Archive for the ‘B2b Supply Chain’ Category

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Understanding the trends that impact your customers!

Monday, March 12th, 2012

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

The world evolves more quickly every day; not too many would doubt that.? As the population changes, grows and reshapes those that cater to who they are and what they buy need to be aware of emerging trends and what they can mean to business.? Those that find success will be the ones that can capitalize on trends by quickly adjusting their business to take advantage of them.

In today?s post we will be looking at some of the important trends to keep in mind as you discuss strategies, technologies, marketing messages and the future.

The Couponers ? According to a study performed last year by Scarborough Research, coupon usage for households has gone up 26% since 2006.? With the changes in the economic landscape, this? number is not a surprise to anyone,? particularly as families continue to struggle? in order to find ways to make ends meet.? What is important here is that the study showed that 1/5th of couponers utilizes electronic coupons/discounts in order to save money.? This trend is important as it allows companies to leverage their existing technologies such as Email, texting, Twitter, Facebook etc.? to launch campaigns to an audience that prefers their media in a way that costs them significantly less than traditional? methodology.? Finding partners who can help you immediately leverage evolving trends is key.

The Boomers ? For decades, the generation of the population known as the ?Baby Boomers? (those Post- World War II babies born between 1946 and 1964) have held significant purchasing power as advertising, television programming, marketing, product development have all placed emphasis on catering to this group of the population which represents close to 1/3 of the population and which just began entering retirement age in 2011.? The years to come will not likely change this trend, in fact, they will likely demand more attention and change as average lifespan continues to lengthen and the baby boomers require those who sell to them to adapt their services and products to their needs as they enter the next stages of their lives.? Understanding these new needs will allow good companies to react and focus their efforts on a group of the population who will continue to be influential for many years to come.

Hispanic Focus ? As a cultural group that represents 17% of the population and a buying power north of $1 trillion, it is no surprise that companies have expanded their marketing focus to include emphasis on this growing demographic.? In an article this past Friday, in MediaDailyNews, a review of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies study? stated that as the Hispanic demographic continues to grow over the next decade (5.7%), companies that have already begun expanding their approach to include direct efforts toward the Hispanic population have seen a noticeable increase in revenue from this group.? Companies that are able to work with their internal and external teams to expand their marketing will find that they have a better-rounded message to their customers and a higher level of loyalty from those groups.

For more information on how you can adapt your services to meet evolving trends or to locate vendors to partner with that are already providing this support, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.??

We look forward to your comments.

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Purchasers Plan to Continue Using Recession Tactics

Thursday, March 1st, 2012

Ryan asks; why do procurement professionals turn to SafeSourcing?

The recession has not ended, and it is clear that purchasers must continue using recession tactics, saving money every way that they can.? Mid-sized companies, business owners and others have discovered that they don’t all have to sacrifice quality to gain products for a reasonable, recession-proof price.

With our Reverse Auction and additional eProcurement technology, SafeSourcing is harnessing the power of eProcurement by providing a one-stop shop for competitive bids from over 380,000 suppliers.? By combining their buying power, companies can leverage a lower price while locking in higher quality items.

Who are the suppliers?? SafeSourcing has amassed its unique database by certifying companies based on their safety and environmental support programs.? Companies must be highly rated to earn a place in the database.? Criteria include eco-friendly and food safety systems such as ISO 22000, ECO-LOGO, SQF and GFSI.? These certifications naturally ensure a higher quality of goods and materials.? Their growers, producers or manufacturers automatically set a higher standard for themselves because they are socially responsible businesses.

How does organized eProcurement, such as SafeSourcing process help businesses?? Companies are quickly learning that if they want to prosper, they must be able to guarantee the health and safety of the products they sell to their consumers.? The task of purchasing goods from the worldwide supply chain is a daunting prospect unless a business uses a supplier database like the one offered by SafeSourcing.

Procurement professionals appreciate the SafeSourceIt? database and the quick response time they receive when looking for new sources of supply.? Owners and other stakeholders will appreciate the benefits of group buying power.? Our customers are continually surprised as they see the quality of products and merchandise from suppliers they were not aware of.? They will respond very favorably to new suppliers that provide them with high quality, green focused products and services at the best price.

For more information on this topic, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.?

We look forward to your comments.

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Part I of II. New Technology: Helping Businesses to Compete !

Monday, February 27th, 2012

With so much new technology being introduced every day, how are you using it to help your business be more competitive?

Technology is not the only thing that makes businesses run: we all know that regardless of what our IT departments tell us.? Technology, however, does make it possible for businesses (especially small and medium-sized businesses) to do things for a few thousand dollars that would have cost millions just 10-15 years ago.

This two part post will focus on four specific areas where small businesses including startups can leverage newer technologies in ways that can help them be more competitive at a fraction of historical costs.

These areas are:

1.?The Cloud
2.?IP Phone Systems
3.?Dashboard Communication
4.?Virtual Staff

To learn more detail about these specific technologies and how SafeSourcing can help you find providers of these services for your company, check back with us tomorrow for Part II.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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All the policies in the world don’t necessarily make us safer.

