Archive for December, 2016

More Bang For Your Buck!

Wednesday, December 28th, 2016

 

Today’s post is by Steven Belvin, Account Manager at SafeSourcing

The Best Market Value is always right around the corner right? Wrong. In fact, it can be quite challenging for a business to find the Best Market Value for their goods. Before finding Best Market Value, we must first understand what Best Market Value mean; and in order to do that, we must break the term down into two separate terms, Best Value and Market Value.

Best Value is defined as the best service or product for the cheapest price that can be acquired by a company. The Business Dictionary defines Market Value as, “The highest estimated price that a buyer would pay and a seller would accept for an item in an open and competitive market.” Now that we understand both terms we can see the Best Market Value is not always the lowest price. There are actually many things that are taken into consideration when determining the Best Market Value. There is the price, the quality of product or service, the quantity, and even experience.

To truly find the Best Market Value, you would have to go through multiple steps. A few of these steps would be to call multiple companies, gather correct contact and pricing, compare pricing amongst the separate companies, and many other steps. As one can see, this might take a little time to find the Best Market Value and it’s not like you have a workshop full of elves at your disposal. This is where SafeSourcing comes into play. Let us be your “workshop full of elves” and take care of all your sourcing needs. We take pride in being able to provide you with the Best Market Value and provide you with a great ROI. I encourage you to put us to the test this upcoming year and see how much we could save your company.

For more information on how SafeSourcing can assist your team with this process 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.

————————————————————–

market value. BusinessDictionary.com. WebFinance, Inc. December 12, 2016 <http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/market-value.html>.

Posted in

What do I need to keep in mind when purchasing an external storage device?

Tuesday, December 27th, 2016

 

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

When looking for a backup solution, the most ideal solution for most people are external storage devices. The prices of these devices have dropped significantly over the past few years which make the option even more attractive.  When looking for an external storage device to keep your important documents and files on, there are a few things that you want to keep in mind such as storage, size and speed.  Storage is the amount of space that is available for saving information.  There are lots of options available, but for the most part 1 terabyte should be enough for most users.  Size is the physical size of the device.  If you are traveling or carrying the device with you, you may want to purchase a smaller device that can easily be stored in your laptop case.  Along with that you may want to look into purchasing one that is more durable.  For example there are manufacturers that make the devices with protective covers that can withstand shock, drops, dust and water.  Speed is not as important as an internal storage device because the device is usually used for backup purposes and not accessed on a regular basis like an internal drive.  If you will be accessing the drive regularly, then you may want to purchase a storage device that contains desktop based components.  Another factor to consider is the software packages that come with the device.  This is usually the main difference between the different manufacturers of the devices.  Some of the software packages offer the ability to do backups and automatically upload files to cloud offerings.  Below are some other things to consider when doing your research.

  • Connectivity
  • Price
  • Security
  • Warranty
  • Durability
  • Failure Rate

If you would like some help finding the right solution, we can gather all the necessary information for you and help you decide which device will meet 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.

 

Posted in

The “Pole” is in!

Thursday, December 22nd, 2016

 

Today’s post is by Jericia Stevens, Account Manager at SafeSourcing Inc.

Christmas Edition

Christmas is said to be the most wonderful time of year. According to a 2005, a CNN/USA Gallop poll, half of the Americans polled said that it is a “great time” or the “best time of year.” (Jones, 2005)

Do half of the Americans still believe this to be so in 2016? In recent years, Christmas starts the evening of Thanksgiving. Busy shoppers stand in long lines; defy the weather and busy crowds in hopes to get the best value for their buck. Christmas has become more about spending and buying power than caroling and delivering baked goods. It is all about great value and savings. In a poll conducted by WPMT Fox 43 Christmas Poll on their website, 82% of the people polled believe that September 21st is too early for stores, shops, and other locations to begin advertising for Christmas. On the contrary, 18% believed it was not.

Whether you are the late shopper or the deal seeker, or the overwhelmed business owner, we want you to enjoy the experience. Remember, even Santa Clause has sourcing needs. Enjoy your holidays and ‘Tis the season to great savings!

SafeSourcing, Inc. provides innovative eProcurement tools that can increase efficiency and improve profitability for our customers, and provide superior value for all stakeholders. In addition to providing information, tools and services, SafeSourcing proactively supports consumer safety and environmental standards throughout the global supply chain management process. To learn more, visit SafeSourcing.com,

Let SafeSourcing manage your sourcing projects. We enjoy bringing this blog to you every week and hope you find value in it. 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.

————————————————————

Ahearn, Cale (2016, September 21). : http://fox43.com/2016/09/21/poll-is-september-21-too-early-for-stores-shops-and-other-locations-to-begin-advertising-for-christmas/

Jones, Jeffrey M. (2005, December 05).: http://www.gallup.com/poll/20587/christmas-good-time-most-americans.aspx

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in

Enjoying the Benefits of eProcurement Part II

Tuesday, December 20th, 2016

 

Today’s post is by Dave Wenig, Regional Sales Manager at SafeSourcing.

Recently, I wrote about “Enjoying the benefits of eProcurement.” In this post, I wanted to elaborate on that same topic. Specifically, my aim is to highlight strategies to perpetuate your enjoyment of the benefits of eProcurement while minimizing the impact on your organization.

