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Archive for the ‘E-procurement Solutions’ Category

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What differentiates SafeSourcing from other Solution Providers?

Friday, May 24th, 2013

Today’s post is by Ron Southard, CEO at Safesourcing.

I was speaking with a prospect today that has a great deal of experience in the procurement space, in particular the e-procurement space.  I was discussing the process that we use in order to source a category at a high level which follows six well defined steps.  Although we believe adhering to this process allows us to run high quality eRFX events, our prospect offered that these are pretty standard steps adhered to by most solutions providers in this space.  So what else makes you different was the follow up question. I could have bragged about our SafeSourceIt™ Supplier Database or some of the unique features included in our SafeSourceIt™ tool set. I might have event mentioned the  other members of the SafeSourcing  Procure to Pay product family like SafeSurvey™,  SafeDashboard™, SafeDocuments™,SafeContract™, SafePO™ or SafeCatalog™. However that’s not the answer I gave. In fact I answered the question almost immediately. The answer was and is our People. Our people are simply the best.  Our team is made
up of project managers that come from a variety of industries, and they are supported by a Procurement Center of Expertise or CEO that have specific category expertise in Retail, Healthcare, Distribution, Logistics, Manufacturing, Energy, Agriculture and a variety of other areas necessary to insure that our strategies and execution are spot on.

At the end of the day, a lot of people can swim but not everyone is Michael Phelps. Lots of people can play basketball but not everyone is Michael Jordon. Millions of people play golf, but there is only one Tiger Woods. People make a difference. Or better yet people make the difference. I’ll put ours up against any solution provider. That’s why our customers and suppliers have had the following to say.

1. “No one else will do the things that you do to help us.”
2. “We would not be where we are with our Indirect Spend if it were not for SafeSourcing.”
3. “The entire experience was very well planned and the tool was easy to use.”
4. “SafeSourcing is a great business partner with terrific customer service and software.”

We’ll impress this customer as well.

If you’d like to learn more about us, please contact a Safesourcing customer services representative.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments

 

Posted in E-procurement, E-procurement Solutions, E-procurement Tools

HEY Leadership Teams!

Tuesday, May 14th, 2013

Let’s also assume that you want to drive the greatest possible savings across the broadest range of categories in the shortest amount of time, like the next budget period; and want a sustainable process moving forward. Are you comfortable with your teams answer?

A number of issues you might consider are whether you have the requisite headcount, specifications, strategy, research skills as well as knowledge of new sources of supply to accomplish these lofty goals yourself.

Once you have settled on the fact that your existing team cannot achieve the above goal, the next question should be; what type of event services can an e-procurement solutions provider offer to help us if we can’t this ourselves?

By now, let’s assume you have come to the conclusion that there is no way possible for your team to do this alone. You now need to find a reputable eProcurement solutions provider. A quality e-procurement solutions provider should be able to ramp up to your task immediately. They should possess skills that are the foundation of their past success. These are very specific skills that enable them to run large volumes of e-procurement events in a full service mode with little guidance from you that have historically driven impressive savings on products and services over a long period of time. They should be able to provide reference to where they have done this in the past and how they were able to augment other company’s staff with little interference of their day to day work. Remember, knowledge transfer; passion, skill and required headcount to carry out these practices on a day by day basis are what drive results.

This process is provided by people behind the scenes with a very specific skill sets. If you really want to drive the greatest possible savings across the broadest range of categories in the shortest amount of time, like your next budget period. And, you already know that you cannot do this by yourself, reach out to a Safesourcing customer services account manager to see how quickly we can be of assistance.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

Posted in E-procurement Solutions, Procurement Outsourcing

Construction Sourcing with eProcurement Tools White Paper Offer!

Friday, May 10th, 2013

Today’s post is an offer of a free white paper on Construction Sourcing with eProcurement Tools by Ron Southard, CEO of Safesourcing.

