounts from vendors based on the collective buying power of the GPO members.

Of course a GPO’s primary goal is to get members the best price for their products being fulfilled; quality must be equally as important. GPO’s supplier bases traditionally incur a more rigorous vetting process helping to ensure the credibility and value of the supplier, as well as required product quality. A GPO goes beyond item price alone and considers overall value, which reflects a greater savings in the long term.

You can still keep that direct relationship with your vendors. Becoming a member of a GPO does not mean you eliminate your direct connection with your suppliers. GPO members can still receive drop shipments from their supplier. The GPO partner will still be able to contact the supplier when issues arise and still have the opportunity for personal meetings when required.

Not only do GPOs leverage the purchasing power of multiple entities, they also bring balance to the purchasing model because they already have relationships with vendors and suppliers.

 

We enjoy bringing this blog to you every week and hope you find value in it. Look to SafeSourcing for assistance with your GPO. For more information on how we can help you with your procurement needs or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative. We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.

 

We look forward to your comments. 

 

 

 

Why should you use a Procurement Service Provider?

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2015

 

 

Today’s post is written by Heather Powell, Director of the Customer Focus Team & Project Manager at SafeSourcing Inc.

Can you spend hours of time devoted to researching qualified and certified suppliers? Can you devote time to learning about the product and services your company need to buy? How do you know the product is apples to apples? Are the services providers licensed and bonded? How about obtaining multiple bids for your product?

globalsourcing

 

 

 

From the website Procurement Service Providers:

At most organizations, it is very expensive and difficult to maintain domain expertise in every category of spend. Using a PSP avoids the burdens of procurement infrastructure for non-strategic categories. A Procurement Service Provider can provide a rapid analysis of an organization’s spend and implement changes, negotiate with suppliers, and use proven industry best practices. A good PSP will become an extension of the organization’s existing procurement resources, in a non-obtrusive fashion.

In a recent article titled “Strategic Sourcing in the Mid-Market Benchmark: The Echo Boom in Supply Management”, the Aberdeen Research Group wrote about potential new approaches of Mid-Market company’s sourcing initiatives due to findings showing that they currently have mostly fragmented or limited sourcing efforts. Specifically, to remain competitive, Mid-Market companies should have “Increased reliance on third-party consultants to help define strategic sourcing process and train internal employees on commodity costing models, sourcing automation tactics, and category and supply market assessments.”

Additional research shows:

“…research of enterprises that have outsourced management of specific procurement processes and/or specific categories of spending have been able to achieve material cost reductions that average between 10% and 25%. In some cases, material cost reductions topped 30%.”         Aberdeen Group Research Abstract: You Will Outsource Procurement: Here’s Why and How – October 16, 2002

What SafeSourcing, Inc. states:

SafeSourcing works with finance and procurement department professionals in order to analyze their entire companies spend data to detect opportunities for cost reduction, supply chain awareness and performance improvement, as well as product and service quality improvement. Our ROI is historically greater than 10X and measureable within a company’s current fiscal accounting period.

Want to try us out risk free? Please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.  We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.

 

Supplier Meetings with Clients

Tuesday, December 15th, 2015

 

Today’s post is by Alyson Usserman, Project Manager at SafeSourcing

After an RFP or RFQ,  we are sometimes asked to communicate with vendors to schedule face-to- face meetings in relation to their quote and future business opportunities.   The following is a list of what you can typically expect as a supplier:

  1.  An agenda:   This will be a list of everything the client will want to discuss with you during the meeting.
  2. Meeting time, place, and contact: The client will typically decide on a location at their convenience, be prepared to travel. The client will then provide a contact who will also be in the meeting as well.
  3. Additional documents: On occasion a client will request additional documentation on the business opportunity to discuss.
  4. Questions: Prepare your questions ahead of the meeting in list format. This will help the client and the supplier think through any concerns.In person client meetings are the way onto the final negotiation process and contract signing, typically.

For more information on how we can help you with your procurement needs or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.  We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.

 

 

 

Are you having trouble reaching someone at home?

Monday, December 14th, 2015

 

Today’s post is by Troy Lowe; Vice President of Development at SafeSourcing.

With everyone carrying a cell phone, a lot of households have moved away from land lines.  In doing so it is sometimes hard to get ahold of someone when they are actually at home.  A lot of people like to keep their phones on vibrate as not to disturb others while in public and when returning home they place the phone down and do not hear the phone when doing things around the house.  This has happened to me several times.  I needed some important personal information for work and needed to get ahold of someone at home.  There were three people in the house all with cell phones and I could not reach any of them.  Turns out two of the phones were on vibrate and the other one was dead and charging.  I started some research and found that there are several different devices that can solve this issue.  Some of the devices are Bluetooth enabled and will connect to your phone when you are within range.  There are other devices containing docking stations so that your phone will charge as well.  With some of these devices you can connect to several phones at the same time.  One such system is the VTech Connect to Cell Cordless Phone.  It comes with a base station and 3 cordless phones that will connect up to 4 cellular phones at one time.  Below is a list of some manufacturers that carry devices that can connect to cellular phones.

