If you’d like to learn more about alternative sources of supply around the world or locally, contact a SafeSourcing customer services account manager to learn more about SafeSourceIt™ our 587,000 global supplier database and let us translate it into increased profits for you.
We look forward to and appreciate your comments.
Today’s post was written 12 years ago by Ron Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing.
Most if not all of this is still relevant.
Companies with a few customers and companies with thousands of customers are often looking at the same types of issues. The process and the results are very similar regardless of scale and as such require the same careful focus to drive targeted results. If we were to white board what should be included in our procurement goals many of the following areas would be included.
1. Lower costs
2. Consistent and improved quality
3. Products that guarantee safety for your customers
4. Smooth transition to new supplier relationships
5. Quality product specifications
6. Unlimited new sources of supply
7. Well thought out internal and external collaboration and aggregation
8. Support for environmentally focused products
9. Support of CSR Initiatives.
10. Evaluation of low-cost technology solutions
11. Joining and collaborating with share groups or GPO’s
12. Review of Incumbent suppliers
13. E-Sourcing or e-procurement training.
14. Existing procurement tool evaluation
15. Existing contracts evaluation
16. Detailed spend visibility and evaluation
17. Off or Near Shore sourcing opportunities
18. Sourcing and Supply Chain Knowledge transfer
19. For resale sustainable practices review
20. Perfecting The expense category
As your organization develops their list similar to the one above, prioritization and elimination sessions will lead you to a best few focus areas from which you can refine your e-procurement goals for 2023.
Please use the above guidelines as a framework for your thinking. Remember that simple goals written down are the most achievable.
We appreciate and look forward to your comments
Today’ s post is by David Wenig; Senior Vice President of Sales and Services at SafeSourcing.
As we get ready to welcome in a new year, we often speak of our resolutions. Personally, the resolutions that we make are likely to include exercise more, become more environmentally conscious or lose weight. The same concept of resolutions should take hold in your procurement department. Take the New Year as a challenge to drive new initiatives that will reduce spend in a sustainable manner.
If our first resolution was to exercise more, we could also apply that to procurement. That is to say that we could take more steps toward efficient and effective procurement. You may focus your RFI, RFP and RFQ efforts on initiatives that have been deemed the most significant based on spend or some other factor, but what about all of the other initiatives that go unnoticed? How many of these smaller spends are allowed to continue year after year while your focus is on these larger spends? Make a plan to include more of your contracts and share that plan with your strategic sourcing partner.
If you were to say, “I want to lose some weight this year”, couldn’t you also say, “I want to reduce my spend this year?” Just like it is for a body, exercise will lead to weight loss. Stay on track with your procurement plan and you will see the spend dollars drop. Increasing your company’s strategic sourcing initiatives to involve all projects will have a significant impact on reducing your overall spend.
We look forward to and appreciate your comments.
Twas the day after Christmas
When all through the land
People were still smiling and happy
Because their holiday had gone just as planned
With malls to be visited and unwanted gifts to return
And exercise to be done and all those extra calories to burn
Most offices are still quiet as their staff s celebrate
While others rush to close out their years business before it’s too late
There’s a new year coming full of lots of new stuff
We all hope with this congress life doesn’t get any more tough
For businesses public and private and individuals too
Who would all rather focus on what’s exciting and new
Like jobs and raises and a positive end of year review
So on Trump and Pelosi with congress hopefully in tow
Let’s get back to Washington
And end this year with some glow.
Happy Holidays from Safesourcing
Today’s blog is from our SafeSourcing archives.
Did you ever notice how in Christmas movies that on the early hours of Christmas morning, Santa never jumps to the house next door? Instead, he hops back into his sleigh to drop off presents twenty miles eastward instead of taking the more efficient route of going next door. So, when he only has one work shift to get all the presents delivered, why is efficiency not his top priority?
Well, this is just my theory, but I think it is because he just does not have all the wish lists in on time! How many of your kids, when you ask for their Christmas list for Santa, just tell you, “Well, I dunno,” while other kids might have a detailed list, all in alphabetical order, sorted by multiple categories according to how badly they need it? Now, how long does it take for the lists to get to Santa, especially when it is Christmas Eve, and they finally remember what they want? Well, now Santa’s already at work with his carefully laid flight plan in place that little Timmy just forced an addendum on. So, thank you, Timmy, for giving us that scenic shot in nearly every Christmas movie ever made.
If you want your business’s Wishlist to be delivered in a timely manner, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative. For more information on how SafeSourcing can help your procurement 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.
Today’s post is by Troy Lowe; Vice President of Development at SafeSourcing.
Well, I should have done some research before I got my flu shot this year. According to Mayo Clinic it takes about two weeks for the flu shot to take its full affect. If you get exposed to the flu within that time of getting the shot you can still get the flu, which is what happened to me. I got the shot over the weekend and got the flu two days later. Even though I stayed upstairs inside a room alone, another family member has come down with it as well. This reminded me of a BLOG that I wrote when the COVID-19 virus first started and how you can help keep areas clean and slow down the spread of the flu.