We are regularly asked to comment on a variety of categories by our customers, prospects and suppliers from the 427,000 member SafeSourceIt™ Supplier Database and SafeSourcing’s daily blog readers. These questions normally occur during the course of the discovery or value assessment phase we conduct with companies with which we do business. The questions vary, but generally have to do with SafeSourcing’s experience with a particular category (in this case, construction) or our impression of successes or failures within that category; when using today’s modern eProcurement tools such as online RFIs, RFPs and RFQs. RFQs are typically called Reverse Auctions and many times are the end result or final step of a much longer and more detailed sourcing process. While the focus is on more than just price, quite often the first question we get is “What kind of savings might we expect?”

The goal of this Construction Sourcing with eProcurement Tools white paper is to share a historical perspective, both positive and otherwise, relative to the use of these tools in the construction space from a variety of sources, as well as SafeSourcing’s specific experience with our own customers.

If you’d like to learn more about the many categories discussed in Construction Sourcing with eProcurement Tools please call Ron a 480-773-7524 or contact a SafeSourcing customer services account manager.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

 

Posted in E-procurement Solutions, Sourcing Strategy

SafeSourcing is great at eRFX execution, but what else do you do?

Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013

Our SafeSourceIt™  family of products and services is extensive and includes the following

SafeSurvey™ -  An easy to use survey tool for internal and external data gathering

SafeDashboard™ -   A customized snapshot for your projects, reports and KPIs

SafeDocuments™ -  A repository of all documents related to sourcing events. Share large files with stakeholders at multiple locations

SafeContract™ -   A repository for all contracts with detailed search capabilities. Issues reminder emails for renewal dates, price reviews, etc.

SafePO™ -   A complete Purchase Order system

SafeCatalog™ -   A customizable online ordering catalog

All of the above provide their own unique and very attractive ROI that help companies to drive new or retain existing savings associated with their eRFX implementation. They can be purchased individually or as an integrated suite and are offered in the form of cloud based SaaS solutions.

If you’d like to learn more about any of our SafeSourceIt™ family of solutions, please contact a Safesourcing customer services account manager.

Check back tomorrow to learn about some more of our cost cutting initiatives.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments

Posted in E-procurement Solutions

Purchase orders. Who needs them?

Wednesday, February 6th, 2013

Today’s post is by Steve Schwerin; Account Manager at SafeSourcing.

Have you thought about managing your purchase orders through an online Purchase Order tool in the past?  Have you acted on that thought?  Maybe this year should be the year.  I know.  You have a way of doing things.  Don’t we all.  Hasn’t the internet challenged almost every one of your standard ways of doing things?  It has mine.   Still, hasn’t it improved timeliness and precision on most of these things despite our reluctance to change?  Why should it be any different with purchase orders?

In a conversation that I had with a purchasing manager over a company with four warehouses recently in which he noted that there just didn’t seem to be enough time in the day to complete all of the tasks he needed to get done.  I bet this goes for many of us on all sides of the procurement industry.  Ideally, we would spend as little time as possible bogged down with routine tasks let alone having to worry about slippage or rogue buying for parts even remotely routine to our company’s spends.  Not that this purchasing manager’s day is spent reviewing purchase order after purchase order, but some of it is.

Wouldn’t a predefined, third party solution save time and maybe even let some of us sleep a little better at night knowing that the terms and conditions, pricing and authorizations have been gone over by three sets of eyes for spends that have been negotiated as lowest price offerings ahead of time?

Then why not spend some of your time inquiring about our SafePO™ service?  I have heard it said that business is never bad; people are just bad at business.  Much of this phrase, dare I say 99%, refers to routine tasks such as follow up and thoroughness.  There are new tools available in the last few years to help with such tasks.  Not that an online Purchase Order Management system is a silver bullet, but does it not leverage the power of computing and the availability of electronic devices for your benefit as well as your business partners?  It actually makes both of you more competitive.  If it saved you and your customers a few hours per month and gave you both peace of mind would it not be worth it?

Bring everyone up with you; let us know how we can help to make you and your associates more efficient, accurate and competitive.   Contact your SafeSourcing customer service representative at 513-360-8440 to find out how.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments

 

Posted in E-procurement Solutions

What are your e-procurement goals for the 2013?

Monday, December 31st, 2012

As your organization enters another year what are your procurement goals and or resolutions for 2013. Below are some high level thoughts that you might use as a source of inspiration.

