Archive for August, 2019

The Oxford Comma and Proofreading

Friday, August 30th, 2019

 

Today’s blog is by Margaret Stewart, Executive Assistant and Director of HR at SafeSourcing

For many of us, our schooling has emphasized the importance of proofreading our written works. This is supposed to eliminate any grammatical and punctuation errors, remove redundant ideas, and help keep a message fluid and comprehensible. Outside of the classroom and into the business world, proofreading should be even more important, but is often rushed or not done at all. This oversight and missing errors in a written work can affect your business, and your pocket.

As some background, the Oxford comma is the last comma used to separate a list of items. While it is often acceptably omitted, omitting it can change the meaning of a sentence. The oxford comma is used in the sentence, “You see two dancers, President Kennedy, and Bob Hope.” Clearly, the meaning of this sentence is that you see two people plus two dancers, for a total of four people. The same sentence, without the Oxford comma, “You see two dancers, President Kennedy and Bob Hope,” implies that you see two dancers, one being President Kennedy, and one being Bob Hope.

The real-life effects of omitting the Oxford comma can have detrimental effects on business. For example, a recent article described how the lack of the Oxford comma left one company to pay millions of dollars in a lawsuit. As the New York Times reported, the lack of the Oxford comma in one of Oakhurst Dairy’s contracts forced the company to pay $10 million for overtime it wasn’t expecting to pay.

While this is just one example, this situation demonstrates why proofreading is more important than ever, especially in business. Simple typing errors, misspelled words, incorrect grammar, and unclear language can leave customers and clients wondering about the quality of a business. On the other hand, clear, well-written, and informative language can bring in customers and clients.

For more information on SafeSourcing and how we can help you with your contracts, or on our Risk Free trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative. We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

 

 

 

Fleet Management Services, what values do they offer?

Thursday, August 29th, 2019

 

Today’s post is from our SafeSourcing Archives

How can companies benefit from using Fleet Management Services?

Fleet Service companies provide turnkey solutions for fleets.  Typically they provide solutions for Asset Management, Operating Cost Management and Risk Management.  Please see the details on services below.

Asset Management:

1. Title and Registration Services
2. Vehicle financing, acquisition, delivery
3. Used vehicle marketing
4. Violation Management

Operating Cost Management:

1. Fuel Expense Management
2. Telematics
3. Managed Fleet Maintenance
4. Vehicle expense management
5. Fleet management outsourcing

Risk Management:

1. Motor vehicle records and vehicle monitoring
2. Vehicle accident management
3. Safety Services

Fleet Service companies can help identify savings and improve fleet productivity.  In addition, they maximize your company’s fleet investment by benchmarking your fleet against the industry.  They also can recommend specific steps to improve fleet effectiveness.

For more information on how SafeSourcing can help your Purchasing Department evaluate Fleet Services please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.  We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments

What are my Internet connection options?

Friday, August 23rd, 2019

 

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

When looking for an Internet connection solution, there are several types of connections available. The most common are DSL, Cable and Fiber Optics.

DSL(Digital Subscriber Line) uses telephone cable to transmit data. When using DSL you have a dedicated connection that is not shared with others within your area. The speed is, however, affected by the distance between your location and the location of your Internet Service Provider(ISP). There are two types of DSL connections, asymmetric and symmetric. Asymmetric uses the phone line to connect to the internet and still allows you to use the same phone line to make phone calls. Because of this design, the upload speeds are slower than the download speeds. Symmetric also uses the phone line for the connection but uses both parts of the phone line for its connection. This allows for increased upload speeds, but the line cannot be used for incoming or outgoing phone communication.

Cable uses coax cable to transfer data. Cable is generally faster than DSL, but it is not dedicated so you are sharing bandwidth with others in your area. So there may be peak times during the day when the connection is slower because of the amount of usage within your area. Since most of the internet usage is used for downloading, cable is designed to give priority to downloading and upload speeds are much slower. If you are planning to upload a lot of data then you may want to consider DSL or Fiber for your solution.

Fiber Optics, which is the future for transmitting data, uses optical fibers to transfer data. Instead of using electricity and metal cables it uses light and glass to transmit the data. Because of this, it offers faster speeds because of its ability to move large amounts of data over great distances. Along with DSL, Fiber is a dedicated connection and not shared with others in your area so your speed will not be affected by other users. One downside to this technology is that is new and expensive to install so it may not be available in your area.

While much of this information is pretty basic, SafeSourcing can help with any of your more detailed network sourcing at rates well below what you might negotiate on your own.

