Archive for the ‘Online Procurement’ Category
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
A Forward Auction is part of most e-negotiation tool belts. Probably the most well known type of forward auctions are those run by eBay. These tools are often overlooked as a way for companies to sell items that represent overstock, out of cycle, buffer stock, new old stock and other types of inventory that has been paid for and not sold through.
Placing these items for sale on your e-procurement provider’s website so that buyers from a variety of formats such as dollar stores, liquidation companies and other overstock resellers can bid for the items can positively impact shrink.
The simple philosophy here is that getting something for inventory that has already been paid for is better than getting nothing. The biggest dilemma to this solution is that most retailers do not know what is in the back rooms of their stores or how long it has been there.
An issue the above can create is the misinterpretation that shrinkage caused by employee theft, error or other mistakes is actually higher than it is.
There are any numbers of sources that report on annual retail shrinkage numbers. It is safe to say that average shrink numbers across the retail industry has hovered around 3% for years, although you will find significantly higher numbers by specific retail industry vertical.
The fact is that for a one billion dollar supermarket company, this represents $30,000,000.00 annually. With net earnings in this vertical averaging 1%, a reduction in shrink of 33% can improve earnings by as much as 100%.
A quick hit to these numbers can be accomplished by a forward auction. What do you have to lose? Better yet, what do you have to gain?
We look forward to and appreciate your comments.
Posted in Business Sourcing, E-procurement, E-procurement Solutions, E-procurement Tools, Eprocurement Auction, Online Procurement, Procurement Auctioning, Procurement Outsourcing, Procurement Purchasing, Procurement Solutions, Procurement Tool
Monday, May 24th, 2010
Part III Reasons to Use E-Procurement
Sometimes an explanation can be lost in translation so we have developed the following 20 reasons why utilizing the technology-based e-procurement process can provide significant benefits to you and your company. These are certainly not all of the benefits that can be derived from the use of the e-procurement process, but it is a good starting point.
While this list is not ranked in order of importance, many might argue that not much is more important than the #1 item which is improved earnings.
• Improve net earnings
• Enhance safety
• Reinforce corporate social responsibility
• Find new sources of supply
• Streamline the procurement process
• Elevate supplier accountability to meet your standards
• Improve quality
• Reduce costs in a volatile market
• Ensure a competitive environment
• Buy at market pricing
• Maintain a reliable history for comparison
• Educate suppliers as to how you wish to procure products
• Eliminates questions through effective supplier training
• Maintain consistent product specifications
• Improve negotiation
• Improve carbon footprint
• Simplify your “award of business” process
• Free up time for other tasks
• Process works for all product categories
• Provide a detailed audit trail
E-procurement offers many benefits for a broad range of companies in a variety of industries, assuming that the process selected is a high quality system with an extensive supplier database. We must also assume that the e-procurement process is implemented properly with the purchasing company and that the experienced e-procurement system provider works in concert with the buyer in order to realize optimal cost savings.
Numerous technology advancements have streamlined the e-procurement process and made it more user-friendly and less expensive. A company today can expect to reap significant benefits from e-procurement, including: saving money on purchases, reducing the time involved in the purchasing process, tracking current and archival activities and results, eliminating waste and improving the overall efficiency of the supply chain.
Take advantage of the technology advancements and don’t overlook the benefits of implementing an e-procurement process to strengthen your company’s bottom line.
To download copies of this entire article please use the following link.
We look forward to and appreciate your comments.
Posted in E-procurement, E-procurement Solutions, E-procurement Tools, Eprocurement Auction, Global E-procurement, Green eProcurement Practices, Online Procurement, Procurement Auctioning, Procurement Company, Procurement Outsourcing, Procurement Purchasing, Procurement Solutions, Procurement Tool, Product Procurement, Reverse Auction Procurement, Supply Chain Procurement
Thursday, May 20th, 2010
Technology First is an Ohio based industry-led, industry-driven trade association dedicated to proactively representing IT in their region and highlighting niche technology companies.
Part I. E.Procurement Background .
