Archive for April, 2014

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The Curse of the Comfort Zone!

Monday, April 28th, 2014

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

It never ceases to amaze me that as human beings we spend our entire lives searching for prizes, concepts, and goals only to achieve them and then find, much to our chagrin, what they promised only leads to new and sometimes bigger problems.? I believe that the concept of comfort is one of those sensitive areas whose very definition proves alluring and yet in practice can create problems for individuals and companies alike.

Let?s look at Merriam-Webster?s definition of comfort.?

?Comfort – a state or situation in which you are relaxed and do not have any physically unpleasant feelings caused by pain, heat, cold, etc.?

While this definition focuses more on the physical well being, I believe the definition of comfort stretches to the intellectual and emotional areas as well.? Let?s be honest though, reading this definition, who wouldn?t want comfort?? Taken to the next step, once achieved, who wouldn?t want to do whatever it took to stay in comfort, to keep in a ?state or situation in which you are relaxed??

Therein lies the trap of comfort because people begin to make decisions, overlook opportunities that involve risk, and shy from the ?new? because they are afraid of losing the security of? the comfort zone.? When this happens the enticing nature of the benefits of comfort will create much bigger problems than the person or company ever faced before they became comfortable.

Does this mean comfort is a bad thing?? Definitely, not; it can bring a much needed break from an otherwise chaotic world if you are lucky enough to find it even briefly.? What is dangerous is when comfort slips into complacency and the mind starts looking at the risks associated with an opportunity with fear and mistrust rather than excitement and optimism.? Companies need to continue to look for the opportunities that will help them grow and get to new heights.? They need to examine longstanding vendor relationships they have grown ?comfortable? with.? They need to investigate new technologies that could make them stronger.? They need to evaluate the mindsets they have when making decisions for the future to ensure they are not too entrenched in the ?comfort? zone.

The comfort zone is nice and can be hard to break free of, but by moving on from a brief stay in this zone and into unchartered territories, the benefits will lead to stronger employees and business relationships and provide a stronger long term environment for your company based on weighing each risk and opportunity instead of investing that time trying to figure out how to maintain the comfort of the status quo.

For more information on how SafeSourcing can assist you? to break out of the ?comfort zone? 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.

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A Brief History Lesson in 9/10 of cent for Gasoline

Friday, April 25th, 2014

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

heather

?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.

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Who are we? Who are you?

Thursday, April 24th, 2014

Today?s post is by Alyson Usserman, Account Manager at SafeSourcing.

I started at SafeSourcing on February 17th. I had interviewed multiple times, and came in ready to learn. Whenever anyone is hired on for a job, friends, family, and random people ask, ?What will you be doing?? Well, for some, that could be a potentially tricky question to answer. I found this question particularly cumbersome because, at the time, I knew what I would be doing, but I didn?t know. I didn?t know that this business is actually pretty tricky. For instance, when you say, ?live reverse auction,? people have one of two reactions. Either they have no idea what you?re talking about, or they absolutely hate them because of prejudgment or a bad prior experience.

While having a conversation last night with Arbonne?s CEO, Kay Napier, she asked me how I currently supported my family. I told her that I work for a procurement company in Dayton, Ohio. She seemed shocked while saying to me, ?I dislike things like that.? It?s a little daunting to have a CEO of a major company stand there and say that she dislikes your job. Talking with her more, I discovered that a past procurement company had promised more than they could provide in savings, a ?fool proof system? that didn?t work, and overall poor customer service. She too, told me that she was shocked after talking with me, and informed me that I was a great saleswoman.

Sometimes, people prejudge a process before actually knowing anything about it. In procurement that is one of the main obstacles I deal with every day. I will call a supplier to see if they have a particular product and then I am asked, ?What company is that, what do you do?? and they become focused on what we do when I am trying to ask questions of them, and their company.

SafeSourcing is a procurement party that is trying to help companies, not hinder them. 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.

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The importance of keeping your company’s e-procurement efforts consistent throughout the year.

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014

Today’s Bog is by Ryan Melowic Vice President of Customer Services at SafeSourcing.

Every year we see it as  summer vacations and holidays approach, activity for sourcing events slows down quite a bit.  It is unfortunate to see because; there are so many lost savings opportunities.   What procurement departments need during vacation season is someone to fill in for their staff that is out of the office. 

