2023 July (2) : SafeSourcing Blog

Archive for July, 2023

So just what is Open Sourcing?

Thursday, July 13th, 2023

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

I’m betting not too many can answer this without looking it up! See, it did not even have to do with procurement, but does make it much easier for companies like SafeSourcing to grow without the need for a huge development staff. We are an open-source user and it save both SafeSourcing and our customers money.

The term open-sourcing is the act of releasing previously proprietary software under an open source/free software license. Open sourcing also refers to any program which the source is made available for modification as developers use to fit their needs. Another term related to open-sourcing is Open Source. Open Source is a certification owned by the Open-Source Initiative (OSI). The purpose of the OSI is giving the developers of the software the ability to redistribute with the OSI trademark. Before the developers could redistribute with the OSI trademark, they must meet the requirements of the OSI.

SafeSourcing is an eprocurement company that operates across multiple industries. As such we have specific experience in almost any commodity, service or capital related spend including software and development costs. Our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database is an often used to help companies find open-source companies for their own use. To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

Posted in Business Sourcing

Ten intangibles we bring to the table from our associates in a recent internal survey!

Wednesday, July 12th, 2023

Todays post is from Ron Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing.

I am very proud of the results of a recent internal survey that identified 80 intangibles that our employees and management believe SafeSourcing brings to our customers. Here are ten that have a great impact on our customers.

SafeSourcing’s staff is passionate about Saving Companies money.
SafeSourcing is willing to develop new solutions or strategies to meet our client’s needs.
SafeSourcing’s staff is willing to put in the extra effort needed to meet our client’s timelines.
SafeSourcing’s employees bring extreme category knowledge to all events they execute.
SafeSourcing develops and provides detailed custom reporting on complex events.
SafeSourcing works to keep our costs low so we can offer an extremely competitive pricing.
SafeSourcing’s white glove customer service is second to none.
SafeSourcing’s leadership team truly cares about the wellbeing of their employees.
SafeSourcing truly cares about sourcing safe products and services.
SafeSourcing is committed to continuous improvement and desires to lead our industry.

If you would like more information on how SafeSourcing can help you improve your sourcing results, or to learn more about our risk free trial, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Services representative.

We have an entire team anxious to assist you.

Posted in Uncategorized

Seller-Driven Auctions

Tuesday, July 11th, 2023

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

At SafeSourcing we run many seller driven auctions. These may come in handy as the supply chain loosens and retailer realize they have way overbought and have backrooms full of dated products. We actually use our Forward Auction Tool from our SafeSourceIt™eProcurement Platform. This is also a great way to reduce SHRINK which I have written about in the past

A seller-drive auction is an auction where sellers post goods for sale and buyers will bid on them. A good example of a seller-driven auction would be eBay©. A seller would place a particular item that they want to sell online, and buyers wanting to purchase that item will place bids trying to ultimately win the auction for the product (s).

SafeSourcing is an eprocurement company that operates across multiple industries. As such we have specific experience in almost any commodity, service or capital related spend. Our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database has over 500,000 suppliers including companies that often bid on aged inventory. You are probably sitting on quite a bit of inventory right now. To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

Posted in Sourcing Strategy

Managing Change While Managing Costs

Monday, July 10th, 2023

Today’s post is our archives at SafeSourcing, Inc.

For our customers, we are primarily focused on delivering cost savings. Generally, in eProcurement, we aim to provide an apples-to-apples comparison so that our customers can make an award decision relatively easily based on the results of an online RFx Event. We do that very well and average over 24% savings. Sometimes, however, our customer is looking to reduce their category costs while also making changes to what it is that they are purchasing.

The good news is that the goals of reducing costs and making a change are not mutually exclusive. While every situation will be different, here is how one customer of ours recently accomplished both goals. The customer, a retailer, knew that they would be phasing out certain plastic products that use regularly. They have a significant annual spend in this category currently. Their goal was to discontinue the use of plastic and switch to alternative products that are more environmentally friendly including biodegradable and reusable options. Because they had carefully planned this change, we were able to develop a plan to work together to manage the change effectively while still taking full advantage of eProcurement tools to reduce costs along the way. Below is a quick summary of how we did this.