Technology advancements are broadening the acceptance and utilization of e-procurement processes worldwide and making it available through internet access without the need for technology investment. The retail industry has been somewhat slow in considering e-procurement initiatives than have other industries. As a result, much of the lower tier one and tier two retail chains do not use the e-procurement resources that are readily available in the marketplace today. Some companies would like to, but do not quite know how to get started. In several cases, even the big retail chains are sourcing a smaller percentage of their total spend than the levels being recorded in other industries.
E-procurement processes have been utilized in maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) applications in a variety of industries in addition to manufacturing materials supply. The purchase of office supplies, consumable items and numerous types of hired services from snow removal to landscaping and facilities maintenance can all realize great savings by using the e-procurement process which can range from a simple RFQ to a very detailed RFI. Although e-procurement is oftentimes perceived as merely the purchase of products and services over the Internet, e-procurement is much more than just a means for making purchases online. It is a well-managed, organized process that handles all interactions between the purchaser and the supplier. This process includes optimal management of communications, questions and answers, bids, previous pricing information, inventory utilization and reorder sequences, access to suppliers, historical cost savings, supplier transactions and much more. With built-in monitoring tools, a well managed e-procurement process provides numerous benefits, the most recognizable ones being improved cost control and maximized supplier performance.
With the technology based e-procurement services that are available today, there is no excuse for overlooking this opportunity to reduce supply costs and boost the bottom line. Getting started is easier than ever and more user-friendly, thanks to continuing technology advancements. With high speed bandwidth, reliable security solutions, enhanced software and integrated programs, the e-procurement process is proving itself on a daily basis in terms of performance and reliability.
Please join us tomorrow for Part II of this series titled Getting Started. To download the entire article please use the following link.
We look forward to and appreciate your comments.
Posted in E-procurement, E-procurement Solutions, E-procurement Tools, Eprocurement Auction, Global E-procurement, Online Procurement, Procurement Solutions, Product Procurement, Reverse Auction Procurement, Supply Chain Procurement
Friday, May 7th, 2010
It hardly seems possible that we launched our company two years ago. At the time there were indicators for those paying attention of trouble in the global economy but know one had any idea just how bad it was going to get. In hindsight what a time to launch a company. When customers and business partners asked me why, my response was if you are doing what you believe in and the results you promise are true, then there really is no bad time to launch a business.
Our promise has been the same from day one, to reduce the cost of goods and services regardless of a company’s size or the size of the category being sourced. And, while doing so improve quality, safety and environmental focus. Today, two years later our customers will attest to the fact that we have held true to that promise.
Following is a short list of accomplishments that we are very proud of.
1. Over 700 educational blog posts relative to e-procurement issues of importance.
2. Over 1500 useful procurement related wiki terms and definitions.
3. Added an average of more than one new customer for every month in business.
4. Grew our supplier data base to greater than 380,000 retail suppliers
5. Sourced 100’s of categories from commodities to finished goods and services.
6. Sourced categories as small as $5K with savings > 30%.
7. Sourced categories as high as $80M.
8. Never held an e-negotiation event that did not result in savings.
9. Conducted every process in e-procurement including RFI, RFP and RFQ.
10. Installed our product in Asia in a multi lingual implementation.
11. Averaged over 24% savings over two years.
12. Developed a unique process for sourcing small spends for the retail mid market.
13. Grew our database to over a terabyte of data.
14. Helped companies source with environmental and social consciousness
15. Today released SafeContract™ a fully featured hosted Contract Management System.
To our customers thank you for your support. We endeavor to earn your business every day. To our business partners thank you for your guidance during a tough economic period. To the retail industry our goal is to be your best vehicle for reducing costs and improving earnings with an increased focus on corporate social responsibility.
Thank You.
Posted in B2b Reverse Auction, B2b Supply Chain, Business Sourcing, E-procurement, E-procurement Solutions, E-procurement Tools, E-supply Chain, Eprocurement Auction, Global E-procurement, Green eProcurement Practices, Online Procurement, Online Reverse Auction, Procurement Auctioning, Procurement Company, Procurement Outsourcing, Procurement Purchasing, Procurement Solutions, Procurement Tool, Product Procurement, Retail Supply Chain, Reverse Auction, Reverse Auction Procurement, Sourcing Safe Foods, Sourcing Safe Products, Sourcing Strategy, Strategic Sourcing, Supply Chain Procurement
Monday, April 26th, 2010
There are all sorts of shiny new belts in every store. Don’t get caught up with flashy features that you will never use or forget how to use because you will end up defaulting to doing things the same way you have been for years
The SafeSourcing e-procurement tool belt is simple and easy to use.
