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Companies can have continuing success when re-running prior e-procurement events.

Monday, March 18th, 2013

Today’s post is by Ron Southard CEO at SafeSourcing Inc..

There are creative techniques that can insure the sustainability of your strategic sourcing or reverse auction events after your first successful run. Since you have already conducted or should have conducted your detailed discovery and analysis, a robust supplier database such as the SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database should permit you to do the following.

Conduct a detailed supplier discovery
Rank suppliers
Size
Experience
References
Environmental certifications
Safety Certifications
Coverage area
Develop a three year supplier game plan
Develop a three year time line  for all categories
Identify suppliers for each event over the three years
Develop a three year supplier rotation schedule for those suppliers.
Role play internally  each year supplier scenario for each category
Ask the following questions
Who will you invite and why
Keep in mind the unique benefits of distributors and manufacturers
Discuss award the business strategies such a multi-vendor or regional
Review alternative scenarios
Review impact on non-awarded suppliers
Determine which suppliers will be invited back and why such as prior incumbents, recent winners and  strong regionals
Determine what new suppliers from your database search will be invited for the next rotation.
Don’t invite too many, don’t invite to few.

If you’d like to learn more about creative strategies to keep your supplier participation fresh, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services representative.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

Posted in E-supply Chain

Suppliers, what makes you different?

Thursday, January 3rd, 2013

Today’s post is by Mark Davis; Sr. Vice President of Operations and CTO at SafeSourcing.

One of the biggest Supply Chain topics for 2013, as it is every year, is the concern over rising costs and shrinking profits, and unfortunately this is the stigma attached to many eProcurement tools and practices.  We tell our customers and the suppliers who participate in our events it is about more than just price; it is about the overall value that is presented.

Today we will be looking at ways that suppliers can distinguish themselves from their competition in areas other than price.

Labeling and Packaging – Labeling and packaging are one of the big expenses in For Resale items for many retailers especially when it comes to Private Label goods.  Suppliers who are willing to work with their customers to develop packaging that will streamline the receiving and sales process can gain a big advantage over their competitors in a way they can leverage to great value.

Training & Professional Services – One of the easiest ways for suppliers to begin to separate themselves from the pack is in the area of professional services and training.  For the supplier these services can generate a value to their customers that far exceeds the actual cost of the service itself.  In this case it is a win-win situation where the customer gets valuable services while the supplier gets an opportunity to continue to build on the face-to-face relationship in a useful manner.

Guaranteed Service Level Agreement (SLA) Metrics – The bottom line in any Supplier-Customer relationship is not just price or “bells and whistles” it is about how well the supplier delivered what they promised, how they dealt with situations when they didn’t deliver as promised and what they are willing to risk if they fail to achieve on the Service Level they promised.  Getting the best price means nothing if the product or service is of low quality or is late.  The best suppliers OVER service their customers and are willing to stake a portion of their cost on their ability to achieve that level of service every time.  These guarantees may not always translate to your bottom-line in a positive way, but not having them in place and receiving poor quality will definitely impact it in a negative way.

For assistance on helping you work with your suppliers on the extra value they can offer you, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.

We look forward to your comments.

 

Posted in B2b Supply Chain, E-supply Chain, Retail Supply Chain, Supply Chain Procurement

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013 from Safesourcing; Your GLOBAL SOURCING PARTNER!

Tuesday, January 1st, 2013

picture of world

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 427,000 global supplier database and let us translate it into increased profits for you.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

Posted in E-supply Chain, Global E-procurement, Supply Chain Procurement

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend 2012 from SafeSourcing. Who were the Pilgrims?

Friday, November 23rd, 2012

According to the Mayflower Society, as history has evolved, any of the 102 Mayflower passengers who arrived in Plymouth on the Mayflower and survived the initial hardships is now considered a Pilgrim with no distinction being made on the basis of their original purposes for making the voyage.
The Mayflower Pilgrims and their fellow travelers were authors of the first true governing document created in a New World colony. The Mayflower Compact is considered to have set the stage for the Constitution of the United States.

These were the same pilgrims that were responsible for the holiday we celebrate today called Thanksgiving.

We wish you and yours a peaceful and happy extended holiday weekend.

Posted in E-supply Chain, Retail Supply Chain

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

Nothing is Precious!

Wednesday, September 5th, 2012

Today’s post is by Michael Figueroa and Account Manager at SafeSourcing.

Take a sheet of paper, and spend the next 5 minutes planning out your virtual dream business. It can be a coffee shop, hotel, restaurant, bank, whatever. Plan out the fun stuff like how it will look, what kind of theme it will have, what kind of amenities you’ll provide, what kind of things your customers will rave about when they see how well you do them. Don’t spend too much time thinking about the details of the lease agreement…

Is your 5 minutes up? Alright, with your business draft in hand, I want you to take your brilliant idea, tear it up, and throw it away. Yes, seriously.