Once you start enjoying the benefits of eProcurement in your organization, you may find an unusual challenge. You might feel that you are generating savings faster than you can actually realize those savings. As previously discussed in me last post, there are several reasons why you might feel that way, from sample reviews to internal discussions about the results. That said, you need a plan in place so that you continue to generate savings and so that you wind up with rogue spending outside of your eProcurement process.

One way to address this challenge is to have a clear understanding of your timelines. Work with your eProcurement partner to identify the milestones in your larger Procure-to-Pay lifecycle. Once you understand when each milestone will occur, you can better manage the timing of all projects. For example, you might be able to time lower-priority projects so that your team does not become inundated with samples. Properly timing these projects will also help keep the contracts from piling up as it comes time to begin working with a selected supplier.

Another way to address this challenge is to work closely with your eProcurement partner to identify areas in which you can take advantage of their expertise to streamline key steps in the Procure-to-Pay lifecycle. For example, are you leveraging your partner to help you track and manage sample requests? While this task may seem fairly routine, it is very important to the award of business decision making process and can also become time-intensive. Work with your eProcurement partner and ask them to help. Lean on them as you would an internal resource.

While these are not the only two ways to create efficiency in the eProcurement process, they are two great ways to ensure that your organization is constantly generating savings and is constantly enjoying lower costs as a result of eProcurement.

Dave Wenig is the Director of Sales, North America at SafeSourcing. Dave or any member of the experienced team at SafeSourcing would be happy to discuss how SafeSourcing . can help you attain and quickly realize savings. For more information, please contact SafeSourcing.

We look forward to your comments.

 

Posted in

One or the other; Efficiency vs Effectiveness

Thursday, December 8th, 2016

 

Today’s post is by Steven Belvin, Account Manager at SafeSourcing

Many believe you must sacrifice effectiveness for better efficiency or vice versa. However, in the proper hands this could not be more wrong. As hard as it may seem there are ways to improve both at a company. BusinessDictionary.com defines Effectiveness as “The degree to which objectives are achieved and the extent to which targeted problems are solved. In contrast to efficiency, effectiveness is determined without reference to costs and, whereas efficiency means “doing the thing right,” effectiveness means “doing the right thing.” BusinessDictionary.com also defines efficiency as “The comparison of what is actually produced or performed with what can be achieved with the same consumption of resources (money, time, labor, etc.). It is an important factor in determination of productivity.” As you see from above effectiveness basically means doing the jobs that are assigned to you and handling any problems that may come up while working on those tasks. Whereas, efficiency basically means how fast you can correctly do your job or what resources can you utilize to help save time, money, material, or labor while completing the task. With this being said it is easy to assume that you must sacrifice one for the other.

However, believe it or not, some of the best ways to improve both is to slow down. Let me explain, the faster you move the more likely you are to mess up what you are working on and if you slow down too much you will not complete the task in the timeframe needed. This is why many companies like to utilize a Strategic Sourcing company like SafeSourcing as a resource. As I come to the end of my first month at SafeSourcing I realize I have been taught ways to improve both my effectiveness and efficiency. I have noticed the time it takes me to complete tasks is slowly starting to go down. It is easy to see why the SafeSourcing team can complete so many tasks in one day to ensure a quick turnaround of events with the highest ROI to the customer.

For more information on how SafeSourcing can assist your team with this process 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.

—————————————————————

“What Is Efficiency?” BusinessDictionary.com. Business Dictionary, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.

“What Is Effectiveness?” BusinessDictionary.com. Business Dictionary, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.

Posted in

How can I extend the battery life on my laptop?

Thursday, December 1st, 2016

 

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

If you travel and like to work on the road, you probably have run into the issue of battery life with your laptop. Although batteries are getting more efficient, this is still one big complaint for laptop users.  There are settings that can be changed on the laptop to help reduce the drain.

One of the biggest drains on the laptop is the display. Reducing the screen brightness in low light situations can have a big effect.  This can be done on most laptops by holding down the Function Key (FN) and pressing the brightness buttons located on the laptop’s keyboard.  This can also be done by using Windows Mobility Center within the operating system.  For example on Windows 7 this can be done by holding down the Windows Key and pressing the X key.  Other options for controlling the display are to have your display dim automatically or turn off automatically.  This is good practice if you step away from your laptop periodically throughout the day.  This can be done by adjusting your settings within the Power Options Screen.  To access Power Options click start, click Control Panel and then click Power Options.  From here you can adjust the times for dimming the display, turning off the display or putting the computer to sleep.

Another way save battery life is to disable or unplug any devices that are not being used. For example, if you are not using your Wi-Fi or Bluetooth then disable it.  These devices use power when they are enabled.  So, if you are in situations where Wi-Fi is unavailable then simply disable it by holding down the Function Key (FN) and pressing the Wi-Fi button located on the Laptop’s keyboard.

Below are some other tips for extending battery life.

  • Reduce the number of open programs
  • Turn off unused Ports
  • Add more RAM
  • Keep out of extreme hot or cold
  • Upgrade Hard Drive with a Solid-State Drive
  • Replace old battery

If you frequently use your laptop where there is no power available you may consider purchasing a second battery.   If you would like some help finding the right solutions, we can gather all the necessary information for you and help you decide what will meet 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.

Posted in

© 2023 SafeSourcing