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

 

 

Banning the Ban

Wednesday, August 21st, 2019

 

 

Today’s post is written by Ivy Ray, Senior Procurement Specialist at SafeSourcing Inc.

It’s been almost a year since my previous blog, “Zero Waste Initiative”, in which I discussed the move by several retailers to begin phasing out their plastic bag use. Now, in addition to the global concerns about the impact of plastic on the oceans and ecosystems, there is a new plastic crisis regarding plastic’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.

According to the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), in 2019 alone, the production and incineration of plastic will add more than 850 million metric tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere which is equal to the pollution from 189 new 500-megawatt coal-fired power plants. The CIEL report Plastic & Climate: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet, states that if plastic production and use grow as currently planned, by 2050, these emissions could reach 2.75 billion metric tons of CO2e from plastic production and incineration.

In the “Micro-bead Free Waters Act of 2015” the federal government banned the sale and use of rinse-off cosmetics that contain plastic microbeads. Washington, D.C., has enacted a bag fee to incentivize consumers to bring reusable bags when shopping. California was the first state to ban the use of plastic. New York and hundreds of municipalities across the U.S. ban or fine the use of plastic in some way. In seventeen other states there are those who argue that it is illegal to ban plastic items and are enacting old policy to place a ban on the ban of plastics.

Matt Seaholm, Executive Director of the American Plastic Bags Associations (APBA) says that the ban on plastics hurts the smaller businesses making it more costly for them to comply. The APBA proactively promotes and leads numerous public policy initiatives that serve as the frontline defense against plastic bag bans and taxes nationwide. Without universal laws across the country for plastic use, retailers with stores in multiple jurisdictions would find it difficult to adhere to different processes in multiple locations. According to Seaholm, more energy is used to produce replacement paper or cloth bags and that a ban will do little to impact overall litter and waste.

National Geographic hosts a multiyear effort to raise awareness about the global plastic trash crisis, “Plastic or Planet” which is very informative on the environmental impact of plastic, and challenges the community to find ways to reduce the amount of single-use plastic in their lives.

Plastic has become such an entrenched part of our lives, it is nearly impossible for us to live 100% free of plastic. It will be a long slow process that will involve a global effort in order to come to a resolution.

SafeSourcing has sourced plastic bags, paper bags, and reusable bags for our clients. Find the product that works for you, but remember to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

For more information on how SafeSourcing can assist you in exploring your procurement solutions for your business efforts, or on our Risk Free trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative. We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.

References ……………………………………………………………………

  1. https://www.ciel.org/news/plasticandclimate/
  2. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/08/map-shows-the-complicated-landscape-of-plastic-bans/
  3. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/planetorplastic/

Baseball Season and eProcurement Part 5

Monday, August 19th, 2019

 

 

Today’s post is by Dave Wenig, Vice President of Sales and Services at SafeSourcing, Inc.

Welcome to today’s doubleheader. In this final post in the Baseball Season and eProcurement series, we’ll focus on the two most sought after outcomes of an online Request for Quote (RFQ) Event. In the previous posts in this series, we highlighted some examples of how SafeSourcing customers have achieved and enjoyed hitting singles, doubles, and triples in their RFQ Events. At SafeSourcing, a Home Run is achieved when a customer saves between 20% and 24.99% and a Grand Slam is when savings over 25% is achieved.

Home Runs are excellent. It’s a great achievement to save over 20% on a category. Very recently, one of our customers saved over 23% on their uniform purchases. They worked with SafeSourcing to identify the different types of garments that were required and invited several well qualified vendors to participate in the RFQ. This was good exercise for all parties. In the end, the incumbent vendor was able to retain their business through the process. The vendor participated actively and was the lowest company overall which makes the award of business decision very easy.

As great as a Home Run is, Grand Slams are even better. Any time you’re able to reduce costs for a category by over 25%, that’s very exciting. Grand Slams can also be an eye-opening experience for the customers. Certainly, nobody wants to find out that they have been overpaying by 25% or more for any length of time, but that is essentially what might come to mind when a customer achieves a Grand Slam. The reality is that there are a number of factors that go into why savings levels are often so high and this kind of savings shouldn’t be considered as a negative reflection of the capabilities of the buyer or business owner responsible for the spend. One of the strongest factors that leads to a Grand Slam is the use of the RFQ tool and process. Causing open competition leads to maximum savings. Further, when that competition includes a wider selection of potential vendors, the results are compounded. There are more factors too, but these two are very significant.