Did you hesitate because you felt attached to your idea? Did you resent losing those 5 minutes, and want to hang on to your idea simply because your time is valuable? Did you genuinely like some of your ideas and feel they should be kept around?  Those reactions are NORMAL. Not all of us will feel that way, but most of us tend to hang on to the idea’s we have generated or invested any amount of time into. But ask yourself a follow-up question:

If I don’t want to let go of an idea I spent 5 minutes on, what other ideas am I hanging on to for no other reason than because of what I invested into them? Do I have projects that should be let go of, but that I spent so much time on that I don’t want to abandon it? Do I have relationships with customers or suppliers that I’ve had for years that are killing my bottom line? Am I stuck in a comfort zone?

A well-known mantra of the Stanford Design School is “nothing is precious”. Because creative types know better than anybody, that getting over-committed to an idea can be toxic to innovation. The innovation process is not routinized and committed, it’s evolving and uninhibited. Having a “nothing is precious” mindset means not being afraid to fail-forward by abandoning attachment to pet ideas. 

SafeSourcing’s part in this process is to find you the business relationships that make the most business sense. Let us help you get out of the rut of “we’ve always done it this way” thinking.

Why not contact SafeSourcing and see how we might help you fail forward.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

Posted in E-supply Chain, Sourcing Strategy, Strategic Sourcing

Are you getting ready to source bottled water?

Wednesday, August 29th, 2012

Today’s post is authored by Debbie Wilcox, Director of Sales and Marketing at SafeSourcing.

Did you know there is a new technology that can produce clean drinking water out of humidity in the air? A new company, Quest Water, has successfully built and put in place the first system of this type in the South African country of Angola.

The system is called WEPS, Water Extraction and Purification Systems, and claims to be a pure source of water without exploiting current freshwater resources. It has a capacity to produce from 500 to 20,000 liters of water a day and does it without the use of chemicals or harmful by products. It uses solar-powered energy utilizing an array of photovoltaic solar panels along with purification and disinfection technologies.

Now I’m not suggesting that we will soon be seeing another type of bottled water on our grocery store shelves sitting beside spring water and purified tap water anytime soon, but I’m not ruling out the idea for some time in the future either. 

As you probably know, bottled water is big business. The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), in conjunction with Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC), released 2011 bottled water statistics showing total US bottled water consumption increased to 9.1 billion gallons, up from 8.75 billion gallons in 2010. The figure represents a 3.2% increase over 2010 which calculates to an average of 29.2 gallons of bottled water consumed for every person in America.

How do you maximize your profits from all of this bottled water success? Join other SafeSourcing customers who recently saved 20% on their name brand bottled water purchases. To find out more contact a SafeSourcing customer service representative. 

We look forward to and appreciate your comments

Posted in B2b Supply Chain, E-supply Chain

Should you join a Group Purchasing Organization (GPO)?

Tuesday, July 17th, 2012

According to Wikipedia a group purchasing organization (or GPO) is an entity that is created to leverage the purchasing power of a group of businesses to obtain discounts from vendors based on the collective buying power of the GPO members.

When is a company a GPO and when are they something else? Many organizations take on procurement functionality based on the spend of their members. They can be industry wholesalers, share groups, consortiums, distributors and a variety of other types of organizations. They may take on all procurement opportunities or specific opportunities like energy. GPO’s can be vertically focused or horizontally focused. They can also be horizontally focused within an industry vertical. An example might be a wholesale grocer that is focused on a retail industry vertical like supermarkets.

The question is should you join one or many? Maybe you shouldn’t join any. The only way to answer the question is to understand your own organization in terms of its strengths and weaknesses relative to the products or services categories you hope to source. As an example; if you are just buying from a wholesalers price book, it’s a good bet you are not getting the best price. It’s also a good bet that other members of the same wholesaler are getting a better price and they may be smaller than you. However you may also have a huge energy spend and this is something that your product wholesaler can’t help you with. As such, there may be a specific GPO for energy that can offer some expertise.

This author believes that your best bet is to focus on a procurement company that is horizontally focused with specific expertise in a number of verticals such as health care, retail, distribution, financial services etc. I have often seen these companies significantly out perform GPO’s by a significant amount as the overall overlap of expertise across multiple industries suggests a level of creativity that GPO’s may not have.

Ultimately understanding what your company’s limitations are as well as the opportunities that are available to you is a first and important step. After that, it’s who can do the most for you with the least disruption across the broadest area of spend.

SafeSourcing is such a company. Please contact us if you would like further information on how to improve your bottom line in the present quarter risk free.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

Posted in B2b Supply Chain, E-supply Chain

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

Wednesday, June 20th, 2012

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.

Posted in E-supply Chain, Supply Chain Procurement

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