Today’s post is by Ronald D. Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing Inc.

The recent pandemic and resulting supply chain impact has caused so many new retail format modifications, are you sure that your contractors are following LEED certification standards and principles.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system is the nationally accepted benchmark for design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED is an ecology-oriented building certification program run under the auspices of the U.S. green building Council (USGBC). LEED concentrates its efforts on improving performance across five key areas of environmental and human health: energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, materials selection, sustainable site development, and water savings.

LEED has special rating systems that apply to all kinds of structures, including schools, retail and healthcare facilities. Rating systems are available for new construction and major renovations as well as existing buildings. The program is designed to inform and guide all kinds of professionals who work with structures to create or convert spaces to environmental sustainability, including architects, real estate professionals, facility managers, engineers, interior designers, landscape architects, construction managers, private sector executives and government officials.

On its Web site, the USGBC says that LEED defines “a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance Green Buildings” and “provides building owners and operators with the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance.” According to the American Institute of Architects, the 69 LEED points that make up the program’s specific design points and considerations can be reviewed in a two-hour meeting, during which time the design team and the owner can decide what level of LEED compliance is desirable for their building project.

State and local governments around the United States are adopting LEED for public buildings of all kinds, and LEED initiatives at the US Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy and State drive activity at the federal level. In addition, various types of LEED projects are currently underway in over forty other countries, including Canada, Brazil, India, and Mexico.

If you’d like to learn more about how SafeSourcing can assist in properly helping to insure your contractors are adhering to all LEED standards,  please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

Source: https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/LEED-Leadership-in-Energy-and-Environmental-Design

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

With all of the prices rising some companies are deciding to keep the prices the same but reduce the amount of product that goes into the packaging.  If you are not yet aware of this, it is called shrinkflation.  Shrinkflation is the practice of reducing the size of a product while maintaining its original sticker price.  This practice is usually used by companies in the food and beverage industries to increase profit margins or maintain them when there are rising input costs.  This practice is not new but it does escalate during times of inflation.  Companies are trying to find ways to deal with the rising costs for their ingredients, labor, packaging and high cost of transportation.  One of the main reasons for this practice is that manufacturers know that customers will notice if a product increases in price but they may not realize that a package may contain less product.  Most consumers do not pay attention to the weight, quantity or number of sheets contained on a roll of toilet paper.  But they would however notice if the price increased from their last time of purchase.  So when you are out shopping next time you may want to pay attention to the products you purchase and maybe search for an alternative one instead.  Below are some products that have been reduced.

• Toilet Paper Rolls
• Paper Towel Rolls
• Tissues
• Chips
• Gatorade
• Ice Cream Cartons
• Yogurt
• Family Size Boxes of Cereal
• Candy Bars
• Coffee
• Cat Food
• Dog Food
• Trash Bags
• Toothpaste

Interested in learning how SafeSourcing can help your company save money during these challenging times?  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.

Today’s post is by Patrick Quinn is a Procurement Specialist at SafeSourcing Inc

Lock in your mortgage rates everyone because the gravy train has officially ended. The Fed has announced the biggest increase in interest rates since 1994 in an all-out effort to reduce inflation. So now, we can all expect to see the usual activity during times of increased interest rates. Fewer auto loans, lower mortgage limits, higher credit card rates, and among the consumer commodities hits come more difficult aspects such as lower hiring rates as spending slows down.

This long-term strategy is sound economic theory, but not one without its struggles. Since business growth will be reduced because of reduced consumer spending, the focus now shifts from revenue growth to spend reduction to weather the storm. Long term contracts at a competitive rate are now far more valuable than jumping from short term contract to short term contract seeking out world-beating prices. Fortunately, the Fed only seems interested in increasing the rates as little as possible to mitigate the subsequent unemployment as it recognizes the worse of two evils. Unfortunately, that does mean incremental rate increases for the foreseeable future. So, lock in your contracts yesterday, everyone, it is going to be a bumpy ride.

To help secure your next contract, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.

Today’s blog is by Margaret Stewart, Director of HR, and Administration at SafeSourcing Inc.

With the ever increasing and frustrating situation with supply chain interruptions, many of us are wondering what can be done?

Most likely you have seen some shortage of good or supply lately. If not, you may have at least noticed prices going higher and higher. Prices go higher as demand gets higher, and demand gets higher as availability goes does. But as we are seeing now, sometimes there simply just is not any of what we are looking for. This is when having a strategic sourcing partner, like SafeSourcing, can help.

SafeSourcing can help your organization find alternatives to what you are looking for or even come up with plans to obtain the supplies or services you need. For example, collaborating with other organizations can provide a greater buying opportunity for you since it will increase, often dramatically, the volume of the item to be bought. This in turn provides a selling opportunity for a manufacturer or distributor that may have otherwise not been able.

Finding alternatives is another fantastic way to source the goods or services you need. For example, if you need honey, you may not be able to get imported honey you have in the past, but you may be able to source it locally. This adds another benefit of keeping business and revenues local and supporting the investment of a community.

Another option is to find items that are comparable. While this is trickier than the other methods, it can still greatly benefit an organization. For example, if 12-ounce plastic bottles are proving difficult to source, you may weigh the costs and benefits of looking at either a ten ounce or 16-ounce bottle. Sometimes the price difference covers the additional cost of product in those bottles.

For more information on what the SafeSourcing team can offer you, or on our Risk-Free trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative. We have an entire team ready to assist you today.