One clear example of a Grand Slam that supports these points is in the recent project that we completed for a customer covering their Employee Assistance Program. This project was run in two phases. The first phase was an RFP to validate that the potential vendors were able to provide services as required by the customer and to learn about how the services would be delivered. This was important because the customer already had a partner for these services, but they were not aware of alternative vendors or the capabilities they could offer. Once the RFP was completed, select participating vendors were then selected to be invited to participate in a live RFQ for the same project. This was a critical step. As a result of the process, the customer was able to identify several potential partners to choose from for their ultimate award of business. The lowest offering that was already qualified by the RFP offered a 56% savings. Other vendors also finished the RFQ with similar offers. For the customer, that represents a seven-figure cost reduction. That’s a Grand Slam, and they are very common.

At the end of this series, the hope is that we’ve reviewed enough opportunities and examples to illustrate the following point. Cost savings come in a wide variety of categories and amounts. The common thread between all of the examples is that they were valuable for the customer who benefits from the cost savings. Every organization can benefit from savings like what has been illustrated here. Take a moment and consider if you are achieving results like these yourself.

Contact SafeSourcing, Inc. if you’re interested in learning more about how RFQ Events can help your company advance the bases and achieve savings.

 

 

 

Procure and purchase Part II of II

Friday, August 16th, 2019

 

 

 

Today’s Post is by Eli Razov, Senior Account Manager at SafeSourcing Inc.

In part I of todays post we discussed our process. Today we discuss the purchasing process

The Purchasing Process

Purchasing is just part of the entire process. Think of it as the final piece to the puzzle. You have figured out what you want, who to get it from, what they will charge you, and now you just need to obtain that good or service. The simplified steps to that final piece can be seen below:

  • Purchase Order Acknowledgement
  • Advance Shipment Notice
  • Goods Receipt
  • Invoice Recording
  • 3-Way Match
  • Payment to Supplier

Often times companies will allow the General Manager or head of that location decide on where to go for what is needed. This can increase costs up to three times more than if the company combined its buying power. This can also be avoided by implementing the procurement methods explained above.

Because purchasing is part of the procurement process, both procurement and purchasing are often used interchangeably. In the business world, the practice of using similar terminology in either conversation or printed materials is routine, although it is often confusing and should be avoided.

Purchasing:

The activity of acquiring goods or services to accomplish the goals of an organization.

The major objectives of purchasing are to maintain the quality and value of a company’s products, minimize cash tied-up in inventory, maintain the flow of inputs to maintain the flow of outputs, and strengthen the organization’s competitive position.

Procurement:

The act of obtaining or buying goods and services. The process includes preparation and processing of a demand as well as the end receipt and approval of payment.

For more information on how SafeSourcing can assist you or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact SafeSourcing  we have an entire team waiting to assist you today.

Citation and References:

  • http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/purchasing.html
  • http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/procurement.html

 

 

Procure and purchase Part I of II

Wednesday, August 14th, 2019

 

 

Today’s Post is by Eli Razov, Senior Account Manager at SafeSourcing Inc.

Procurement is the same thing as purchasing – right? While similar in some ways, the two are different parts of an entire process. I would like to help draw that line that separates the two. This process begins with finding the need and ending with the solution to that need, be it a good or service. There are quite a few steps in the “procurement process”, including selecting and vetting vendors, establishing terms and conditions, vendor and client communication, and finally implementation. Below you can see our standard procurement process.

Our Procurement Process:

Investigation

  • Client identifies a category they would like to take to market
  • Data gathered on current spend, vendors, contracts and policies
  • Subject Matter – Expert is assigned and project team is formed

Notification

  • Internal notice sent on expenditures under review (if needed)
  • Request for current vendors and additional information is made

Information Gathering

  • All internal feedback reviewed
  • New event specifications established

RFx Strategy & Setup

  • Communication
    • Incumbents notified of policy for spend, suppliers invited to participate in the event
    • Answer supplier questions, train suppliers and collect samples as required

Vendor Selection

  • Event is executed – results are analyzed, possible testing, information to Client News
  • Send supplier thank you and surveys
  • Select vendor to enter into a new contract

Implementation

  • Proposed contract details sent to selected vendor
  • Effective date established.

While this is a very simplified list, your company’s needs may be the determining factor of the procurement process. If you work for a big corporation, there may be more steps including Non- Disclosure Agreements, stronger qualifier questions for the intended vendors, and prolonged contract discussions. If your company is smaller, the process can often times be a lot quicker.

Check Back Tomorrow for Part II or II The Purchasing Process.

For more information on how SafeSourcing can assist you or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact SafeSourcing  we have an entire team waiting to assist you today.

