I was speaking to a senior vice president and head of a procurement organization yesterday that said what SafeSourcing really offers us is access to suppliers that we do not know exist or where to find them. He went on to say that his team and himself personally spend all day negotiating contracts and there are just many projects that they do not have the time to conduct the necessary research or solicitation of all the information including bids that SafeSourcing has ready access to.

A logical focal point for hosting a competitive reverse auction is to assemble all of your present vendors for a particular category that you hold in good standing. These would be suppliers from whom you have historically sourced products using traditional means. In general the principal is that the more vendors or suppliers you have participate, the greater your potential results.

However the above does also require strategic thinking because your company is beginning a process that you wish to use on a recurring basis. As such inviting the same suppliers again and again may initially seem to make sense. However this may not encourage the long term results you are looking for; and is a critical reason why it is important to have the most robust supplier data possible available for your regular review.

By way of an example to support the above let?s suppose you can only find six local suppliers for a particular category you wish to take to reverse auction.? For the most part they will all show interest in participating in your auction the first time around. However a key issue to consider is what will encourage them to participate the next time and the time after that?

Please check back tomorrow for Part II of? Is critical thinking in supplier selection a key to quality and sustainable retail reverse auctions?

We look forward to and appreciate your comments

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

If you currently need a new garage door opener or are looking to improve the opener that you have, you may want to take a look at making your opener Wi-Fi enabled. There a few different ways to accomplish this.  If you need to replace your current opener, most of the major brands now have Wi-Fi capabilities built in and our ready to use out of the box.  If you have a newer garage door opener, it may be Wi-Fi compatible but you need to purchase additional equipment to get it up and running.  There are also devices available that will allow you to make your current opener Wi-Fi enabled if it currently has safety photo eyes installed.  The photo eyes are usually located on the bottom of the tracks about 3 or 4 inches from the ground.  They are safety devices used to stop a door from closing if something is in the way.  Once you have your opener Wi-Fi enabled, you can download applications from your smartphone or other devices and monitor and control the garage door opener.  You can also setup schedules so that the door will check and automatically close at desired times.  This will ensure that you do not accidentally leave the door open overnight.  Below are some other features that are available for the opener.

• Monitor status of the door
• Receive alerts when you forget to close the door
• Open or Close the door from anywhere with your smartphone
• Receive alerts about door activity

If you would like some help finding a Wi-Fi solution, we can gather all the necessary information for you and help you decide which product 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.

We look forward to your comments.

Today’s post is by Gayl Southard, Administrative Consultant for SafeSourcing.

The holidays are upon us.  November brings lots of “pumpkin” products to mind such as pumpkin lattes, pumpkin pies, pumpkin bread, etc.

Sugar, or pie pumpkins, the product used in cans of Libby’s, are smaller in shape and have more flesh than other types of pumpkins.  The pulp is sweeter and less grainy in texture.  Illinois, the largest pumpkin-producing state is blaming the record rainfall in June for washing out their sugar pumpkin crop.

Jane Moran, owner of Moran’s Orchard in Neoga, reported that their pumpkin crops were washed out in June.   Sugar pumpkins were replanted,  and then it rained more some more!   Moran’s Orchard ended up purchasing pumpkins at auction twice a week.

Libby indicated that the pumpkin crops could be off by a third this year in Illinois – where about 90 percent of the pumpkins grown in the U.S. come from.  Roz O’Hearn, corporate and brand affairs director, indicated there will be little, if any left after the holiday season, saying that “once we ship the remainder of the 2015 harvest, we’ll have no more Libby’s pumpkin to sell until harvest 2016.”  FoxNews.com, 10/7/15

SafeSourcing product experts can provide you with a number of suppliers in a multitude of categories.  For more information on how we can help you with your procurement needs or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative. We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.

Today’s post is by Gayl Southard, Administrative Consultant for SafeSourcing.

After living in our home for twelve years, the carpet needed to be replaced. High traffic areas were looking worn and dingy. I decided to use a Berber constructed of nylon fiber, as they wear and clean very well.

Nylon versus Olefin Berber:

In 1986, DuPont StainMaster was launched. New Stainmaster fibers have made carpet cleaning easy on nylon Berber. Also, carpeting was offered in many colors versus the drab colors previously available.

Around the same time as the Stainmaster was launched, olefin extrusion plants came on line and olefin (polypropylene) fiber jumped considerably. Both nylon and olefin carpets have their advantages. Olefins will resist stains, except oil-based stains, but will tend to flatten or crush in time. Olefin carpeting will clean very well, but will gray due to soil abrasion over time. Olefin Berber is one of the best values in terms of pricing. It is important to note that all carpet gets dirty and it is recommended that it be cleaned at least once a year.

I researched four different businesses. One was a big box store, two were exclusively flooring companies, and one was a flooring and window business. Although pricing and product was relatively the same, I choose the small flooring/window business. What became extremely important to me were the warranty and the fact that they had their own installers. The other three businesses sub-contracted the installation. I preferred to have a licensed-bonded installation team that the carpet company employs.

