Archive for December, 2022

Here are some talking points for developing procurement goals for the New Year.

Friday, December 30th, 2022

 

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

Welcoming the New Year! It’s Resolutions time!

Thursday, December 29th, 2022

 

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.

Santa’s Logistics and the Carefully Laid Plans of Walnuts and Wise Men  

Friday, December 23rd, 2022

 

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.

 

How can you help prevent illnesses during this triple demic?”

Thursday, December 22nd, 2022

 

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.

  • Get the Flu shot
  • Avoid people who are sick
  • Wash your hands often and for at least 20 seconds
  • Use hand sanitizer when soap and water is not available
  • Keep your hands away from your face
  • Get plenty of Vitamin D
  • Stay hydrated
  • Eat a healthy diet
  • Work out
  • Stay at home and reduce risk of infection
  • Stay at least three feet away from anyone coughing or sneezing
  • Clean shared surfaces at least once a day
  • Avoid sharing food
  • Store your toothbrush
  • Get adequate sleep

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.

 

Ready for Replacements?

Wednesday, December 21st, 2022

 

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.

 

 

Double-Digit Plastic Savings

Monday, December 19th, 2022

 

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.

 

 

 

How SafeSourcing Saved Christmas…

Thursday, December 15th, 2022

 

 

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.

A Christmas related spend cube analogy. “Little Jack Horner sat in corner eating his Christmas Pie.”

Wednesday, December 14th, 2022

 

Todays post is an oldie but goodie from Ron Southard CEO at SafeSourcing.

And it’s still true today.

The rest of the Little Jack Horner spend cube analogy might go like this. He stuck in his thumb and pulled out a peach and said what the heck is a peach doing in a plumb pie?

If you look to Wikipedia, there is no definition of a spend cube. You can find information relative to spend cubes in a discussion about spend analysis. However t the original discussion we are talking about data in this case multi-dimensional data about spend information. Consultants love to talk about it because it allows them to charge you a lot of money without necessarily delivering any results other than, well a spend cube.

Quite frankly you are going to hear terms like data model, data warehouse, data scrubbing, data cleansing, data access, data sources and incomplete data. All of which allow consultants to charge you more money in order to develop yours from what is likely incomplete data kept in many places like GL’s, ERP systems and the like.

Once you get your model or cube, I promise you additional discovery is going to be required in order to determine what categories or products should go to market. One category manager’s category is another category mangers product. So now what?

Don’t get confused by consultants touting their spend cube analysis software because if you do, you will be in for a dime in for a dollar and continue to get peaches when you are looking for plumbs.

If you’re totally confused, SafeSourcing can help with our SafeSpendAnalysis™, and we deliver results very quickly. Contact a SafeSourcing representative.

 

Doom and Gloom, nobody is spending MONEY.

Wednesday, December 7th, 2022

 

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

I went to a mall this past weekend. It’s something I always liked to do during the holidays. Truth be told I used to love it as a kid during the pre-indoor shopping days. The cold of going from store to store made it seem more like the holidays and if I was lucky, it might even snow. All that much better in my mind.

Well, the hustle and bustle are back even if it is indoors. The first indication that consumers are being, well consumers was that there were no parking spots at 11 a.m. So, we circled and finally found a spot. To say the mall was crowed is an understatement. Literally every single store had waiting lines at the checkout. The restaurants were all full as were the coffee shops. I have never seen so many people in a Nordstroms, and their Café had a line out the door. When we finally left, the line to get in the parking garage was dozens of vehicles in length. So, consumers are not listening to the financial pundits and news channels. Much is still ok with the American consumer and prices will continue to go up on everything other than maybe real estate.

In a supporting article in the Wall Street Journal titled, Stocks Fall After Strong Data Raises Rate Fears Crude-oil prices extend declines, Treasury yields tick lower By Will Horner Follow and Jack Pitcher, the quote David Donabedian “The economy continues to show a degree of strength that I think was not expected,” said David Donabedian, chief investment officer at CIBC Private Wealth US. “The consumer is hanging in there quite well, jobs continue to be added, wage growth is significant, and consumers are still spending.”

Based on my observations and the above article, it does not sound as though consumer spending will be going down any time soon. So, you guessed it, prices are going up for everybody, individuals and businesses alike.

So, how do companies make sure they are sourcing products for you economically? Hey should Contact SafeSourcing Inc. We buy it more often than they do and know the levers to pull.

SafeSourcing is a Procure to Pay SaaS based provider of a number of e-Procurement solutions and associated white glove services that are part of our SaaS offered SafeSourceIt™ eSourcing suite. These include but are not limited to SafeContract™, SafePO™, SafeDocument™ and our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database that includes over 557,000 vendor/suppliers.

For more information, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Services Associate.

Resources: Wall Street Journal

The United States did better financially than we all thought.

Friday, December 2nd, 2022

 

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

According to Paul Wiseman of the Associated Press in an Article titled, US Revises up last quarter’s growth. The writer mentioned that regardless of high interest rates and high inflation that our economy grew 2.9% from July through September.

Woe is me, while it appears based on what we here from the media that the sky is falling, consumers continue to spend, companies continue to buy and deals for both are out there if you know how to shop.

In another article from Paul Hannon of the Wall Street Journal titled Eurozone Inflation Declines, but ECB Remains on Guard. This means that the rate of inflation during November was lower than expected by almost 6% at 10% versus 10.6% from the year earlier period.

While we all need to remain vigilant, there are some bright signs out there, like the FED suggesting the easing of rate increases going forward. Every area of the globe has its economic issues, and many are still calling for a mild recession. This author does not agree.

I do think we can all do better with our spending both personally and corporately, and this will help improve corporate earnings and allow companies to retain employees. Personally, it is not different. The savings from proper negotiations will reduce personal debt and the reliance on credit.

How do you go about this? If you don’t ask, you’ll never know. I watched a company today reduce the cost on a category the source by >24%. It’s possible.

How do you make sure you are sourcing your products and services in the best way possible? Contact SafeSourcing Inc. We buy them more often than you do and know the levers to pull. Glad to share some recent examples when you reach out.

SafeSourcing is a Procure to Pay SaaS based provider of a number of e-Procurement solutions and associated white glove services that are part of our SaaS offered SafeSourceIt™ eSourcing suite. These include but are not limited to SafeContract™, SafePO™, SafeDocument™ and our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database that includes over 557,000 vendor/suppliers.

For more information, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Services Associate.

 

Sources:

  1. Wall Street Journal, Paul Hannon
  2. Associated Press, Paul Wiseman