Archive for May, 2012

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Don’t Stand on the Sidelines!

Wednesday, May 30th, 2012

Todays post is by David Wenig Manager of Customer Services at SafeSourcing.

Generally speaking, the greater the spend amount, the more interest you will get from potential vendors. As a result, many of our customers have been turning to collaborative eProcurement events in order to benefit from the additional savings that higher volumes can generate. Let’s take a look at a few of the benefits of getting involved.

1. Higher savings due to aggregate volumes
2. Improved payment terms
3. Larger vendor pool
4. Greater ROI
5. Source smaller category spends

Based on the five benefits listed above, perhaps it’s time to try a collaborative. You may ask; “how would we become involved?” The answer is simple. Contact your eProcurement representative and ask if there are any open or upcoming opportunities in which you could participate. Similarly, if you have any upcoming projects either large or small, ask your partner to attempt collaboration within their customer base.

Here’s an example of savings generated from a recent collaboration. In this scenario, our customer was in need of a relatively small spot buy for replenishment. Their spend in this category was actually quite low and was actually the lowest overall amongst the participating companies. In this example, the customer saved almost 37%. I find it difficult to imagine that they would have done so well without the eProcurement process. Further, this is evidence of the benefits of the collaborative process as their pricing was likely much better off as a result of the aggregated spend.

So, are you ready to get involved, or will you continue to stand on the sidelines?

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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Don?t Stand on the Sidelines!

Wednesday, May 30th, 2012

Todays post is by David Wenig Manager of Customer Services at SafeSourcing.

Generally speaking, the greater the spend amount, the more interest you will get from potential vendors. As a result, many of our customers have been turning to collaborative eProcurement events in order to benefit from the additional savings that higher volumes can generate. Let?s take a look at a few of the benefits of getting involved.

1.?Higher savings due to aggregate volumes
2.?Improved payment terms
3.?Larger vendor pool
4.?Greater ROI
5.?Source smaller category spends

Based on the five benefits listed above, perhaps it?s time to try a collaborative. You may ask; ?how would we become involved?? The answer is simple. Contact your eProcurement representative and ask if there are any open or upcoming opportunities in which you could participate. Similarly, if you have any upcoming projects either large or small, ask your partner to attempt collaboration within their customer base.

Here?s an example of savings generated from a recent collaboration. In this scenario, our customer was in need of a relatively small spot buy for replenishment. Their spend in this category was actually quite low and was actually the lowest overall amongst the participating companies. In this example, the customer saved almost 37%. I find it difficult to imagine that they would have done so well without the eProcurement process. Further, this is evidence of the benefits of the collaborative process as their pricing was likely much better off as a result of the aggregated spend.

So, are you ready to get involved, or will you continue to stand on the sidelines?

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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Understanding the Advantages of Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS)

Tuesday, May 29th, 2012

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

For the past few years we have been hearing about virtual servers, clouds, Software-as-a-Service (Saas) models and all have great reasons for why they are being talked about.? These same traits:? cost-effectiveness; scalability; easy-to-service also apply to a growing trend in the corporate world toward virtual desktops/instances or Desktop-as-a-Service.?

Similar to applications that remotely let you access a computer at the office or at home (i.e. Teamviewer) this new service allows you to pick and choose the applications, memory, internet speed and how a system is used without the costs of buying PCs, software CDs and installing and configuring the environment.? These easily accessible desktops could be opened with iPads, Macs or older Desktop PCs from anywhere with an internet connection.? Today we will look at some of the reasons many companies are considering using DaaS providers in their new IT plans.

Reduced Hardware Costs

New computer hardware is a necessity of any company as software and technology changes require upgraded equipment just to keep up.? With DaaS you can create multiple user environments that can be configured based on the functionality needed.? In this way, users can access and use what seems like multiple computers from one location, reducing costs needed to have these views.? With many companies like Desktone offering this service, they absorb the costs to upgrade and maintain the computer equipment needed for the virtual desktops.? Since virtual desktops are typically installed on large networked servers, adding more hard drive space, memory or internet speed is easily done and is handled by the provider.??