With all the news about the new coronavirus, I started to look at ways to clean surfaces of commonly used items around the home, office, and vehicles. I came across something that I did not know existed. They make portable UV Sanitizers that are used to eliminate bacteria, viruses, and pathogens. These devices can kill up to 99.9% of surface bacteria with the use of ultraviolet light. The compact design allows for convenient use anywhere you go. Because it uses light, it is able to get into tough surfaces like keyboards and clean them better than using sanitizing wipes. To use the device, just direct the light down toward the surface to be cleaned for the recommended time. Because these devices are small their best use is to clean smaller or harder to clean items. If you are cleaning large areas or easy to clean surfaces like counters and desks it is still recommended that you use just a standard disinfectant wipe. This will result in faster and more precise cleaning. If you are looking for ways to help protect against the upcoming illnesses, below are other steps you can take.
If you are looking to purchase new cleaning devices or materials and would like help researching available options, feel free to contact SafeSourcing. 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.
Today’s blog is by Margaret Stewart, Director of HR, and Administration at SafeSourcing Inc.
We have all seen foods and good fall in and out of stock at the stores the last few years and it can be trying. On more than one occasion, I have had to change my grocery shopping list around certain items simply not being available. The recent volatility of the market and the ability to stock and keep stock in our stores has caused frustrations across the board – from consumer to retailer and manufacturer.
Instead of just waiting for items to become available again, we can make use of the time and try a new tactic. We can try a temporary replacement. Like a new homeowner waiting for furniture to be delivered, you do not want to just sit on the floor and wait. You would find something that you can do or use in the meantime! This can be a solution to fill those shelves and may even help to find a gem of a product.
Let us suppose that your retail business has had trouble finding enough peanut butter to fill your shelves. While you wait for the industry to recover and allow you to fill your shelves again, in the meantime you could find niche products, even locally made, that could fill those gaps in your shelves. This will add to your portfolio of products, give customers more to see and consider, and also help the new supplier of this product. You never know – it could become a popular item and you may want to keep it on your shelves all the time.
While this tactic may not work for every item, the general idea is the same – that there are ways to overcome shortages or at least make good use of the time until the shortage is back in stock. SafeSourcing is a procurement partner that can help you find products that you already buy or even ones you have never bought.
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.
Today’s post is by Dave Wenig, Senior Vice President of Sales, and Services at SafeSourcing Inc
Here is a win worth sharing. Actually, I will share two wins.
We recently hosted two different RFQ events for plastic products. The first was for can liners for garbage cans. The savings identified in this RFQ was nearly 25%! The second was for plastic shopping bags with logos and the savings was over 17%!
There were many, many vendors bidding for the customer’s business in both of these RFQs. What was remarkably interesting about that is that we heard none of the usual pushback from the vendors about capacity concerns or other challenges.
If you have spend for these or similar categories, then now is the time to source them again. If you have been waiting for a sign or concerned about the market, act quickly to take advantage of this information.
Let me know if you want to learn more about these wins or talk about how to achieve comparable results for yourself.
For more information, please contact SafeSourcing.
Today’s Christmas Eve post from a former associate is from our SafeSourcing, Inc Archives
As with most children being curious, my 7 year old niece and I were baking cookies last weekend when she said, “Aunt Heather, what do you do for a living? Mommy is a nurse and Daddy is a policeman. What do you do?”
Well, I said, thinking quickly of how to explain what a project manager does in the e-procurement world at SafeSourcing, “I help Santa with getting toys for presents and delivering them to all the children around the world.”
She said, “Aunt Heather, you’re silly! Santa has elves that make the presents, and Santa has reindeer help his pull the sleigh to deliver the presents!”
“Oh Alli, I have to tell you a secret, but you have to promise not to tell a soul what I tell you, ok?” She agrees.
Santa needs help lots and lots of help. Yes, his elves make the homemade toys, but toys like Furbies and Barbie’s have to be made somewhere else and delivered to the North Pole to be wrapped.
With big eyes, she says, “ooohhhh. That makes sense. Elves are mostly boys and boys don’t know anything about Barbies!”
So then I tell her, that Santa comes to me with his list of toys and how many he needs, and it is my job to make sure he buys them all much cheaper than what he can buy them for at the store. In fact, it is my job to make sure all the companies that make and sell the toys compete against each other to make sure Santa gets the best price for them.
“Wow!” she said, you have an important job helping Santa!
I said yes, but that isn’t all I do for Santa. She said really? I said, yes, I help him deliver the presents too. She said, how?
I said that Santa does use his sleigh and reindeer for most of the night, but the reindeer do get tired. So we help Santa by hiring a charter jet to cross the ocean with the presents and reindeer. Saving him money by having the airlines compete against each other to get lower pricing for Santa. This way the reindeer get to rest and Santa can get to the other side of the world much faster.
Also Santa pre-ships the presents to parts of the world to keep the weight down on the sleigh. So we help him with semi-trucks picking up the presents and taking them to all areas of the globe waiting for Santa to pick them up to deliver them to all the boys and girls. I explain to her that this is called transportation logistics. I told her that, like the people who make and sell toys, we ask the trucking companies to compete against each other lowering their prices for gas (fuel rates was too hard to explain to her), and mileage.
My, oh so smart niece, says, “Santa really has a big job to do in one night. He is so lucky he has you to help him!!”
So I ask her, do you understand what I do now?
She said,” yes, you help Santa buy toys and you help him fly across the ocean in an air plane, and you help him ship presents across the world to be picked up and delivered all in one night, AND you save him lots of money!”
So if SafeSourcing can help save Christmas, what can you do to help save you money in your business?
If you’d like to learn more about how SafeSourcing can help energize your self-service program, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services representative.
We look forward to and appreciate your comments.