The SafeSourceIt™ Supplier Database plus our exclusive vetting process insures that you will have suppliers that meet your needs and provide the service you deserve.

For more information on how we can help you with your procurement needs or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative. We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.

Today’s post is the SafeSourcing Archives.

Companies have begun to put an emphasis on services suppliers offer as well as the commitment they are making to the environment and to the communities around them when making procurement decisions on top considering price.   One of the growing areas of focus for many companies is STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education at the junior and senior high school levels as well the college level.  As the workforce begins to show distressing signs of a shortage of skilled workers in the years to come, companies that make the commitment to the youth now can reap huge dividends later and can contribute to a stronger and more qualified workforce here in the United States.

This type of emphasis by suppliers shows that they want to make a commitment to partner with their local communities in a way that can make them valuable partners down the road.  This emphasis should also be a priority for their customers in much the same way “green” initiatives have become so important.   Today we will look at a few ways companies and organizations are working hard to strengthen our youth STEM education.

Make it fun – One of the challenges presented to companies like utility companies that need a level of skill to employ is that the STEM areas of study are perceived as hard or too difficult for today’s generations of children to pursue.  Companies like Pacific Gas & Electric, Gulf Power Company and Ameren have invested millions of dollars in attempts at the K-12 level to develop programs to make these areas of study “fun.”  With the perception changed and interest piqued, children can begin to grow comfortable with STEM studies to the point where they get excited and hungry to learn more.  The ability to generate this change is the key to the programs of training that will lie ahead.

Connect the Parties– STEMConnector™was created in 2011 to provide a link for those wanting to get involved with improved STEM education with those providers of education with students eager to learn skills that will help them and their future companies to create jobs. Providing this bridge allows companies that need highly skilled workers to begin to educate new generations of students with skills that they will need in the next few years.  These students will fill holes left by a large retiring workforce, and companies can create strong skills and habits before the future employees even come to work.

Volunteer the time – While some companies do not have a corporate mission to support STEM education there are plenty of ways for employees to still contribute to the growing movement of education.  Many universities and non-profit organizations such as A World In Motion, provide ways to volunteer time in a program to help educate youth in ways that make the application of STEM studies real and provide mentors that give students models of who they want to become.  The commitments

are short term and generally require 1-2 hours per week, preparing youth to become the skilled workforce of your company tomorrow.

At SafeSourcing we know companies are looking for ways to give back to their communities and in finding partners who do the same and are positioning themselves in a place to help build the workforce of tomorrow.  For more information on how we can help connect you with companies like this or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.  We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.

Today’s post is by Tyler Walther; Account Manager at SafeSourcing.

When the right time to change vendors and what is the best way to go about it? Those are essential questions that take on strategic significance and can have serious implications. Maybe you’ve gradually become disgruntled with the quality of service provided by one of your current vendors. If you have determined you need a change, you should review the metrics you are using to assess vendors to see if all the standards for quality of services, provisioning of resources, and responsiveness are outlined in detail.

In reality, if there is a problem that your current vendor hasn’t resolved, the metric that addresses this performance standard will most likely be foremost in your mind. You may take that undesired experience and allow that to impact your view of what your expectations for the next vendor should be. You need to look carefully at all the metrics for success you have in place to see if one or more of your expectations wasn’t detailed clearly enough or defined in an assessable way.

There should always be an open line of communication with any vendor who wants to do business with you long term. Talk with the new potential vendor about what you’re looking for. Get their feedback on what’s achievable, practical, and realistic for the budget that will be allocated.

We enjoy bringing this blog to you every week and hope you find value in it.   For more information on how we can help you with your procurement needs or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative. We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.

Today?s post is written by Heather Powell, Manager of the COE Department & Project Manager at SafeSourcing Inc.

?We have to go way back, approximately 1930, to when the oil companies were selling gas for, let?s say, 15 cents, and then the state and federal boards decided they wanted a piece of that to keep the roads going, so they added 3/10 of a cent. And the oil companies said, ?Well, we?re not going to eat that,? so they passed that on to the public.

Raising prices a penny would have been disastrous when gas only cost 15 cents. But why did it stick around?

They found out that if you priced your gas 1/10 of a cent below a break point, let?s say 40 cents a gallon, ‘.399’ just looked to the public like 39 cents?

You won’t find tenths of a cent on your credit card bill. Or even on the pump. But if you buy 15 gallons of gas at $3.299, you?re paying 13 cents more than at just $3.29. Since Americans buy 178 million gallons of gas a day, that?s a half-billion dollars more per year.

These types of details and hidden fees are what eat at the bottom line of companies. At SafeSourcing, Inc.? we find and bring out these levels of details for our customers when doing analysis for running Request for Proposals and Request for Quotes. For more information on how we can help you with your procurement needs or on our ?Risk Free? trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.? We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.