  • AT&T
  • Panasonic
  • VTech
  • Cobra
  • Altigen

If you would like some help researching a solution, we can gather all the necessary information for you and help you decide which device meets your needs.  If you would like more information on how SafeSourcing can help you, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative. We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.

 

 

 

Where do you get your news?

Wednesday, December 9th, 2015

 

Today’s blog is by Margaret Stewart, Executive Assistant at SafeSourcing.

Newspapers were once the go-to place for news. It was an all-in-one place you could learn things from global events to local yard sales. Today, newspapers still serve the same function, but with advanced technologies, more and more people get their news from other places.

Television and radio still provide news to many people daily, and this is one source that can usually be trusted for accuracy. The drawback to these, however, is that they typically only run for a small allotted time and may not cover all the stories you may be interested in. The news that is provided by television and radio is clear and easy to understand, so most people will make a point to be in front of their television every day at six, but it is still limited to which topics the news group decides to run.

For more coverage on any particular story, most people turn to the internet. Here, there is more complete coverage on a wider variety of topics, every niche of news that can be imagined. The downside to obtaining news from the internet is that the accuracy is not as easily regulated than that of television or radio. It is far too common to find inaccuracies strewn throughout some news stories, omissions to support an agenda or bias, or altogether fabricated.

Newspapers still hold the highest standard for unbiased, accurate, and complete news stories, but people often do not want to or have time to sift through pages and pages of stories. On top of that, most newspapers still cost money, so they must be purchased first. With technology, newspapers can now put many of their stories, if not all of them, online for convenience, but it still requires readers to search through articles and ads to find the stories they are interested in.

So, where could someone get news that is reliable, on topics they care about, and easy to use? An e-Newsletter may be just what is needed. E-Newsletters are fairly small documents, so there is not much sifting through multitudes of stories or ads. They typically cover specific industries, so the articles are most relevant to what someone is looking for, and, most importantly, they are generally held to a high standard of accuracy, like newspapers, television, and radio.

There are a multitude of e-newsletters available today, many that cost nothing. SafeSourcing’s e-Newsletter is one of those. It is provided free of charge every month and can be accessed online even without a subscription. It provides industry-related stories from reliable sources, so readers can be sure what they are reading is true, complete, and accurate.

For more information on SafeSourcing’s e-Newsletter, or on our Risk Free trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative. We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

 

Which smoke detectors are right for your home and business?

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2015

 

Everyone wants to feel safe in their own home or while at work.

Today’s post is by Troy Lowe; Vice President of Development at SafeSourcing.

Everyone wants to feel safe in their own home or while at work.  There are many devices that can help.  One of the most important devices is a smoke detector.  It is good practice to install a smoke detector on each floor and one in each bedroom.  There are many types of detectors available.  Some of them just detect smoke while others can monitor and detect air quality, carbon monoxide and fire.  There are also Wi-Fi enabled detectors that allow you to control and receive alerts to your smart phone.  With these smart devices you can turn off an alarm right from your phone in case of false alarms caused by burning food.  Below are some things to consider if you are interested in investing in new detectors.

  • Placement
  • Quantity
  • Battery or Hardwired
  • Wi-Fi enabled
  • Maintenance
  • Features
  • Warranty

If you would like some help finding the right detector, we can gather all the necessary information for you and help you decide which device meets your needs.  If you would like more information on how SafeSourcing can help you, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative.  We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.

 

 

 

Sugar Pumpkin Shortage in 2015

Tuesday, December 1st, 2015

 

Today’s post is by Gayl Southard, Administrative Consultant for SafeSourcing.

The holidays are upon us.  November brings lots of “pumpkin” products to mind such as pumpkin lattes, pumpkin pies, pumpkin bread, etc.

Sugar, or pie pumpkins, the product used in cans of Libby’s, are smaller in shape and have more flesh than other types of pumpkins.  The pulp is sweeter and less grainy in texture.  Illinois, the largest pumpkin-producing state is blaming the record rainfall in June for washing out their sugar pumpkin crop.

Jane Moran, owner of Moran’s Orchard in Neoga, reported that their pumpkin crops were washed out in June.   Sugar pumpkins were replanted,  and then it rained more some more!   Moran’s Orchard ended up purchasing pumpkins at auction twice a week.

Libby indicated that the pumpkin crops could be off by a third this year in Illinois – where about 90 percent of the pumpkins grown in the U.S. come from.  Roz O’Hearn, corporate and brand affairs director, indicated there will be little, if any left after the holiday season, saying that “once we ship the remainder of the 2015 harvest, we’ll have no more Libby’s pumpkin to sell until harvest 2016.”  FoxNews.com, 10/7/15

SafeSourcing product experts can provide you with a number of suppliers in a multitude of categories.  For more information on how we can help you with your procurement needs or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative. We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.