Archive for April, 2022

Women’s Business Enterprise National Council

Wednesday, April 27th, 2022

 

Today’s post is by Ronald D. Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing Inc.

What does your company do to support your social responsivity initiatives through your supply chain and supplier relationships? What do they do to support yours?

At SafeSourcing we ask these questions on your behalf to our suppliers in the SafeSourceIt™ Supplier Database. One of those types of businesses are those owned by Women amongst other minority owned business we also inquire about. This service is no charge to our customers during our six-step sourcing strategy.

The WBENC was founded in 1997 as an advocate of women-owned business. It is the third largest certifier of women owned or operated businesses. The WBENC works with businesses to expand and utilize their diversity programs. The WBENC has over seven hundred members. As part of its efforts, the WBENC provides its partner agencies with onsite training and other educational materials.

If you would like to learn more about SafeSourcing and how we work to support yoursocial responsibility initiative, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

 

Price Gouging!

Tuesday, April 26th, 2022

 

 

Today’s post is by Ronald D. Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing Inc.

Is price gouging a concern for your company?

According to the SafeSourcing Wiki, Price gouging occurs when a business increases the cost of their offering by an unreasonable amount. While price increases can occur at any time without being considered price gouging, these should generally not exceed around 20%. State laws may dictate the amount of the increase and other considerations in determining whether a price increase constitutes price gouging. Excessive price increases aimed at taking advantage of an emergency situation during times of emergency may be deemed to be price gouging especially if competitive prices are significantly lower.

There is a straightforward way to find out if it is happening to you. Take your most recent contract and your most recent invoice and send them to SafeSourcing Inc. We will be glad to run an eRFX event on your behalf in order to find you. You just might also save money at the same time. Time to execute from the time you contact us. TWO Weeks. Can you invest that little time to create a positive impact on your current expenses or cost of goods?

If you would like to learn more about our daily posts or other SafeSourcing free tools, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

 

 

Inflation

Monday, April 25th, 2022

 

Today’s blog is by Margaret Stewart, Director of HR, and Administration at SafeSourcing Inc.

Throughout nearly every industry this year and even stemming back the last two years, we have seen prices rise. Much of these cost increases have been attributed to inflation and the rising cost of goods. However, with nearly every good being more expensive, how are companies pulling in record profits? Does the extra money paid at the store works its way up the line through the supply chain and eventually settle somewhere? Based on the profits a few people have made over the last two years, most profits have worked their way up to the top and into the hands of only a select few (Bezos, Musk, etc.).

There are some companies that do not fit that model, thankfully. One such company, Gravity Payments, has been among the few outspoken companies criticizing other companies for lack of pay and wealth distribution. You may recall in 2015, Gravity Payments founder Dan Price decided to forfeit much of his own salary and raised everyone else’s pay up to a minimum of $70k per year. That move put a spotlight on the company and has helped garner positive media attention and associated sales and has also improved employee retention and productivity.

In stark contrast, companies like Amazon who have been forced to pay more for their hourly employees and are currently undermining and fighting unionization attempts, has seem huge corporate profits for the few top people and has gained a vast amount of negative press and is often thought of as a terrible company and workplace. Amazon, when faced with rising costs of employment, however, did not rise to the challenge of cutting CEO pay to pay for workers. It instead raised prices for the consumers. Even Dan Price has said that even if you are giving your employees a 5% raise every year, those employees are ultimately receiving a pay cut due to inflation and the higher costs of goods.

While the costs of labor are rising, companies must work hard to keep up – not only with the rising cost of their own internal labor, but also that of the products and services they use. SafeSourcing can help your organization find the vendors that fit the needs of what you are looking for and help offset rising expenses.

For more information on how SafeSourcing can help your organization or on our Risk-Free trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative. We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

Why is the price of eggs rising?