Easy application support and installation

Aside from getting new hardware installed, installing and configuring the software needed can also be very time consuming and if done incorrectly, can open holes of vulnerability into your company.? With Desktop-as-a-Service providers like Applications2U, users can preconfigure all of the applications they will allow accessibility to by their employees.? These instances, once configured, are then available to any user that needs it without having to reconfigure a new pc or even to apply a saved image to a new PC.? All upgrades and patches can be applied by the provider behind the scenes with no effort by your company.

Control and Monitoring

Most of the major providers of DaaS like Nivio?s solution easily provide centralized administrative control to allow users to do only the types of things they want to allow by controlling each of the configured instances.? While many large companies with experienced IT staff can exact this same level of control, there are thousands of medium to small companies who do not have the resources in-house to do this and being able to control everything from a central administration panel is a terrific tool for them.? Another nice benefit of control is that many of the providers offered paid, free and rental licenses for applications giving the capability to allow use of applications for certain projects without the expense of purchasing the entire application.

For more information about how begin to research 3rd party DaaS providers for your company, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.??

We look forward to your comments.

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Soucring has a lot to do with costs. So does FREEDOM!

Monday, May 28th, 2012

From 1776 to the present day our military bothers and sisters have sacrificed and many have paid the ultimate cost to insure our freedoms.

WAS!

IS!

AND ALWAYS WILL BE!

FREE!

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Is retail barter better?

Friday, May 25th, 2012

Two good ways to help control and reduce retail shrinkage is to offer overstock and out of cycle items in the form of a forward auction or retail barter. Which is better?

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. Many companies that may have large amounts of excess or slow-moving inventory use corporate barter transactions to move this inventory. This author thinks that a forward auction may drive better cost recovery.

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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What is the Certified Professional in Supply Management® (CPSM®?)

Thursday, May 24th, 2012

The Certified Professional in Supply Management® is the qualification that supply management professionals strive to earn. The CPSM® will be relevant internationally and reflect the expanded knowledge, skills and abilities needed to be a successful supply management professional.
 
Certification for the CPSM is offered by the Institute for Supply Management or (ISM) which was founded in 1915 and is the largest supply management association in the world as well as one of the most respected. ISM’s mission is to lead the supply management profession through its standards of excellence, research, promotional activities, and education. ISM’s membership base includes more than 40,000 supply management professionals with a network of domestic and international affiliated associations. ISM is a not-for-profit association that provides opportunities for the promotion of the profession and the expansion of professional skills and knowledge.

Supply chain workers should be proud of their profession and earning your CPSM is one way to brag about it.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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What is the Certified Professional in Supply Management? (CPSM??)

Thursday, May 24th, 2012

The Certified Professional in Supply Management? is the qualification that supply management professionals strive to earn. The CPSM? will be relevant internationally and reflect the expanded knowledge, skills and abilities needed to be a successful supply management professional.
?
Certification for the CPSM is offered by the Institute for Supply Management or (ISM) which was founded in 1915 and is the largest supply management association in the world as well as one of the most respected. ISM’s mission is to lead the supply management profession through its standards of excellence, research, promotional activities, and education. ISM’s membership base includes more than 40,000 supply management professionals with a network of domestic and international affiliated associations. ISM is a not-for-profit association that provides opportunities for the promotion of the profession and the expansion of professional skills and knowledge.

Supply chain workers should be proud of their profession and earning your CPSM is one way to brag about it.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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Do your customers trust your product offerings?

Friday, May 18th, 2012

Today’s post is  from David J. Wenig a customer services manager at SafeSourcing.

The other day while I was mowing the lawn, a man pulled up to ask if he could take some logs that had been stacked by the curb to use as firewood. We started talking and the conversation was pretty typical for two people that had never met. Then, it took an interesting turn when I mentioned that I had been up at the high school football game and had a burger there.

The man then began talking about E. coli and how he does not trust the grocers to provide him with safe meat. He actually went on to tell me that his son is a chef who grinds his own meat. Not just that, the man actually went on to name a retailer where he bought ground beef that he claimed gave his wife food poisoning.

This conversation, albeit brief, was very interesting to me. At SafeSourcing, we are very aware of product safety issues and the ramifications of unsafe products. To this man, his fear of the meat was based on his distrust of the supply chain. He struck a chord with me when he mentioned that he had no idea where his meat comes from. 

