This may date me, because I remember this show very well. “Community Auditions” was a television talent show, which aired on Sunday mornings for 37 years. How doe these programs relate to companies environmental sourcing practices?

It’s really pretty simple; a vote still holds the key. This may not be a vote that consumers of retail companies cast at a polling place. It is more of a vote that consumers that care cast on behalf of a retail company at the checkout because of that companies every day actions to support the environment.

In a USA TODAY article titled Celebs use star power to spotlight pet causes by Seung Min Kim, actor Mathew Modine is quoted as saying that the spot light will quickly go away if you don’t walk the walk. Modine was referring to his charity Bicycle for a Day, which encourages people to improve the environment and their health. He goes on to say if you don’t practice what your preach people will turn their backs on you immediately.

This absolutely equates to how consumers increasingly are making their decisions where they shop. Websites can claim all kinds of green practices, but the proof is in the pudding so to speak as to how company’s individual programs support those claims.

In the procurement area, and in particular the e-negotiation process the question might be asked what specifically do companies do to insure that the products they are buying are safe for consumers and the environment?

It’s one thing to offer reusable bags at the checkout because your local government is promoting legislation to outlaw the use of plastic bags in your area. It is quite another thing to ask your supplier what alternatives they offer for greener bags, or a bag that is recyclable or their willingness to participate in helping you source reusable bags. It is one thing for companies that manufacture for retailers to buy lower cost ingredients to make their finished goods. It is quite another to make sample evaluation and plant or warehouse visits a required check mark on your category to market strategy.

Ask your e-negotiation provider how they hold suppliers accountable to safety and environmental standards and traceability. Ask them how easy this would be to include in your standard procurement process without adding to your work level .

Welook forward to and appreciate your comments.

This may date me, because I remember this show very well. ?Community Auditions? was a television talent show, which aired on Sunday mornings for 37 years. How doe these programs relate to companies environmental sourcing practices?

It?s really pretty simple; a vote still holds the key. This may not be a vote that consumers of retail companies cast at a polling place. It is more of a vote that consumers that care cast on behalf of a retail company at the checkout because of that companies every day actions to support the environment.

In a USA TODAY article titled Celebs use star power to spotlight pet causes by Seung Min Kim, actor Mathew Modine is quoted as saying that the spot light will quickly go away if you don?t walk the walk. Modine was referring to his charity Bicycle for a Day, which encourages people to improve the environment and their health. He goes on to say if you don?t practice what your preach people will turn their backs on you immediately.

This absolutely equates to how consumers increasingly are making their decisions where they shop. Websites can claim all kinds of green practices, but the proof is in the pudding so to speak as to how company?s individual programs support those claims.

In the procurement area, and in particular the e-negotiation process the question might be asked what specifically do companies do to insure that the products they are buying are safe for consumers and the environment?

It?s one thing to offer reusable bags at the checkout because your local government is promoting legislation to outlaw the use of plastic bags in your area. It is quite another thing to ask your supplier what alternatives they offer for greener bags, or a bag that is recyclable or their willingness to participate in helping you source reusable bags. It is one thing for companies that manufacture for retailers to buy lower cost ingredients to make their finished goods. It is quite another to make sample evaluation and plant or warehouse visits a required check mark on your category to market strategy.

Ask your e-negotiation provider how they hold suppliers accountable to safety and environmental standards and traceability. Ask them how easy this would be to include in your standard procurement process without adding to your work level .

Welook forward to and appreciate your comments.

Why is it that we never hear of retailers running forward auctions? There are dozens of sources waiting to buy your overstock which all retailers know will reduce shrink and improve bottom line profitability.

If you go to any internet search engine and type in the term overstock, the data returned is in the millions of pages. Many of these links are locations for Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Consumer (B2C) companies that will gladly agree to participate in e-negotiation events in the form of a forward auction to purchase your overstock or liquidated products for resale through their on line offerings.

Online forward auctions are an ideal way to get the best price for capital equipment, materials, overstock and services you may want to sell, such as when you need to liquidate excess inventory. There are two basic types of forward auctions. The first is a liquidation auction where sellers are reducing inventory from overstock or liquidation and buyers are seeking to obtain the lowest price for items they have an interest in for resale and other purposes. The second type is more of a marketing auction where sellers are trying to sell unique items and buyers wish to obtain unique items. This is typical of an eBay type of offering.

Much of retail shrink happens in the back room or receiving area of retail stores. It just so happens that this is also the location of much of the overstock in the retail community. Much of this product sits there month after month resulting in significant margin hits to quarterly and annual earnings and as such to a company?s stock price.

Ask your e-negotiation solution provider how they can help reduce your overstock and shrink with forward auction tools, and who they would invite as buyers. You company stakeholders will applaud your efforts.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.
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I have posted quite often on the tools necessary to create a sustainable process in the e-negotiation business. In this case sustainability has nothing to do with the environment unless off course companies include an environmental focus as part of their overall procurement strategy.

According to Wikipedia a simple definition of sustainability, in general terms, is the ability to maintain balance of a certain process or state in any system. It is now most frequently used in connection with biological and human systems. In an ecological context, sustainability can be defined as the ability of an ecosystem to maintain ecological processes, functions, biodiversity and productivity into the future.