Friday, April 22nd, 2022

 

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

Well, if you have not heard we have another product that is rising in price and will continue rise into the near future.  This time it has nothing to do with Covid-19 or the rising inflation.  The wholesale price for eggs is reaching historical highs just in time for Easter and Passover.  This rise is being caused by a highly infectious avian flu that has swept across more than half of the country so far.  Because this flu is so highly contagious and deadly to birds, it is forcing farmers across the country to kill millions of the egg laying birds.  So of course, a lack of birds means a lack of eggs which intern causes prices to rise as the shortage of birds continues.  So far, we are seeing the prices of large eggs from the Midwest are approximately three times higher than last year at this time.  The price of the eggs is now reaching around three dollars a dozen and according to researchers this has only happened one other time.  So far, the flu outbreak has been detected in almost thirty states.  According to some experts the price may not go to much higher because retailers will often take a loss on products like eggs to bring in more traffic into their stores.  The good news is that the bird flu is only affecting our pockets for now and should not affect our health.  According to researchers this type of flu is rarely transmitted to humans.  So, we only need to be concerned with rising costs until this passes.

Interested in learning how SafeSourcing can help your company save money during these and other shortages?  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.

 

It is Always Negotiable.

Wednesday, April 20th, 2022

 

Today’s Post is by Patrick Quinn a Procurement Specialist at SafeSourcing Inc.

You, yes you, have a supplier that is screwing you over. The problem is you do not know which one it is. Inflation is hitting your books, and you have spent countless hours going over your spreadsheets to find out how your business is going to pay its bills. You could risk upsetting your clients and customers by trying to subtly increase your prices, but with the news tickers of rising prices flashing everywhere, more people now than ever are watching out for the latest price increases, and you could lose more business than you keep by doing so.

But what about the side of the business where you are the customer? You may think you have negotiated the best deals, found the highest quality suppliers for the lowest price when negotiation is not worth the time, and introduced cost saving tactics when even comparative shopping does not seem worth it, but how can your team alone possibly account for every penny-pinching method within the work week? The answers are often hidden right at the top end of your accounts payable sheet.

During times of inflation, your suppliers can increase prices without your complaint because they expect you to see cost increases. Inflation hit 8.5% so your costs increased. But, by how much exactly? And how much time will it take for you to find out which suppliers increased costs more than 8.5%? Stare at the spreadsheets long enough, and you will begin to wonder, is the 8.5% inflation rate real in any way? Or is it that way because your suppliers took advantage of your pre-conceived ideas?

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard incumbent suppliers tell our customers that they cannot lower their prices. And almost as many times, prices are adjusted to meet the competition. Competing suppliers in your industry want you to spend money with them just as much as your current supplier wants to keep you. Your current supplier has just had a seat at your table more often than anyone else. eRFQ tools ensure that your supplier knows that you also know that there are always more options out there. And if you let someone search hard enough for you, you will find a new supplier eager to impress you just as much as your current supplier did when they first made their way into your spreadsheets.

To help you find the source of your rising costs, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.

 

 

 

Are We Entering a Buyers’ Market Yet?

Tuesday, April 19th, 2022

 

Today’s post is by Dave Wenig, Senior Vice President of Sales, and Services at SafeSourcing Inc

For too long now, we have been experiencing a seller’s market and many organizations’ buyers have had to suffer through price increase after price increase. At SafeSourcing, we have talked with buyers that have reported continuous price increases every month and year-over-year price increases that add up to paying nearly 100% more from one year to the next for the same products.

The question is then is – when will this situation change?

We are noticing that a change is already taking place. The list of categories below is just a sample of the categories that we have sourced for our customers recently. What is interesting about this sample is that the average savings for the categories listed here is over 33%.