Reduce the cost of the current plastic products using a live Request for Quote (RFQ)so they are not overpaying for the remainder of their orders. This generated a substantial savings.
Develop a Request for Proposal (RFP)to attain a better understanding of the specifications, capabilities, and pricing for the alternative products.
Review the RFP results and establish the specifications for the alternative products that would ultimately replace the plastic products.
Host an RFQ to compress the pricing for the alternative products
Test samples for the alternatives, make a decision, and coordinate the roll out of the new products to coincide with the timeline of phasing out the plastic products.

The most important part of this process was the planning. SafeSourcing and the customer coordinated the process and took the steps above in accordance with that plan. In contrast, when we see customers attempt to manage change through the eProcurement process without a plan, we tend to see results that are less impressive. They will likely have savings, and they will likely make a change, but they will not strike the ideal balance between the two.

If you’re interested in learning more about our contract management tool or any of our full suite of Procure to Pay tools, please contact SafeSourcing

Posted in E-procurement

A timely Repost of How do you control Maverick Buying?

Friday, July 7th, 2023

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

That is a two-sided question, isn’t it? When a product or service is under contract, and someone is then assigned the issuing of P.O.’s or ordering from a contract, they are not the buyer? And what if other parts of your company do not come to that person when they run out of something? Let us say it is as simple as copy paper. How do you are Work from Home associates restock when they run out? This is a pretty simple issue to address, however, most do not, and all of your negotiations buy an actual buyer, not user are wasted.

Maverick buying refers to any company or employee purchase that does not meet a company’s purchasing policy. This includes using off-contract methods of procurement and non-authorized purchases. Also called Rogue Purchasing, Maverick buying, for example, is when employees buy office articles at the local store around the corner instead of from the supplier with whom the company has negotiated a framework agreement and, therefore, specific discounts. Maverick buying makes the agreement with the supplier more expensive because the volume of the framework agreement is decreased or the goods are purchased at too high a price.

SafeSourcing is an eprocurement company that operates across multiple industries. We endeavor to act as an additional source of industry information on our website with our SafeSourcing white papers, daily blogs, SafeSourcing Wiki. We also monitor daily Industry Updates and Alerts as well as audit and offer vetted procedures to ensure contract compliance and utilization. To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

Posted in Business Sourcing, Uncategorized

Procurement or Cost Control

Thursday, July 6th, 2023

Today’s post is from our Archives at SafeSourcing Inc.

While everyone is still talking about inflation and what, if anything, needs to be done to fight it, the conversation will always go to costs. Do you feel like you’re forever fighting back against cost increases and never making any headway? The job can feel awfully Sisyphean.

That said, many in procurement and many of the larger providers and content creators in the space aren’t talking so much about cost control. Much of what we hear falls more into other areas of procurement like strategic sourcing, forecasting and planning, inventory management, and other topics.

Why then, if the whole world is talking about costs, are we spending so little time on cost control?

Cost control involves managing procurement costs throughout the process to minimize waste, reduce expenses, and prevent cost overruns. This includes identifying cost-saving opportunities, optimizing the use of resources, and monitoring costs in real-time.

My theory is that achieving cost control is hard, especially over the past couple of years. The hard things often take a backseat to the things that are easier to do. If you’re the one who’s job it is to truly control costs, you may feel like Sisyphus and you might imagine yourself a little like the poor person in the image above.

Attaining your cost control goals as part of your larger procurement objectives is not impossible, even if it may be hard and does seem like a stretch. All good goals require stretching and hard work.

SafeSourcing has been delivering for our customers against cost control goals. We know how to do it, including recently and have plenty of great examples, resources, and techniques to share to help you do it For more information, please contact SafeSourcing.

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