Archive for April, 2023

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Can chatbots do all the negotiations for your company?

Friday, April 28th, 2023

 

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

I have talked about the potential impact of Ai on procurement departments and jobs in the past. Most recently in a post titled Watch out procurement professionals Here comes Artificial Intelligence

So, today I was reading a report on FOXBusiness by Bradford Betz titled Walmart using AI to negotiate cost, purchase terms with vendors in shorter timeframe: In the report it states that “The AI chatbot has helped Walmart conduct negotiations with 2,000 suppliers simultaneously, the company said.”

The chatbot was developed by the California-based company Pactum, to negotiate smaller contracts with suppliers who provide the retail giant with the equipment it uses rather than the products it sells.

While Ai and machine learning are moving at the speed of light, I still believe that the savings generated in person reviewed and edited negotiations can be more effective and save more money in the long run. For the very large organizations where small percentage savings add huge numbers to the bottom line, it probably comes at a cost that is prohibitive to non-early adopters.

At SafeSourcing our average annual savings against all categories are in excess of 24% and that includes equipment. Just saying!

SafeSourcing is a Procure to Pay SaaS based provider of a number of e-Procurement solutions and associated white glove services that are part of our SaaS offered SafeSourceIt™ eSourcing suite .

For more information, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Services Associate.

 

 

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Are you spending enough time and focus on the bottom line!

Wednesday, April 26th, 2023

 

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

I was listening to a rant by Bernie Marcus today on MSN about focusing on the bottom line and not being distracted by wokeness.

One quote resonated with me. “We need leaders who are basically thinking about the shareholders and their employees,” he added. “And I think today it’s all about woke diversity, things that don’t hit the bottom line.” While I agree with the 1st sentence of the quote, I do think there continues to be a need to focus on a more diverse workplace.

I rant fairly frequently about the treatment of employees who are too often used to reducing costs because of a lack of focus on other cost areas that can return similar results. In fact, this focus is part of our elevator pitch as is the need to focus on the bottom line.  It goes like this. “We assist our customers in significantly reducing costs to improve gross margins and net earnings, support growth plans and maintain, retrain where needed and grow associate headcount”. That’s’ who SafeSourcing is!

How do we do it you ask? With SafeSourcing’ s eProcurement White Glove Services. And we average greater than 24% savings across all categories. Apply that number to your cost of goods and expense plan. Then compare it to savings attributed to your planned employee layoffs.

SafeSourcing is a Procure to Pay SaaS based provider of a number of e-Procurement solutions and associated white glove services that are part of our SaaS offered SafeSourceIt™ eSourcing suite. That includes our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database that includes over 557,000 vendor/suppliers.

To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

 

 

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Another Retail Bankruptcy!

Tuesday, April 25th, 2023

 

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

I read the following on the web this morning from the Newsroom at Chain Store Guide and also heard it on the news. Bed Bath & Beyond has announced that they will be winding down operations amidst a bankruptcy filing and closing all locations. The company has been struggling for several years and it seemed to be only a matter of time before this decision was reached. The company will not be closing all of their locations immediately and there is no word on when or in what manner they will begin the closings.

This continues to upset me, as I mentioned in a recent post titled How can you save money very quickly in the current economic environment? I do not want to cast aspersions on any management team. However, I do personally believe that not enough effort goes into securing products and services at the best cost. In fact, I think it is largely avoided in favor of new formats, marketing and continuity programs that have been tried many times before. When they don’t work during new managements honeymoon period, then it’s a huge cut to associate headcount and lumping of more work on those who remain.

Retail is a challenging business. The move to online purchasing has had a huge impact on many segments of the industry and while it has created a lot of related jobs in some areas, it has also created myriad problems in others. Real Estate Holding companies that have housed these companies are having to rethink everything they do and for whom.

SafeSourcing’ s savings average over 24% better than what companies can do on their own most of the time, and there really is no category that we do not have experience in.

SafeSourcing is a Procure to Pay SaaS based provider of a number of e-Procurement solutions and associated white glove services that are part of our SaaS offered SafeSourceIt™ eSourcing suite. That includes our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database that includes over 557,000 vendor/suppliers.

 

To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

 

 

 

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How can you save money very quickly in the current economic environment?

Friday, April 21st, 2023

 

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

I was reading Spend Matters Weekly Update today and section called A note from Nikhil Gaur

Titled “Reflections from Coupa customers and executives at Coupa Inspire” piqued my interest. I don’t like to mention our competitors in my posts by name as I have done here. However, the message is important and supports companies like SafeSourcing being able to save companies money very quickly. Today we reduced the spend for a customer in a non-retail industry by 45.68% vs, budget on a project of over a million dollars that will be completed this year. That my friend is money to the bottom line. We do it almost every day.