SafeSourcing does the heavy lifting on e-procurement events.   The heavy lifting consists of the following:

1. Providing category knowledge to our customers that help them better understand the trends in the particular markets.
2. Identifying suppliers that are the right fit for each event category.
3. Delivering consistent communications to the vendors.
4. Consolidating and responding to questions during the project.
5. Training for event participants.
6. Support for the participants throughout the live event.
7. Detailed reporting on the e-procurement event.

With all this valuable support, the SafeSourcing team can be your company’s fill in during vacation season.  And, with a fill in, your company’s e-procurement will not slow down during vacation season and maximum savings potentials can be realized.

For further information how SafeSourcing can help your company realize savings twelve months a year, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative to assist you today.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments

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The importance of keeping your company’s e-procurement efforts consistent throughout the year.

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014

Today?s Bog is by Ryan Melowic Vice President of Customer Services at SafeSourcing.

Every year we see it as? summer vacations and holidays approach, activity for sourcing events slows down quite a bit.? It is unfortunate to see because; there are so many lost savings opportunities.?? What procurement departments need during vacation season is someone to fill in for their staff that is out of the office.?

SafeSourcing does the heavy lifting on e-procurement events.?? The heavy lifting consists of the following:

1. Providing category knowledge to our customers that help them better understand the trends in the particular markets.
2. Identifying suppliers that are the right fit for each event category.
3. Delivering consistent communications to the vendors.
4. Consolidating and responding to questions during the project.
5. Training for event participants.
6. Support for the participants throughout the live event.
7. Detailed reporting on the e-procurement event.

With all this valuable support, the SafeSourcing team can be your company?s fill in during vacation season.? And, with a fill in, your company?s e-procurement will not slow down during vacation season and maximum savings potentials can be realized.

For further information how SafeSourcing can help your company realize savings twelve months a year, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative to assist you today.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments

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The Art of Supplier Selection!

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014

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

Each year companies spend millions of dollars researching markets and categories, and the suppliers that support them.? Some of this work is done internally and some of this work is performed by 3rd party strategic sourcing and research companies like Gartner or Forrester.? The goal of the research is always to understand who the players are, where they are strong, where they are weak and how they compare to other players in the space.? These results eventually help companies make decisions and are the basis by which presentations are requested and who should be invited to submit proposals for business.

The National Suppliers ? National Suppliers are essential for almost any sourcing project, especially for those companies with a nationwide presence.? National players are usually the leaders in the industry and have a better handle on trends from coast to coast as well as the experience to lead big projects.? The downside to National players is that they are not always right for ?niche? projects that need a very focused tool or service.? National players are also situated within the market and their customer base in a way that they are not always as hungry from a pricing perspective as some of their smaller competitors.? While National players can come with a higher price point, however, their experience and coverage usually make up for it.

The Regional/Sub-Category Suppliers ? The next tier of suppliers is one that contains large regional companies or companies who focus on a big portion of an overall category.? An example of the latter would be if a company was looking at Maintenance, Repairs and Operation spend and wanted to include some companies that specialized in only a few products that made up a large portion of the spend but nothing else.? Everyone wants to go with a single award supplier because it is easier to manage but the reality is that single supplier awards don?t always make as much sense as splitting the business geographically or categorically between 2-3 vendors.? This creates a great opportunity for this tier of suppliers to feel they have a legitimate shot at winning business and keeps them aggressive in their proposals.

The Local/Niche Suppliers ? Many people would believe that after the first two groups of suppliers, that it does not make much sense to include the smaller local or niche vendors.? This assumption would be wrong.? Procurement projects, especially those for large National companies, often see that huge portions of the spend can be found in only 2 or 3 locations.? In these cases, a local supplier may already be supporting the company very well and should be included in any sourcing project.? Also, in the case above with MRO example, if a company only wanted to focus on a section of parts like filters, they would likely start with being focused on niche suppliers but would also invite large regional and National players as potential secondary suppliers.? This process allows a company to leverage a potential existing deal with a National or Regional player while keeping a local incumbent honest.

For more information on how SafeSourcing can assist with helping you business find the right mix of suppliers to include in your next sourcing event?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.

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BOSTON STRONG!

Monday, April 21st, 2014

To all of my running brothers and sisters that have endured this historical endeavor, CONGRATULATIONS! To all of? my running brothers and sisters that will run this race today and in the future, CONGRATULATONS. To all of those that have in the past?and will in the future?support us, THANK YOU!