Can this man’s concerns be managed? Through traceability, the products you offer could be proven to be safe. Retailers must be aware of their entire supply chain and the product safety procedures in place at each point. Here again, it is fair to ask; what certifications do your suppliers hold? Clearly, when these product safety questions arise such as an outbreak of E. coli, only a relatively small portion of the product is affected. With the technology available today, retailers should be able to defend their products against this type of concern.

If you don’t think this is important, ask yourself this question: How many other people did he tell?

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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Here is some more on Food Safety!

Thursday, May 17th, 2012

The first step is to familiarize yourself with SQF and then the certification process. The best way to accomplish that is by visiting the SQF Institute website. Once there, the following information will stare you right in the face.

How to Achieve Certification from the SQF Institute:

1. Learn About the SQF Standard
There are several ways on how to learn to implement the SQF system in your company. Based on your level of expertise, the follow options are available:
? Attend an on-site ?Implementing SQF Systems? training course through a licensed SQF Training Center (Recommended);
? Take the online ?Implementing SQF Systems? training course provided by LearnSomething;
? Train yourself by utilizing the SQF documents available for free on our website;
? and/or take the SQF online exam.

2.?Register Your Company with our Online Assessment Registration System (Quickfire Registration)
The registration fee to our Assessment Database is based on the gross sales of a company. Click here to view our Registration Fee Structure.

3. Designate an employee as the SQF Practitioner
This individual will serve as your company?s internal expert on SQF. Further information on the requirements for an SQF Practitioner is available in section 8.2.1 of the SQF 1000 or 2000 Code.

4. Choose Your Level of Certification
There are three levels of certification for each SQF standard (SQF 1000 and SQF 2000). Level 1 is mainly for low risk products and it incorporates fundamental food safety controls. Level 2 is a certified HACCP food safety plan that is benchmarked by GFSI. Level 3 is a comprehensive implementation of safety and quality management systems that incorporates Level 2. In many cases, a supplier?s customer has already designated a minimum level of certification.

5. Obtain Proposals from Potential Certification Bodies
Contact a license Certification Body directly to obtain quotes on an SQF audit. Click here for the duration outline of a general SQF audit.

6. Conduct a Pre-Assessment (Optional)
Either an SQF auditor or your SQF Practitioner can identify the ?gaps? between your program and the desired level of SQF certification.

7. Choose a Certification Body and Schedule an Audit Use the licensed Certification Body directory to find a Certification Body that can conduct an audit in your country.

8. Certification Body Conducts Initial Certification Audits:
? Document review
? Facility Assessment

If you want to learn more about reinforcing the use of standards in your sourcing efforts, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services representative.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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What’s the best source for food safety certification information?

Wednesday, May 16th, 2012

I was conducting some research the other day on some outside services offerings. The site I was visiting was a collaboration of the pest control company ORKIN and NSF. The site was reviewing audit standards and it was relative to food safety.

Specifically they were reviewing The Global Food Safety Initiative as a driver for food safety standards and the fact that although they do not offer standards, they do accept the standards of other organizations focused on food safety.

I offer the following from the ORKIN and NSF collaboration website, which is actually very useful, concise and to the point information.

Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) is a collaboration of global food safety experts from retail, manufacturing and foodservice companies and from food supply chain service providers. It is coordinated by The Consumer Goods Forum, the only independent global network for consumer goods retailers and manufacturers worldwide.
The GFSI framework – launched in Europe in May 2000 – has taken on added importance in recent years, especially since Wal-Mart became the first nationwide U.S. grocer to adopt GFSI standards in 2008. This move, in effect, put Wal-Mart’s vast supplier base on GFSI standards. GFSI does not undertake any accreditation or certification activities, but the GFSI guidance document contains commonly agreed-upon criteria for food standards, against which any food or farm assurance standard can be benchmarked. GFSI does not have any of its own standards but accepts the following global standards:

 SQF – Safe Quality Food
 BRC – British Retail Consortium
 IFS – International Food Standards
 Global GAP (HACCP based)
 ISO 22000
 None of the existing U.S. standards are accepted

Companies that take the time to share this type of  information offer a good indicator as to the quality of their own offerings. That’s good on ORKIN. and on NSF.

If you want to learn more about GFSI, SQF or other food safety programs please contact SafeSourcing or visit our sourcing wiki.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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