A procurement intern can build an e-negotiation event the very first time they look at our tools. If they don’t understand certain procurement terminologies they can enter the term into the SafeSourcing Wiki without ever leaving the website. If you would like to converse with other procurement professionals about a variety of subjects such as index pricing, just log in to Sourcebook it’s easier to use than traditional social network sites and has many of the same features. You can create a group or hold an open threaded conversation with hundreds of other procurement professionals. If you are looking for new sources of supply, you can request information sorted by dozens of criteria including proximity to a particular zip code, category, sic code etc. While all this is going on alerts from more than thirty sources like the FDA, USDA and OU provide you with up to the minute industry alerts on safety and environmental related issues. Are you looking for product specifications? Just click on the SafeSourceIt template library. Want to start a contract after you have awarded business from an e-negotiation event, simply click on SafeContract to view templates and setup tracking.
You can also read this blog daily and pass the useful inforamtion on to a friend very easily.
We constantly hear from our customers how simple our tools are to use. What are you waiting for; get your pants of the ground with the Safesourcing e-procurement tool belt.
We look forward to and appreciate your comments.
Posted in Business Sourcing, E-procurement, E-procurement Solutions, E-procurement Tools, Global E-procurement, Online Procurement, Procurement Company, Procurement Solutions, Procurement Tool, Sourcing Strategy
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
According to Wikipedia Spend Management is the way in which companies control and optimize the money they spend. It involves cutting operating and other costs associated with doing business. These costs typically show up as “operating costs” or SG&A (Selling, General and Administrative) costs, but can also be found in other areas and in other members of the supply chain.
If we understand that spend management is as defined by Wikipedia, then how does it differ from procurement lifecycle management? There are generally several steps to PLM that include information gathering, supplier communication, background review, negotiation, fulfillment, consumption and resupply. So it seems as though procure to pay represents the tools used to carry out spend management
The tools that support this process generally fall into the following categories. E-procurement or e-negotiation tools such as reverse auctions or RFI’s, spend management tools such as adhoc reporting tools , predictive modeling tools, contract management tools, invoice and payment tools and order and fulfillment tools.
Unfortunately many of the available tools come from a diverse base of providers utilizing a variety of technologies. In mid tier market, many retailers some still cling to home grown tools that have evolved over years. The first tool of importantance should be tool sets that assist in easy integration of disparate technologies. There are major companies such as Oracle and SAP that provide sophisticated ERP suites that provide a centralized location for buyers to log on and handle all their payments, requisitions, exceptions and agreements at once. In general these solutions are too expensive for lower level tier one and mid tier retail companies and also lack adequate data to operate as an integrated sourcing system such as supplier databases and product template libraries or integrated purchase order and contract management systems . These typically show up as wrap around service bundles that require significant research of existing data points and often significantly raise the price of the system after initial purchase.
None of the tools or services listed above are very intuitive easy to use or low cost.
So now we’ve come full circle, how can technology solve these problems so that all retailers regardless of size can take advantage of these types of systems? That’s part II.
We look forward to and appreacite your comments.
Posted in E-procurement, E-procurement Solutions, E-procurement Tools, Global E-procurement, Online Procurement
Monday, April 19th, 2010
There really is no reason to shy away from taking any product or service to reverse auction as part of your overall e-negotiation strategy to compress pricing.
There are however some simple questions companies can ask themselves when considering any product, service, or category for consideration in the e-negotiation process. Several but not all of those questions would certainly include the following three.
1. How many suppliers are available and willing to bid on your business?
It’s obvious your company is already aware of your incumbent suppliers. The more important question is what other suppliers are available and how can you find them.
Several will exist within you own geographical area that you are not even aware of. Many others may be located across the country that are also very interested in earning your business.
2. Does your company have the complete detailed product specifications for this product or service readily available or are you familiar with a source from which you can get them easily?