Friday, January 27th, 2012

I read two articles today. Most people would not connect them. I do. The first was on the front page of USA TODAY titled Scientists engineer bioterror fears by David Vergano. The subtitle was New mad-made bird flu strain raises prospect of deadly pandemic. The second article was in the business section of THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC and titled Obama plan would protect goods headed to the U.S by John Heilprin.

I’m not sure I need to tell you how these articles are tied together, but an army is only as good as its supply chain and a population is pretty much the same from a product availability and safety persepctive. If you’d like proof, Think North Korea vs. the U.S.So where does the work need to be done. 

This picture is just product safety oriented without adding in any of the other concerns realted to the articles

Big job. Lots to be done

We look forward to and appreciate your comments

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Going Postal!

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

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

Back in December, the U.S. Postal Service announced that it wanted to cut $3 billion in costs in 2012 so that they could avoid bankruptcy.  Delays in mail, eliminating Next day mail, eliminating Saturday delivery are all things that were under consideration for upcoming changes.  As the organization struggles to maintain operations in the wake of an electronic world that has eliminated the need for so much mail, the question for businesses becomes how are they going to begin migrating as well to avoid the rising postage costs?

Today we will be looking at a few ways companies are already doing this, in some cases saving as much as $250 to $500k a year in postage costs.

Customer statements  – Customer statements can encompass many things, be it invoices, monthly statements, performance reports, etc. but in the end what it really means is that there is at least one piece of paper that is getting inserted into an envelope and being mailed to an address or P.O. box.  In just this one activity there is the cost of printing and paper, the envelope, the postage, the processing time (whether machine or human), the delay of having that item be received and on top of all of that there is the element of an imperfect world where, due to address changes, handling mistakes or customer error, the item may never make into the hands of who it was intended to at all.  With all these things in mind, and because of the savings for handling this electronically it is easy to see why it is a big focus many businesses are starting to have.

Catalogs – There will be an element of customers that for a while will always want paper catalogs, however with the cost of generating those catalogs going up and the generations of people that will continue to demand them decreasing, the need to continue producing paper catalogs will be one that many companies closely examine in the next 5-10 years.  Add to all of that the fact that updating on online catalog can take mere seconds and updating a printed catalog is impossible after it is printed and the need to assess the ROI on continuing to print large catalogs.  In fact it’s been almost 20 years since one of the most famous catalogs (Sears RoebucK in 1993) stopped printing due to rising costs.

Employee communications – Newsletters, paystubs, tax forms, medical forms, human resource packages are all examples of traditional items that companies spend millions of dollars on every year to send their employees.  With the advent of company HR portals that now allow an employee to login through the internet and access all of these items with very low cost to the company it is a third area where companies are placing their focus in reducing printing, processing and especially postage costs..

Watching the timeline of events for the USPS since declaring itself debt-free in 2005 has been a hard and painful thing to watch.  As costs have increased and usage decreased it is a critical time for businesses to evaluate the items that are being produced and mailed and whether taking those items into the digital age is the right move from an operations and costs standpoint.

For more information on finding suppliers and products to help you make this move, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.  

We look forward to your comments.

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Capitalism provides the opportunity to consider alternative solutions.

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

Today?s post is by Danielle Begley, Account Manager at SafeSourcing.

Last week in protest of ?the SOPA and the PIPA bills against internet piracy from the House and the Senate, close to 10,000 websites blacked out either all or part of their content and allowed users to sign their petition against the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Acts.

The world?s largest Internet companies boasted their presence in support of the petition as Google blacked out their logo, Craigslist blacked out part of their website, and Wikipedia went so far as to black out all content on their site.? In addition to the blackout, thousands of companies, including social media titan Facebook, expressed their support of the petition through various media outlets.

Millions of users signed the petition, made calls and sent emails to lawmakers which inevitably resulted with the bills losing support within Congress, thus proving the strength and power these internet giants have over their users, the media and even Congress.?

The strength of these giants made me think of the power incumbent suppliers boast when faced with running auctions where their business is in question.? Incumbents use all tactics possible in order to bring strategic sourcing companies down and much like Congress, the customer can at times give in to the protest.?

While this author believes the benefits of the internet would be severely jeopardized if censorship was enacted, the same holds true for the customer.? While an incumbent supplier may have an existing relationship, capitalism provides the opportunity to consider alternative solutions, which are similarly jeopardized when incumbent suppliers protest the sourcing process.

If you are facing a similar situation with your incumbent supplier, or have any questions on how to handle this problem, please contact a Customer Service Representative for more information.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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A repost to think about, Are you wining your supply chain battle?

Friday, August 19th, 2011

It could be said that much of today’s thought relative to supply chain management is rooted in the history of human expansion. In fact there are many examples of how expansion which many times happened or was planned in conjunction with the conquest of others was either successful or failed based on the ability to keep supplies flowing to the expansionists or armies associated with them. If you are a growing retailer with your own expansion plans some careful thought as to your supply chain and the necessary contingencies may be your most important activity

According to Wikipedia in military science, maintaining one’s supply lines while disrupting those of the enemy is a crucial—some would say the most crucial—element of military strategy, since an armed force without resources and transportation is defenseless.