Sustainability has become a complex term that can be applied to almost every system on earth.

From a corporate perspective many investors look at sustainability as a framework for disciplined and responsible management, a key success factor in achieving economic gains. Relative to e-negotiation this means being able to run the same process (events) over and over again quarter after quarter and year after year as the standard way in which a company endeavors to improve quality, workflow and compress prices. To the extent that this process supports companies social initiatives relative to the environment and humanity new terminologies such as the term triple bottom line are emerging in discussions at the board level.

The Global Sourcing Council tells us that although sustainability has found its permanent place in corporate boardrooms, execution is still a challenging journey. Implementing sustainability in global sourcing operations becomes even more complex as it creates its own unique challenges.

Global service providers that subscribe to sustainable strategies will benefit by gaining competitive, green advantage with the global organizations.

Ask your e-negotiation service provider how they intend to implement a sustainable program for your company.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

I have posted quite often on the tools necessary to create a sustainable process in the e-negotiation business. In this case sustainability has nothing to do with the environment unless off course companies include an environmental focus as part of their overall procurement strategy.

According to Wikipedia a simple definition of sustainability, in general terms, is the ability to maintain balance of a certain process or state in any system. It is now most frequently used in connection with biological and human systems. In an ecological context, sustainability can be defined as the ability of an ecosystem to maintain ecological processes, functions, biodiversity and productivity into the future.

Sustainability has become a complex term that can be applied to almost every system on earth.

From a corporate perspective many investors look at sustainability as a framework for disciplined and responsible management, a key success factor in achieving economic gains. Relative to e-negotiation this means being able to run the same process (events) over and over again quarter after quarter and year after year as the standard way in which a company endeavors to improve quality, workflow and compress prices. To the extent that this process supports companies social initiatives relative to the environment and humanity new terminologies such as the term triple bottom line are emerging in discussions at the board level.

The Global Sourcing Council tells us that although sustainability has found its permanent place in corporate boardrooms, execution is still a challenging journey. Implementing sustainability in global sourcing operations becomes even more complex as it creates its own unique challenges.

Global service providers that subscribe to sustainable strategies will benefit by gaining competitive, green advantage with the global organizations.

Ask your e-negotiation service provider how they intend to implement a sustainable program for your company.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

E- negotiation events have been around since the late 1990?s and are commonly referred to as reverse auction events. These events may also include any or all of the RFI, RFP and RFQ process.

These sessions can from time to time also run as forward auctions in order to reduce over stock conditions and reduce shrink. Regardless of the naming convention used there are certain rules which if followed will create higher quality events for the retailer and the supplier? This will result in creating better savings opportunities or cost avoidance in a tough market. The importance of focusing on a clear process will increase event participation. This focus on quality will be recognized by your existing trading partners and potential new sources of supply, and will keep them coming back in the future to compete fairly for your business.

1. Executive sponsorship is mandatory
a. This is required at the CEO, CFO, CPO, CLO or head of the supply chain.
2. Get the entire buying organization together for a kickoff session.
3. Provide an over view of what you are going to do and the impact it can have on the company. Use company financial models.
4. Discuss and agree on success criteria.
5. Every event is not a homerun. Singles and doubles score runs.
6. Create a fun environment.
7. Consider prizes for the most creative use of an auction.
8. Use scorecards by department with percent of savings.
9. Discuss the meaning and importance of corporate aggregation.
10. Hand out event templates to gather existing product specifications.
11. Put a time requirement on data collection.
12. Gather an accurate list of your present suppliers.
13. Work with your sourcing company to identify a top 100 list of events.
14. Calendar the events.
15. Prioritize by dollar value, date and strategic value.
16. Conduct department level discovery meetings of 30 minutes to an hour.
17. Investigate existing contract language.
18. Look for auto renewal (evergreen) language roadblocks.
19. Determine alternate sources of supply with your sourcing company.
20. Develop an event rules and instruction template and post with each event.

Although these steps are not all encompassing, they provide a general format for getting started that offers the best opportunity for price compression that results in the reduction in cost of goods, expenses and an immediate improvement in corporate earnings. Be sure to combine this with a business partner that understands your business.

As always, we look forward to and appreaciate your comments.

The Design for the Environment Program is a United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) program that works to prevent pollution, and the risk pollution presents to humans and the environment.

According to Wikipedia Design for Environment (DfE) is a general concept that refers to a variety of design approaches that attempt to reduce the overall environmental impact of a product, process or service, where environmental impacts are considered across its life cycle. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is employed to forecast the impacts of different (production) alternatives of the product in question, thus being able to choose the environmentally most friendly. Different software tools have been developed to assist designers in finding optimized products (or processes/services). Design for Environment includes several subsidiary approaches, such as Design for Disassembly (to facilitate recycling and source reduction.

Please continue to support triple bottom line and do your part to hold your suppliers accountable to how they design their products and programs for retail and consumer utilization. Ask your procurement solution providers how they work with suppliers on your behalf in this area.

We continue to look forward to and appreciate your comments.