Citation and References……………………………………………………………………………………

  • http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/purchasing.html
  • http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/procurement.html

 

 

Retailers should have continuing success when re-running prior e-procurement events.

Monday, August 12th, 2019

 

Today’s is a short post from Ron Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing in response to a customers question.

There is a proper way to insure the sustainability of your strategic sourcing or reverse auction events going forward.  Since you have already conducted or should have conducted your detailed discovery and analysis, a robust supplier database should permit you to do the following.

1. Conduct a detailed supplier discovery
a. Rank suppliers by
i. Size
ii. Experience
iii. References
iv. Environmental certifications
v. Safety Certifications
vi. Coverage area
2. Develop a three year supplier game plan
a. Develop a three year time line  for all categories
b. Identify suppliers for each event over the three years
c. Develop a three year supplier rotation schedule for those suppliers.
3. Role play internally  each year for a test category
a. Ask the following questions
i. Who will you invite and why
ii. Keep in mind the unique benefits of distributors and manufacturers
iii. Discuss award the business strategies
iv. Review alternative scenarios
v. Review impact on non awarded suppliers
vi. Determine which suppliers will be invited back and why
vii. Determine what new suppliers from your database search will be  invited next year.

If you’d like some help building this into a process that will work over and over again, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services representative.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

We’ve all heard about the wild blue yonder. But what is Blue Ocean Strategy?

Wednesday, August 7th, 2019

 

Todays repost is fro Ronald D. Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing Inc. in 2014 and still relevant today.

4PL’s or fourth generation logistics providers are the newest (although not that new) of logistics providers and typically they are a consulting firm that brings together the resources of other providers such as 2PL’s and 3PL’s to drive world class logistics performance. This might include global or local companies that are focused on air transportation; ground transportation as well as ocean bound freight. The goal of these organizations is to piece together solutions rather than to develop or own them. Without assets, 4PL’s can change quickly as performance and demand dictates.

With a good 4PL in place companies typically are not bound by their traditional marketing areas and can create new demand in areas they may have never conducted business in before. This is referred to as Blue Ocean Strategy.

According to Wikipedia, Blue Ocean Strategy is a business strategy book first published in 2005 and written by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne of The Blue Ocean Strategy Institute at INSEAD. The book illustrates what the authors believe is the high growth and profits an organization can generate by creating new demand in an uncontested market space, or a “Blue Ocean”.

How are you managing your logistics requirements? If you’d like some guidance before you just jump in and get overwhelmed, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Services Account Manager.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

Enterprise Software RFPs

Friday, August 2nd, 2019

 

Todays post is from Ron Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing

We’ve discussed the differences between the RFPs, RFIs, RFQs, and Surveys many time and also touched on why they were different as well as when you would use one.  What we said then was that you typically want to run one of these events when you have an idea about the basic functionality of a product you need but are not sure who can provide it and what else it is they can bring that you didn’t think of.

In many cases, the road to procuring enterprise software will require one of these tools due, in part, to the fact that software can change so quickly, but also because typical decision factors like price play a much smaller role to the features and functionality of the software.

In preparing to make a major software purchase a Request for Information or Proposal can be a great first step.  Here are some things to keep in mind about the solution and the company when preparing for one.

Flexibility – One of the keys in the process of evaluating software solutions and the companies that create them is to gather information about the flexibility of the product.  A focus on how configurable the system is and how well a solution can be fitted with your company’s needs and appearance is an important part to building a good software RFP/RFI.

Reputation – A company’s reputation for delivery used to go a long way in the business world but in the wake of a tougher economy price has begun to gain ground.  In the arena of software, it is still one of the most important factors to evaluate when selecting a software partner.  Building a relationship with companies known for under promising and over delivering on a consistent and referenceable level can be a huge factor in protecting a million dollar investment.

Pricing model – The key here is not in the actual price but how the company prices that is important.  Your company’s needs will dictate the pricing model that benefits your company whether for the enterprise; per seat or per user.  How a software provider prices and what they charge you for are HUGE factors in determining if they are suited for you and your company. The more information you can gather at the RFP/RFI stage as possible is very important.

Support – There is no more important product to verify good support on than software.  As upgrades occur, employees get promoted or leave the company, new employees need training, or issues arise, the level of support a company will commit to is critical to the confidence you can place in them.  On top of this, the more mission critical the functionality the software is to support is for your company, the more important the level of support becomes.  Any software RFP/RFI you create should have a detailed section to determine what level of support you can expect from each vendor.

For more information on SafeSourcing and how we can provide RFIs/RFPs that help you focus on these important factors, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.

We look forward to your comments.