1. Drive lower costs.
2. Drive improved quality.
3. Insure that products are guaranteed safe.
4. Build and maintain and update high quality product specifications.
5. Find a source for vetting of unlimited new sources of supply.
6. Collaborate internally and aggregate your purchases.
7. Look at ways to use newer low cost cloud based solutions.
8. Make procurement education and training a priority.
9. Review all of your existing suppliers.
10. Collaborate with other businesses to increase savings.

Writing is a psycho, muscular, neurological process. So remember that simple goals written down are the most achievable.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

Posted in Business Sourcing, E-procurement Solutions

On the Twelve Days of e-Procurement Christmas.

Tuesday, December 18th, 2012

1. On the first day of Christmas our e-procurement service provider gave to us, a streamlined procurement process.
2. On the second day of Christmas our e-service provider gave to us, more suppliers to source our goods from.
3. On the third day of Christmas our e-procurement service provider gave to us, pricing that works for smallest categories..
4. On the fourth day of Christmas our e-procurement service provider gave to us, consistent and customized product specifications.
5. On the fifth day of Christmas our e-procurement service supplier gave to us, more time for other priorities.
6. On the sixth day of Christmas our e-procurement service provider gave to us, improved quality in our products.
7. On the seventh day of Christmas our e-procurement service supplier gave to us, better supplier education.
8. On the eighth day of Christmas our e-procurement service provider gave to us, a simple award of business process.
9. On the ninth day of Christmas our e-procurement service provider gave to us, support for a better carbon footprint.
10.On the tenth day of Christmas our e-procurement service supplier gave to us, total category e-procurement.
11.On the eleventh day of Christmas our e-procurement service provider gave to us, safer products for our customers and planet.
12.On the twelfth day of Christmas our e-procurement service provider gave to us, a sustainable e-procurement process and improved corporate net earnings.

Now, ask yourself if all of these goals are accomplished on your company’s behalf by your present e-procurement service provider. If n0t, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services account manager. Click CONTACT US!

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

Continued best wishes for a Happy Holiday Season.

Posted in E-procurement, E-procurement Solutions, E-procurement Tools

The success of E-procurement solutions requires officer level sponsorship and support!

Tuesday, November 20th, 2012

The role of e- procurement solutions continues to become more strategic each year. Driving cost out of goods and services is one of the most important above the line initiatives any company can undertake. But make sure you don’t forget the expense or indirect spend area.

In order to successfully implement an enterprise wide e-procurement initiative, executive management must provide sponsorship and visibly promote these projects within their organizations. Executive sponsorship is required by the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Procurement Officer or Chief Logistics Officer. The potential impact to earnings regardless of Industry is so significant with a properly deployed e-procurement program that officer level executives require visibility based on the potential impact to stockholders and stakeholders alike. In fact Sarbanes-Oxley section 404 requires the following of companies:

1. Demonstrate reasonable & consistent governance & compliance monitoring.
2. Assure proper use of tools that have been placed into practice.
3. Employ proper reporting & management oversight.

Implementing e-procurement solutions has the potential to offer significant earnings changes. 

Once executive management has sponsored these initiatives, some form of accountability must be implemented to ensure maximum participation in order fully realize organization wide savings opportunities. Scorecards may be a good way to begin. Scorecards report on KPI’s that indicate a teams or a company’s effectiveness. Examples might be awarded savings vs. low quote savings by team and by individual. This could lead to understanding lost savings opportunities or relationship management issues that provide risk. 

A company’s successful transition to e-procurement requires a transition from a cumbersome paper RFX processes to one that focuses on using the speed and efficiency of an electronic forum.  Successful change management professionals focused on sustainability realize that this shift must be a combination of the use of not only the latest software advances, but also reengineering of internal processes in order to drive sustainable results.

If you’d like to learn more about how SafeSourcing can help you improve your financial results, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services representative.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments

Posted in E-procurement Solutions

No matter what our current government leaders say, the economy is still terrible.

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012

This author still can not believe how many companies, buyers and category managers do not advocate for the use of modern e-procurement tools.

The use of these tools preserves and creates jobs as well as generating many other benefits that your business is not receiving today.