Perhaps Winston Churchill?said it best in 1941.??”Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

Boston78

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Let us eat LETTUCE!

Friday, April 18th, 2014

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

I was doing some morning reading today and noticed an article attributed to Paul Davidson of USA TODAY titled ?RISING FOOD PRICES PINCH CONSUMERS?. It?s unfortunate we cannot survive on the lowest cost foods because that is exactly what Lettuce was with a -16.9% change in price over the last twelve months?based on?the governments Consumer Price Index for March from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Any guess as to what was the highest? Have you tried to buy Limes lately? If so you might have guessed Citrus Fruits which are up +17%. I?m not sure one could survive on limes alone either, but I am sure this author might do a pretty good job on Key Lime Pie (Yum!).

Here are some of the other categories.

1. Eggs +9.9%
2. Uncooked Ground Beef +6.8%
3. Pork + 5.3%
4. Peanut Butter? – 3.6%
5. Apples -3.0%

The question this author always has is what retailers are doing in order to compress and contain pricing in order to pass the lowest possible cost on to their consumers.? SafeSourcing has tools that help companies accomplish this and 99.9% of all sourcing projects in the last 6 years have returned savings or cost avoidance. Ask your retailer how they are doing this and if they are getting a better than 10X ROI from their procurement solution provider?

If you?d like to learn more how SafeSourcing can help your company reduce product and service realted costs so they are measureable in the current quarter, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services account manager.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments. HAPPY EASTER.

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When in doubt, collaborate!

Wednesday, April 16th, 2014

Today?s post is by Steve Schwerin, Account Manager here at SafeSourcing

Have you shied away from eProcurement because either you don?t think an individual spend is large enough to make a difference or you don?t want to go it alone?? The old saying about the whole being greater than the sum of its parts has a role even in eProcurement.? Take a second and think about how this concept could help you find savings in procurement.

  1. For one, coordinated effort leads to the benefits of scale.? SafeSourcing regularly runs events where multiple customers reap the benefits of going to market with a combined larger spend.
  2. Another benefit is that working together offers different things do different companies in different proportions.? Your company may not be buying all the exact items as your partner, but combined the similar items give a vendor the opportunity to offer greater savings to you both than otherwise viable.
  3. Collaborating may be exactly what has kept you from seeking different procurement solutions in the first place.? The benefits of working with others may go beyond the simple numbers you initially calculate.? Collaborating in and of itself might be a new procurement strategy, but you may still need a tool and expertise to facilitate the process.
  4. Finally, if you are concerned about an impersonal solution, time is revealing that the internet and electronic solutions are anything but impersonal.? They are different and they let us interact in ways that were not possible before due to communication and time barriers

We, here at SafeSourcing, would love to talk to you about how you can collaborate with your partners to all benefit more than you would if you were going it alone.? 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?or call ?888-261-9070 today.? We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.

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Organic. FDA Approved. No GMO

Tuesday, April 15th, 2014

Today?s post is by Shelly Hayre; Project Manager at SafeSourcing.

As I walk around the grocery store reading labels of my common purchases and avoiding ?known? bad ingredients, I wonder why it is allowed in our food if it is proven to be bad for our health. Only does it start getting removed from food when the general public is aware of the effects and will not purchase products with that ingredient.

This will lead you to the organic products, but these products can be very expensive at the grocery store. Grocery stores typically only carry a few organic lines and it does not cause enough competition on the shelf for lower prices.

BUT it gets better! Greek yogurt is my food of choice for breakfast. It has many benefits that are greater than regular yogurt, many consumers are aware of this. The problem is that consumers look for the word ?GREEK? and they assume it has all the benefits they read about in a magazine. This is not always the case. Greek yogurt, for example, does not have a standard for labeling your product ?GREEK? yogurt. So you could really be eating a yogurt that does not provide the extent of what that magazine told you.

Unless you are very educated on food products and have disposable money for true organic food it is hard to avoid these new food processes that cut cost for producers. I often wonder why this is not regulated more.

SafeSourcing does research, on your behalf, to verify the suppliers offer a good quality product and service to fit your needs. We understand the sales pitch can be so good that it is hard to understand how good the product or service will be. Let?s remove the sales pitch and get down to the quality and cost!

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.

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