The quote below is from Nikhil’s “Reflections” from our competitor’s event. I have hi-lited  a few items that support this post.

“Of course, the unfortunate subtext is that one byproduct of downward economic trends may influence an organization to deprioritize procurement/supply chain software that can often save money quickly (when implemented successfully). As such, the strength of individual marketing teams — especially those that belong to smaller providers — may have an even greater impact in determining a company’s success in 2023 than previously thought”. 

 You can view my comments from an earlier post titled Just what do we mean by eProcurement White Glove Services that supports why our savings average over 24% better than what companies can do on their own most of the time.

SafeSourcing is a Procure to Pay SaaS based provider of a number of e-Procurement solutions and associated white glove services that are part of our SaaS offered SafeSourceIt™ eSourcing suite. That includes our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database that includes over 557,000 vendor/suppliers.

To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

 

 

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Are new car prices finally starting to come down?

Wednesday, April 19th, 2023

 

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

If you have been reading my BLOGs over the past few years, I have written a few about the rising price of items and how we are overpaying for a lot of things.  I finally saw a headline today that caught my attention, and there may be some good news at least for people looking to purchase a new vehicle.  The price of new vehicles has been dropping slowly over the past few months and according to the recent data, March was the first time in months that car buyers did not have to pay more than what the vehicle was listed for.  This marks the first time in almost two years that the buyers did not have to pay more than the vehicle was listed for because of the high markups on the dealer lots.  According to an automotive research company, brands like Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Hyundai, and others saw their average prices for their vehicles decline almost 4 percent in March.  Not all the brands have seen this drop others like Kia and Honda vehicles are continuing to sell between 3 and 6 percent over the sticker price in the non-luxury market.  In addition to this, new car prices have been trending down for a few months and March’s average price that was paid was about $1,000 less than December of 2022.  Like I stated above this is good news for buyers who have been shopping and seen the higher prices and the really low inventory at the dealers since the pandemic started.

If you need help finding new vehicles for your company fleet, please contact SafeSourcing. We have sourced about every type of tractor, trailer, truck, car, sprinter, or van in your fleet. We have also sourced just about everything that keeps them running including M&R. We can gather all the necessary information for you and help you decide what brand offering meets your needs.

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.

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Clean Data!

Tuesday, April 18th, 2023

 

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

With all organizations, there are expenses and costs. Good bookkeeping is important because it allows one to easily look up where money is spent and where it comes from. This is especially important when considering your next procurement project. Having up to date, complete, and easily understood data, or clean data, is essential to understanding where improvements can be made.

For example, if your company has a monthly service for cleaning and you aren’t sure how long you’ve worked with this associate, how much you pay, or how frequently you pay, then you may want to scrub that data and make it more easily accessed and read. This can allow for insight into whether you are paying too much or if it’s a great deal you want to continue. This kind of spend transparency can help you estimate expenses and also give direction into where you may want to explore your options.

A procurement partner, like SafeSourcing can assist with your sourcing needs and even more. We can analyze your spend details, categorize which areas you are spending, and help to access which areas you may want to reevaluate. We can help with not only cleaning up your data, but also run the numbers to see if you are likely overpaying somewhere. Even more, SafeSourcing can help you find suppliers that can fit your needs and save you money.

If you are not sure how clean your data is or if you think you might not be getting the best good or service for your money, reach out to a procurement partner, like SafeSourcing, and see what all we can help your team do.

For more information on what the SafeSourcing team can offer you, or on our Risk Free trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative. We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

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How to improve margins on your hot beverage program using eProcurement      

Monday, April 17th, 2023

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

First, I love coffee. I drink too much and always want more. Like many, I often find myself on the road and grabbing a coffee at a gas station. It’s been great to experience the revolution over the past several years as the convenience stores have continued to improve their offering with many now offering delicious coffees including some that are bean-to-cup.

 

 

But you’re not here to read about my habits. You want to know how we attained a >40% savings on the costs of coffee and cappuccino for one of our c-store customers this month. Here’s the breakdown for anyone who wants to immediately increase their margins as well.

Step 1: SafeSourcing will need to understand your spend over a 12 month period. The details are relatively basic and with any luck, you’ll have everything we need in a simple product movement report or invoices.

 Step 2: SafeSourcing will develop a tailored RFQ event based on the details you have provided. Based on our understanding of the market and the vendors, we will suggest a variety of vendors who are well-suited to support your needs.

