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

According to Alex Harring and Carmen Reinicke of CNBC, Stocks climbed Wednesday as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell confirmed that the central bank will slow the pace of its aggressive rate-hiking campaign that has weighed on markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 730 points, or 2.2%, to 34,587. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 4.2% to 11,468. The S&P 500 added 2.7% to 4,079.

How do you make sure you are sourcing your cost of goods, expense, and capital projects in the current market? Contact SafeSourcing Inc. We source it all for our customers more often than you probably do and know the current market levers to pull. We’re glad to share some recent examples when you reach out.

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.

References:

1. Alex Harring and Carmen Reinicke of CNBC

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

According to a really informative and well written and researched article in NerdWallet by Sally French and Sam Kemmis, while overall prices rose by 0.4 percent over the past month, prices within the travel industry were more mixed. Hotel prices decreased slightly by a half a percent month-over-month, but airfares rose a hefty 3.5% in that same period.

And in line with the broader inflation trend, almost all travel prices are still largely still higher than what they were this time last year — and even higher than what they were pre-pandemic. Airfares are up 43% compared to this time last year. Rental cars, which are still down from their record highs set in 2021, are up 47% from their pre-pandemic prices when comparing this month’s average prices with the same month in 2019.

 These are yet additional examples of prices that do not need to be as high as they are. There are ways to mitigate these costs, but you should have been considering that in February and March. And you should have been engaging SafeSourcing Inc.

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.

References:

1. Sally French and Sam Kemmis, NerdWallet

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

If you are like everyone else, you have noticed that you have been spending way more on your groceries now than ever before.  Now with the holidays coming you might be wondering how much more it will cost to buy and prepare your holiday dinners.  According to researchers, grocery prices are approximately 12 percent higher than they were this time last year.  Prices for the traditionally bought items for the holidays like turkey, butter, eggs, and bread are up even more than 12 percent.  The price of turkey is about 17 percent higher, and it is forecasted that it could go as high as 23 percent.  Some reasons for the rise in cost for the turkey is due to inflation and the avian flu which has reduced the supply of the staple holiday bird.  Other ingredients that are used in the holiday preparation such as eggs are up about 40 percent, flour is up about 25 percent and butter is up about 34 percent.  Some analysts are even suggesting that it may be cheaper to dine out rather than buying the groceries and preparing the meals for friends and family at home.  This is because the cost of dining out has risen about 8.6 percent over the last year compared to the 12 percent rise in the cost of eating at home.  Regardless of the price increases nearly 87 percent of people surveyed said that they will be preparing their usual meals this holiday season.  Below is a list of other items and approximately how much more they may cost this holiday season.

• Ham 9%
• Canned Fruits 18%
• Canned Vegetables 18%
• Potatoes 15%
• Fresh Rolls 14%
• Juices 13%
• Seasonings 10%
• Flour 24%
• Sugar 15%
• Sauces and Gravies 15%

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 as

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

In 2004, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched SmartWay^SM — an innovative brand that represents environmentally cleaner, more fuel efficient transportation options. In its simplest form, the SmartWay brand identifies products and services that reduce transportation-related emissions.  However, the impact of the brand is much greater as the SmartWay brand signifies a partnership among government, business, and consumers to protect our environment, reduce fuel consumption, and improve our air quality for future generations.

The SafeSourceIt™ Supplier Database is one the largest eSourcing supplier databases in North America with over 527,000 suppliers. To achieve maximum savings when using an e-procurement event, you need numerous suppliers aggressively vying for your business. SafeSourcing customers can request summary or detailed data from the same tool and download it to a variety of file formats. Our Suppliers are held accountable to a number of environmental standards that support our customers social responsibility initiatives

If you would like to learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

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

Many years ago, I managed a small warehouse for a retailer. It was what you might expect, concrete floors, shelves upon shelves upon shelves, poor lighting, a large overhead door to accommodate shipments and tools of the trade like a forklift, dollies, pallets etc. We also had one coffee pot where everyone came to hang around and smoke during their breaks. This was the 1970’s. Industrial is the term that comes to mind.

I was reading an article in today’s Wall Street Journal by Liz Young Titled “Warehouses Add Perks to Attract Employees.” The article speaks to the fact that the warehouse business is booming. However, getting employees to manage the increased traffic is difficult. So, we are now seeing an evolution to a better work environment through the addition of fitness centers, outdoor work areas and better lighting to attract workers. I must admit that I was so tired at the end of every day all those years ago that a fitness center might have looked nice but ouch my aching back. A nice snack bar that is refreshed daily with fresh food offerings at reduced costs might be a better alternative. At any rate 3PL companies as well as companies that own their own distribution facilities are trying hard to make life better for their workers. So, what is a 3PL?

A Third-Party Logistics Provider (3PL) is an organization that manages and executes a particular logistics function, utilizing its own assets and resources, on behalf of another company. They may manage part or all of their Supply Chain Management functions. 3PL typically manages integrated operation, warehouse management and transportation services. Some of these services include warehousing and distribution operations, contract warehousing, public warehousing, fulfillment, and truck transportation 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.

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

Sources: Wall Street Journal 10/13/22 Liz Young