Are your products specifications kept in some form of central repository or are they in the mind of your buyer? This is the single largest obstacle to successful e-negotiation events.
3. How much of the product or service are you willing to commit to buy over what period of time?
What period of time are you buying for? Is there an opportunity to contract for a longer period of time in order to raise volumes? Is there an opportunity to aggregate dissimilar products in order to increase the e-auction size?
If you are well prepared, there are suppliers willing to bid for your business that offer quality equal to or better than what you are presently receiving for your products and services at a better price and with better service. That’s win-win-win.
We always look forward to and appreciate your comments
Posted in E-procurement, E-procurement Solutions, E-procurement Tools, Online Procurement, Online Reverse Auction, Procurement Auctioning, Procurement Solutions, Strategic Sourcing
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
This author has met with many large companies that are using e-sourcing suites or tools provided by some of the largest names in the industry. After we have reviewed what we do and how we do it and then compare what they are accomplishing the following question always comes up. Why are you generating significantly higher savings than we are?
The answer is pretty simple in most cases. You have bought a software suite or tools and rather than using them as designed you have just incorporated your old practices into new tools. In addition, further training or access to your supplier’s data in the form of sources of supply etc. was not included in your initial cost.
A full service solution provider should be able to create, execute and support all auction activity including but not limited to the following.
1. Assistance in selecting Auction categories
2. Market insight
3. Determine the timing of category auction
4. Identification of potential quality suppliers in addition to existing
5. Building on-line auctions
6. Supplier contacts and training
7. Execution of live bids
8. Trouble shooting during live bids
9. Compiling and communicating reports within 24 hours
10. Award and Non-Award notifications to Suppliers
11. Providing ongoing customer support
12. Monitoring Supplier performance
13. Feedback from Retailers/Suppliers
14. Analyze the quality of each auction
The above deliverables if not executed in a self service program will result in less than maximum results and potentially failure of your program.
We look forward to and appreciate your comments.
Posted in B2b Reverse Auction, B2b Supply Chain, Business Sourcing, E-procurement, E-procurement Solutions, E-procurement Tools, Online Procurement, Online Reverse Auction, Procurement Purchasing, Procurement Solutions, Procurement Tool
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
First and foremost to getting this process right is to select a solution provider or partner that knows what they are doing and is willing to hold your hand during the early part of the process. The plan for each company will be somewhat different as we have discussed in a number of previous posts. There is however a general order to things that will offer the best opportunity for success.
1. You need a strategy
2. You must complete a detailed discovery
3. You must understand how to set up events even if done by your provider.
4. You must have a quality process and extensive database for sourcing suppliers
5. You must clearly communicate how events will be run or executed to all involved parties
6. You must review the process for sustainability and adjust as necessary
As mentioned above it is incumbent upon your e-procurement solutions provider to be able to assist you in completing these tasks in a reasonable period of time. You should be checking the background of the team and their leadership that will be assisting you to insure their understanding of the retail industry such as operations, technology, procurement, warehouse management, logistics, transportation, loss prevention, store management and other functional areas of your business that will be sourcing products and services. Retail is about detail and detail will improve quality, reduce costs and insure success of your new e-procurement process.
We look forward to and appreciate your comments.
Posted in B2b Reverse Auction, B2b Supply Chain, Business Sourcing, E-procurement, E-procurement Solutions, Online Procurement, Procurement Company, Procurement Outsourcing, Sourcing Strategy, Strategic Sourcing
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
Posted in B2b Reverse Auction, B2b Supply Chain, Business Sourcing, E-procurement, E-procurement Solutions, E-procurement Tools, E-supply Chain, Eprocurement Auction, Global E-procurement, Green eProcurement Practices, Online Procurement, Online Reverse Auction, Procurement Auctioning, Procurement Company, Procurement Outsourcing, Procurement Purchasing, Procurement Solutions, Procurement Tool, Product Procurement, Retail Supply Chain, Reverse Auction, Reverse Auction Procurement, Sourcing Safe Foods, Sourcing Safe Products, Sourcing Strategy, Strategic Sourcing, Supply Chain Procurement