 Step 3: You’ll review the details and the RFQ as we have developed it. Once the RFQ is set up accurately, you will simply give your approval for SafeSourcing to move forward.

 Step 4: SafeSourcing will take it from here and you’ll enjoy the results after watching your RFQ occur live. In all likelihood, you’ll have between 6 and 10 vendors very actively bidding to earn your business.

 Step 5. You will review samples and make your final decisions.

 One customer just reported that they’re still enjoying the 32% savings they achieved back in 2019 on their coffee and cappuccino. I truly hope you’ll tell me the same in 4 years.

Dave Wenig is the Senior Vice President of Sales and Services at SafeSourcing Inc. For more information, please contact SafeSourcing.

 

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What does your companies spend data tell you about your business part I

Friday, April 14th, 2023

 

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

At SafeSourcing, it’s our passion to understand our customers spend data better than they do. SafeSpendAnalysis™ analyses and organizes accounts payable data into a view that is actionable in order to focus on savings that are deliverable immediately. Our best-in-class Customer Services team uses the output to provide a comprehensive and executable project plan to the finance and procurement teams that structures the development and completion of projects in less time and with better results.

So, what’s the focus and what do you need to provide?

Focus of SafeSpendAnalysis™

  • Address 100% of what a company spends.
  • Address all capital spending.
  • Address all cost of goods.
  • Address the entire expense category.

Data Requirements of SafeSpendAnalysis™

  • Minimum: AP list for the last 12 months
  • Include all vendors.
  • Minimum Detail: Vendor name, Address, and Spend
  • Additional Detail: Contact data, website, phone numbers

So, what do you get and how can it help? Check back tomorrow for part II.

SafeSourcing is a Procure to Pay SaaS based provider of a number of e-Procurement solutions and associated white glove services that are part of our SaaS offered SafeSourceIt™ eSourcing suite. That includes our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database that includes over 557,000 vendor/suppliers.

To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

 

 

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How do you monitor and manage Supply Chain Disruptions?

Wednesday, April 12th, 2023

 

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

Certainly, during the COVID pandemic, we heard daily about supply chain disruptions. These disruptions left many companies questioning their single source, offshore sourcing and myriad other supply chain decisions they made prior to 2020.

I’ll list a few other potential areas that can cause supply chain vulnerability below. Quite frankly, I could list another ten easily. The point being, how does your organization stay on top of these. How do you find new and evolving sources of supply?

  1. Natural Disasters.
  2. Geopolitical Instability.
  3. Transportation Breakdowns.
  4. Cyber Attacks on Disruptive supply chain technology.
  5. Supply & Demand Fluctuations
  6. Your Companies current Financial Viability
  7. Current and New Supplier Financial Viability
  8. Inflation
  9. Commodity Shortages
  10. Unemployment

At SafeSourcing we take pride in our white glove services. This includes the use of our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database. Our database contains much of the required information you need and our suppliers are re-vetted prior to every sourcing event that they participate in. We recently had a customer whose vendor decided to leave a segment of their business which left a hole on our customers’ shelves. We introduced them to twenty new potential sources of supply and vetted each again. It’s not always the savings.

SafeSourcing is a Procure to Pay SaaS based provider of a number of e-Procurement solutions and associated white glove services that are part of our SaaS offered SafeSourceIt™ eSourcing suite. That includes our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database that includes over 557,000 vendor/suppliers.

To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

 

 

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Construction Costs will Continue to Rise in 2023

Tuesday, April 11th, 2023

 

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

According to Global Commercial Real Estate Services CBRE After two years of double-digit increases, they expect construction cost growth of 5.4% in 2023. Higher interest rates and slow economic growth could cause delays to many constructions projects. This would alleviate labor and materials shortages and limit the extent to which contractors could boost margins.

This is both good news and bad. While costs may be coming down and you should take advantage of that by market testing everything that you buy, contractors and builders may also raise their prices to recoup costs from the past several high-priced years. If it were me, I would try to unbundle anything that you can and test the pricing of all categories in this space. Once you have done that it may be time to negotiate with your general contractor. It also may be time to look at lease language and unbundle things like Common Area Maintenance or CAM as that is another hiding place for high priced services.

SafeSourcing is a Procure to Pay SaaS based provider of a number of e-Procurement solutions and associated white glove services that are part of our SaaS offered SafeSourceIt™ eSourcing suite. These include but are not limited to SafeContract™, SafePO™, SafeDocument™ and our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database that includes over 557,000 vendor/suppliers.

For more information, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Services Associate.

 

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