The lack of use can really only be one or two reasons at this point. First is that you or your procurement team just go to work and do your job and don’t really care one way or the other. Second is that you do not stay up to date in your trade and have very little influence within your company. If this is not true, why are you still writing your own RFI’s and RFP’s for a small group of suppliers?

Maybe now there is a final chance to step up and try or recommend using e-procurement tools including reverse auctions? Who knows, maybe you’ll save enough money to save someone’s job, hire someone new or insure that your job will still be there when next years planning is complete.

Although they may not impact your job directly, the reduction of cost of goods, expenses and preservation of capital are all immediately achievable if you’ll just take a look.

A customer recently told me that they would not be adding any new jobs to their procurement department next year. In fact they have already more than doubled the size of their departments staff to drive  down costs through the use  of the SafeSourceIt™ family of procure to pay tools. This customer went on to say that others in other departments will in fact be able to keep their jobs as a result of the work we’ve done together. So in the worst economy since many of us have been alive, this customer has added jobs, protected jobs, saved significant money, improved quality with the use of SafeSourcing products. Another benefit is that we also continue to add jobs to support our customers during this same time.
In addition to all of the benefits listed above, here are some additional quotes from a CEO and his team that watched their first reverse auction.
1. “This was pretty simple to do”
2. “If we hired someone we could do these ourselves with you guys”
3. “This is fun”
4. “You mean the reports are already available”
5. “I love the sports concept”
6. “It was easy to follow the marquis and what was going on from one screen”
7. “The multiple color schemes were great”
8. “I can’t believe how fast you guys set this up”
9. “We saved that much money and only have to pay what we discussed”
10. “Can we do another one today”
11. “I may get a promotion out of this”
12. “I love that calculator at the end of the bid process”
13. “I like all of the supplier data that was accessible during the auction”
14. “Now I know how the big guys get the pricing they do”

It’s too bad our current political combatants for the highest office in our land can not be this detailed during their debates.

Why not join others that have come a little late to the party. You can still benefit because today’s tools are easier to use, more interactive, maintain your attention during an auction, integrate gaming technology to keep it fun and are lower cost than their predecessors. If you happen to have already been doing this for years, why not find an easier way or do it less expensively.

If you would like to have fun, save money and do it quickly, please visit us at www.safesoucing.com.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

Posted in E-procurement, E-procurement Solutions, E-procurement Tools, E-supply Chain, Eprocurement Auction, Reverse Auction, Reverse Auction Procurement

How committed are you to your own success with your new e-procurement tools?

Friday, October 12th, 2012

If you are to be successful with the launch of your new e-procurement tools, you have to be committed to the process. This really is about nothing more than how prepared you are as a procurement knowledge worker regarding procurement in general and your category, product or service specifically. If you are committed, then you should be prepared. There really is no excuse to not be.

In order to be successful at e-procurement or the online or SaaS based e-RFX process, a procurement knowledge worker has to be committed to the process. First of all this means they have to understand the process. Beyond training in tool utilization, this suggests a willingness to share information relative their buying patterns as well as what their expectations are for selecting a new supplier to work with. All of this must be shared with their new solution provider.  Category managers, buyers and other knowledge workers that interface with the supply chain should be communicating regularly with their incumbent suppliers regarding current market conditions, quality, delivery and other potential pitfalls as part of their job.  If issues do exist they need to be discussed and documented so they can be reviewed with your new e-procurement solutions provider and included in the e-RFX setup and strategy. 

To be committed to the procurement process, procurement knowledge workers must be prepared to answer questions from suppliers even if the answers are to be issued through your solutions provider.  If you act as though you are not committed to this new process, your incumbent supplier as well as potential new sources of supply will pick up on that immediately. 

The bad news for your company is that if a buyer or category manager acts as though they do not support this new process, holds side bar conversations that mitigate its use or raises other red flags in the supplier community, you will not get the best pricing, you will not get the best quality and you will not have the best supplier relationships into the future.

If you tools are not working for you, contact a SafeSourcing customer services account manager for assistance.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

Posted in E-procurement, E-procurement Solutions, E-procurement Tools, E-supply Chain

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