Obviously this takes us back to our opening question; are you winning the supply chain battle? What would you do today if one or more of your current suppliers were to go out of business or enter bankruptcy (a real possibility)? Have you made plans as to how your company would replace the goods or services provided by these suppliers?

A recent example that may come to mind happened during the recent H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak first detected in the United States during April of 2009? Drug store chains during that time of panic became the first stop for much of the population in search surgical masks or other anti bacterial supplies. Many retailers ran out of stock and many suppliers were unable to meet the increased demand. Most retailers were not sure where else to turn for additional supply based on the increased demand. The trickle down effect of this could have gone on an on well beyond the impact of surgical masks or anti bacterial product shortages.

The obvious follow on question is which back orders would suppliers fill first and where would your consumers go to get them. The answer is probably not at your stores. The obvious reason is because hospitals, governments and large retail companies like Wal-Mart buy more of these products than you do.

Is winning the supply chain battle important? You bet it is! Do you have the right tools in place?  This author believes the answer is absolutely not.

Ask your solution providers how they would help you in a situation like this.

We appreciate and look forward to your comments.

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Still having supply chain issues?

Friday, July 15th, 2011

It has been 125 days since the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, yet many companies are still struggling to cope with the fallout of their supply chain. Hopefully, our readers are not in this situation. However, if your company is still struggling with a supply chain issue or if you would like to be prepared for a future disaster, please read on.

Yesterday, I spoke with a vendor that had to sit out of a $2.9M opportunity due to such an issue. What?s worse; they told me that they have taken steps to source their products in North America, but that they are still six to eight months away from considering new business. No matter who you are, you simply cannot afford to walk away from sales opportunities of this (or any) size.

So, how could they have mitigated their exposure to this risk?

There are a variety of resources and processes that could (and should) have been in place long before any disaster struck.

1.Only purchase using an RFx service. Hosting an RFI, RFP, or an RFQ would have identified additional sources of supply with contacts in the event that a vendor change is required.

2.Implement a contract management service. In the example I have used, they have had this same source of supply for years. Using contract management, this company would have been prompted to source this product several times during this timeframe based on the appropriate schedule and contract terms.

3.Consult with your strategic sourcing partner. Whether you want to be prepared for the future or work through a current supply chain issue, call on your partner for advice. Their job is to help you succeed.

For more information on SafeSourcing and supply chain interruption preparedness, please contact a Customer Service representative.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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This is a repost from three years ago titled “Thinking Green”.

Monday, July 11th, 2011

Let’s start with an old truism. “You can’t improve what you don’t measure”. This applies to green and safety standard compliance. Importantly, companies also can’t expect their trading partners to know what they are not told. In a 2008 white paper (that you can find on our website) titled “Safety in the Supply Chain, an Irony” I listed nine steps to safer and a more eco-friendly procurement. Although simple, these simple steps go a long way towards accomplishing the most important step in any endeavor. If you don’t write it down, it won’t happen. As a guideline I offer the following:

Nine steps to safer and more eco-friendly procurement

1. Be pro-active in driving not for resale and for resale product safety within your company, and also supporting eco-standards in the procurement process.
2. Pay it forward with all of your trading partners by sharing what you are doing, and asking what they do to support yours or similar initiatives of their own.
3. Educate your employees and trading partners about common safety standards and guidelines such as the SQF Certificate www.sqfi.com  and the Global Food Safety Initiative www.ciesnet.com.
4. Educate your employees and trading partners about common eco-standards such as Green- Energy National Standard www.green-e.org or EcoLogo www.ecologo.org. 
5. Point associates and trading partners to free educational websites such as www.safesourcing.com to use their free SafeSourcing Wiki or the Sourcebook professional social network for procurement professionals.
6. Only use trading partners that follow your lead.
7. Train your team to understand and use all available tools that insure supply chain safety such the free daily safety in sourcing blog at www.safesourcing.com  or the low cost SafeSourceIt™ Supplier Database and Reverse Auction Tools.
8. Write it down and then impose a system of measures and controls to monitor performance against clearly defined goals.
9. Start at the top and engage all levels of your company.

We look forward to your input on this weeks posts.

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Buyers; Soybeans are down and the Corn harvest will be up. So What?

Friday, July 1st, 2011

It appears as though the corn crops will be better than expected this year and as a result drive prices down on the supermarket shelves. The reason is because farmers planted more corn than usual based on what the futures market was telling them relative to other crops. Because they planted more and the yield will be higher futures actually went down. This should impact the price we pay for a variety of products impacted by corn.

If you don’t think that corn impacts many products, think again. Corn impacts beer, aspirin, livestock feed, carbonated beverages, Ethyl alcohol, textiles, soaps and hundreds of other products.

If you’re a buyer, you need to be aware of this as the impact in the market typically trails the crop by about 3 to 6 months. So while you are buying products you need to understand that costs should come down before year end and make sure the language in your contracts allows you to take advantage of this. Think de-escalator language on any contract between now and year end.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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