  • Windows and Doors – 14% savings
  • Labels – 32% savings 
  • Towels and Wipes – 64% savings 
  • Appliances – 16%
  • Cappuccino, Tea, and Hot Chocolate – 27% savings 
  • Concrete and Pump Cleaner – 64% savings
  • Hot Dogs – 24% reduction
  • Cigarette racks – 27% reduction 
  • Napkins – 56% reduction plus an increase in quality 
  • Refrigeration equipment – 31% reduction 
  • Creamer etc. – 20% reduction 
  • Waste removal – 24% reduction

 Another signal of a change in the markets is that we have seen an increase in the number of vendor participants in RFQs. That increase directly corresponds to a decrease in the number of vendors that are declining citing challenges such as capacity limitations.

For those that are watching closely, the opportunity to claw back against the recent price increases is right in front of you. For those that listen to your vendors, expect the price increases to continue.

For more information, please contact SafeSourcing.

 

 

 

Dead Net

Friday, April 15th, 2022

 

Today’s post is by Ronald D. Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing Inc.

What concessions go into your dead net pricing?

Dead net pricing is not always an obvious outcome of your suppler negotiations.

Dead net sales income refers to the income that a retailer earns after considering any discounts that they earn from their supplier. Some vendors will provide allowances, trade credits, and other deals, so using the suppliers list price to calculate income requires adjustments for these factors. The retailer adds the effects of these supplier concessions into the cost of goods sold, and it subtracts this net cost from its sales revenue to get dead net sales income.

If you’d like to learn more about how SafeSourcing goes about collecting information relaitive to  dead net pricing, please contact a SafeSourcing customers services associate.

Sources: http://www.ehow.com/info_8491288_dead-net-sales-income.html#ixzz2BOm9lhDW

The Horizontal Exchange

Thursday, April 14th, 2022

 

Today’s post is by Ronald D. Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing Inc.

The Horizontal exchange is an e-marketplace that facilitates transactions for goods and services across several industries. A horizontal e-marketplace connects buyers and sellers across different industries or regions. A horizontal e-marketplace can be used to purchase indirect products such as office equipment or stationery.  Horizontal exchanges focus on leveraging expertise in a particular business process across number of industries. Service industries lend themselves well to a horizontal exchange. The most active horizontal exchanges today are competing in the realm of e-procurement.

The SafeSourcing Supplier Database with over 450,000 suppliers contains the information necessary to support all of your supply needs horizontal, manufacturer or specific vertical.

If you’d like to learn more about how SafeSourcing goes about sourcing vendors or other distribution options, please contact a SafeSourcing customers services associate.

Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3740530

EPA Green Power Partnership

Wednesday, April 13th, 2022

 

 

Today’s post if by Ronald D. Southard, CEO of SafeSourcing Inc.

Does your company buy sustainable green energy? Should it?

The EPA Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that “encourages organizations to buy green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with purchased electricity use”. Currently the organization has over 1500 partners that voluntarily purchase billions of kilowatt hours of sustainable green energy every year. Organizations include Fortune 500 companies, medium-sized businesses, as well as government and educational institutions.

SafeSourcing is an procurement company with many tools that are free for use form our SafeSourcing Wiki to our  SafeSourceIt™ Query Tool and many others. By using our site, you can conduct the research that allows you to operate with business partners that support you goals of being a carbon neutral company as well.

If you’d like to learn more as to how SafeSourcing can help you accomplish your green initiatives, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Services Associate.

Second Tier Sourcing

Tuesday, April 12th, 2022

 

Today’s post is by Ronald D. Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing Inc.

Second Tier Sourcing is a procurement policy that is used by various Fortune 500 corporations. This is a practice of rewarding suppliers for attempting to achieve minority-owned business spending goals of their customer(s).

The program was created by the Chrysler Corporation in 1993 and now extends throughout the Fortune 500. In 2005, Toyota set a goal of 10% for their suppliers and holds an annual matchmaking event to help their suppliers achieve those goals.

The SafeSourcing Supplier Database with over 450,000 suppliers contains the information necessary to support your minority-owned supplier search criteria.

If you’d like to learn more about how SafeSourcing goes about holding your supply chain accountable, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate