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

When you used to get an oil change you would just look in the manual and see what weight the manufacturer recommended for your vehicle.  It was that easy!  Now when you get an oil change you have the option of choosing the type of oil you would like to use as well.  So what are the different types and how do you choose the correct type?  This depends on the type of engine and may depend on the mileage that is on your vehicle.

First let’s start with conventional oil.  This is usually standard motor oil recommended by  most manufacturers.  Carmakers will specify a 5w-20 or 5w30 oil for use in lower temperatures and offer 10w-30 as an alternative in higher temperature areas.  When using this oil it is important to change the oil and filter as recommended by the manufacturer.

Another type of oil is full synthetic oil.  This oil is used for high tech engines such as sport cars or higher end luxury cars.  Synthetic oils are more superior and have longer lasting performance.  The oil is chemically engineered and works better in extreme high temperatures and flows better at low temperatures.  This oil is more expensive and not always necessary for most vehicles.

Synthetic blend oil is a mixture of conventional oil and synthetic oil which adds extra resistance to oxidation.  This oil is usually used in vehicles such as SUVs and pickups because they offer better protection for heavier loads and higher temperatures.  This oil is a little more expensive than conventional and a lot less expensive than full synthetic.

High mileage oil is for exactly what it sounds like.  This oil is made for vehicles that have high miles on them.  This oil contains additives such as seal conditioners that are used to expand and increase the life of the seals within the engine. This oil was designed to be used with vehicles that have over 75,000 miles.

As you can see the different types of oils are manufactured to be specific to the type of engine, type of use, and the amount of mileage.  If you find yourself needing a licensed maintenance company to maintain your vehicles, feel free to contact SafeSourcing.  We can gather all the necessary information for you and help you decide which company 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.

We look forward to your comments.

Today’s post is written by Ivy Ray, Account Manager at SafeSourcing Inc.

Who remembers Tupperware parties?  I was recently viewing an actual original marketing promotion of Tupperware products, while watching movies on the Turner Classic Movie channel. It certainly stirred up old memories of a time when everyone I knew owned a set of the colorful, stackable food storage containers. There is also a sales lesson to be learned here.

When Earl Tupper first introduced that molded plastic bowl with the airtight lid, people did not want it.  It sat on the store shelves until a woman named Brownie Wise took sales to a new level by implementing the direct marketing sales strategy known as the “Tupperware Party”. The parties were revolutionary in that they offered an alternative model for commercial success based around female co-operation rather than aggressive competition. It was a “perfect storm” where the product and the sales method were conducive to post-war era housewives who could gather together in a social setting and make money. Sales grew into a world-wide, multimillion-dollar success for Tupperware which continued throughout the 50s and 60s, but fell off sharply after the 70s when women joined the workforce in record numbers.

This formula proved to be commercially successful, but Tupperware was not the first to use this sales model.  The J.D. Larkin Company, a soap manufacturer in Buffalo, New York, dramatically grew company’s annual sales from about $220,000 in 1892 to over $15 million in 1906. “The Larkin Idea” enlisted a dedicated army of small-town and rural women to serve as de facto sales agents. Larkin was among the first large-scale manufacturers to eliminate all dealers—wholesalers, retailers, traveling salesmen, and brokers, representing the entire middle of the distribution chain.

Tupperware enjoyed a huge wave of success and then leveled off in the 90s. It was a big thing, which was good while it lasted.  Sales of Larkin products were buoyant through the 1910s, and tapered off in 1920 at around $28 million. Over the past couple of decades there have been other companies which have adopted the direct sales format, adding their own twist.

The right sales strategy is key, and change is inevitable. There is something to be said for knowing when to make the right change at the right time. Be ready to ride the wave when the next perfect storm comes, or you may just get washed out and eaten by the sharks!

For more information on how SafeSourcing can assist you in exploring your procurement solutions for your business or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.  We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.

Resources and References————————————————-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupperware

https://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/from-factory-to-family-the-creation-of-a-corporate-culture#5

Today’s Post is by Eli Razov, SafeSourcing Account Manager.

SafeSourcing helps clients save money on a wide variety of categories. From sugar to fuel hauling, there isn’t much we haven’t sourced for our clients. One category that we source regularly is Blister Packs. Blister Packs have consistently provided significant savings for our clients making it a successful event. Currently, we are offering an opportunity for you to become involved in that savings opportunity. But first let’s learn little about Blister Packs.

Blister packs are the unsung hero of the retail world. They are used to package products such as toys, hardware, medication, etc. Blister packs have been around for many years and come in many different forms. Blister packs are commonly used as unit-dose packaging for pharmaceutical tablets, capsules or lozenges. Specifically, that is our focus at the moment. In other regions of the world, blister packs are the main packaging type since pharmacy dispensing and re-packaging are not common. In some parts of the world, the pharmaceutical blister pack is known as a push-through pack.

Materials Used to make Blister Packs:

• Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
• Polyvinylidene Chloride (PVDC)
• Polychlorotrifluoro Ethylene (PCTFE)
• Cyclic Olefin Copolymers (COC)
• Cold Form Foil
• Lidding Foils

There are many benefits to using Blister Packs. Blister packaging is a cost effective way of showcasing a product. Due to the nature of the material and design, it makes it more cost effective than other types of packages that are on the market. There is a wide range of colors and finishes that blister packaging can be constructed to feature. Manufacturers can use that to help make their products stand out on shelves. Blister packaging allows either the manufacturer or retailer to include promotional materials or advertisements to help build a brand and increase customer loyalty. To prevent retail theft, packages are specifically designed so that the customer cannot “touch and feel” the product. Clear, protective, and durable thermoformed plastic packaging enables the customer to fully view the product while maintaining the security of the product. Blister packaging can easily be sealed using heat sealing machinery.

So what does this mean to you? Many of our retail pharmacy clients use Blister Packs at their stores. What many don’t realize at first is that there are numerous vendors in every region competing with the larger, national vendors and that this is a very competitive category when sourced using e-Procurement. With the use of SafeSourcing’s services, many of our clients have saved significantly. The last client who sourced this category with us saved over thirteen percent.

SafeCollaborative™ is a new way for many companies to pool their procurement needs to aggregate larger savings with higher purchasing volumes. We will be offering a Blister Pack SafeCollaborative RFQ Event in Q1 of 2018 which is open to any companies that might want to join. If you have any questions or are interested in participating please contact us at 888-261-9070

For more information on how SafeSourcing can assist you or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Representative we have an entire team waiting to assist you today

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

Document management systems (DSM) are computer software tools used to manage and help track the lifecycle of your documents.  Implementing a document management tool allows you to check out, lock and check in your important documents.  Using these features will allow you to maintain older versions of the documents and compare changes that are made.  Because there are multiple versions of the documents stored, you can roll back to an older version if unwanted changes occur.  Each version that is checked in is stored and contains information such as the date, time, description and the user that made the changes.  Using the document management tool also ensures that all of your documents are stored in one secure place and can easily be searched and located when needed.  Another benefit of using a document management system is security.  The access to the documents can be set up so that users or groups can access certain folders and files.  The access can be as finite as limiting a user to access to only a single file.

Below are some of the benefits that can be achieved from a well-designed document management system like our SafeDocument™.

• Central Repository for Easy Retrieval
• Enhanced Security
• Reduced Storage Space
• Improved Search Capabilities
• Notifications when changes occur
• Reliable Backup and Recovery

There are several things to keep in mind before purchasing a Document Management System; such as the number of users and the amount of space you will need.  At SafeSourcing, we can gather all the necessary information for you and help you decide why SafeDocument™ is the right DMS for 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.

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

Baseball is widely considered America’s pastime with a colorful history and a nostalgic place in many people’s lives. Some of the lessons learned in baseball can also apply to everyday life, including your business. Here are quite a few common teachings that many of us learned from baseball and how they apply to your business.

1. Hit a home run – to be very successful. This can mean successfully completing your project, gaining a new client, making your goals, or exceeding your goals. While just one person in baseball will hit a home run at a time, the whole team benefits. In business, the whole team can be responsible for hitting a home run.
2. A ball park figure – an estimate. When this phrase is used, it can have a wide range of estimation. For example, a person may offer a ballpark figure for a new hire, which may cover a range of a few thousand dollars, whereas a ballpark figure of a company’s entire spend may range from several million dollars to tens of millions.
3. Strike out – to fail. This phrase is often used in business, and especially sales. Often sales teams will try a pitch a few times, like in baseball, before they deem it a strike out and will not spend any more time or effort continuing, but rather try a new approach.
4. Batting a thousand – maintaining a perfect record. This is when a person has been exceptionally successful in their ventures to a point where failure never seems to be an option. While such a high record in anything cannot be expected or maintained indefinitely, it is always a goal for everyone to strive for.
5. Play hardball – use extreme measures to ensure success. This phase can be used to describe individuals or businesses that take more extreme stances when it comes to compromise. They may maintain a firm position on an offer, which may or may not work out in their favor.
6. Go to bat for someone – to aid or support someone. This can describe when someone comes to your aid in some way, whether to reiterate strategies or points, defend positions, or just take some of the burden of a person or team for an amount of time.
7. Throw a curve ball – to do something unexpected. This phase is very common in business and many businesses take great care to avoid curve balls, even hiring analysts and researchers to ensure no signs of an upcoming curveball were missed. However, like the definition states, curveballs refer to the unexpected, so being prepared for anything can help your organization combat any curve balls coming.
8. On the ball – very aware, responsible, and intelligent. This phase in business is commonly used to describe a person or team who takes initiative, is proactive, or generally takes care of the things necessary without trouble, hassle, or complaint.

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

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

“If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you too?” Usually, when you hear a parent ask this question, then they are saying this because they don’t approve of the child’s decisions. While I understand the sentiment, I’d propose an alternative and that we think about this more in the sense of trying something new.

There are some who have still not jumped off the bridge into e-Procurement. Perhaps they look at their peers who have taken to using e-Procurement with the same dismissive view as the parent who is disappointed in their child. What they have probably not considered is that what they have deemed a questionable decision is actually very beneficial.

The difficult part is being open to alternatives. Many who do not use e-Procurement will point to their well-established procurement practices, their own experience, and their rolodex as the evidence that they should not even consider jumping off the bridge that their friends have jumped off.

But, by allowing for an open mind, you might come to realize that e-Procurement is also very well established, that the providers in the space such as SafeSourcing have incredible experience, and that your rolodex is important and will be included but will be augmented by vendors from a database with hundreds of thousands of global sources of supply.

I’m not suggesting that anyone blindly do as others do or succumb unnecessarily to peer pressure. I’m saying that anyone who has responsibility for purchasing has a fiduciary duty to examine all options. Sometimes, you’ll find that jumping off the bridge is the right thing to do.

For more information, please contact SafeSourcing.  We look forward to your comments.

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

Most of us have had some experience with one, if not all, and you may very well dread having to see one another again. But why are so many people anxious about seeing a doctor, lawyer, or accountant? Going to a doctor often means we are sick or are in need of some sort of treatment, which is hardly pleasant. Needing to see an attorney often implies civil or criminal matters and finding out what repercussions may arise. Seeing an accountant could mean that either tax season has arrived or that your finances are too complicated to do yourself.

Another common link between these three professions is money. Each profession can charge you significant amounts each time to visit or talk. Sometimes, you may even get a bill for something you weren’t expecting. Often people try very hard to avoid hiring one of these professionals simply due to the unknown amount of money you may find yourself liable for. So, why are these professions still so successful? The answer is because they are worth it.

Everyone in these professions has to go through a lot of training and education. Even after the education and training, they must be tested. Even after that, certifications must be routinely updated. All of this costs time and money, and often these professional absorb massive amounts of debt as they initially work through their education. For a high price tag, however, they are expected to know and advise on some of the most important aspects of a person’s life, so they need to be up to date and more than knowledgeable in their field. They have to be experts.

While other professions also require vast amounts of education or experience, some also require the same type of dedication and continual research and education that is often seen with doctors, lawyers, and accountants.

At SafeSourcing, we expect and train our account managers and project managers to also be experts in their field, which means being prepared to give you advice on your procurement needs, categories, spend, and whatever else may arise during our process. Fortunately, SafeSourcing is here to save you money instead of breaking the bank.

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

Considering Feedback During Negotiations

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

Regular readers of the SafeSourcing Blog know that we have covered the topic of vendor feedback and its role in the overall negotiation before. The blog “The Negotiation Began Long Before the Quote. Or, Make a Plan and Stick with It” is one great example and is worth a quick read through.

That said, it is still worth covering again and is as relevant as ever. In the past week alone, I’ve encountered at least three instances of how supplier feedback has had an impact on the negotiation process and has, possibly, affected the results of the e-Procurement events one way or another. I wanted to share these examples in an effort to provide some guidance about what type of feedback you might receive.

The first example is related to specifications where an incumbent supplier contacts the company hosting the e-Procurement event and points out that there are some details that they don’t think are properly represented. When the feedback reached our organization, the client asked whether or not these details were, in fact relevant and whether anything needed to be done. This is a great example of exactly how this type of supplier feedback should be treated.

Another example relates to pricing. It’s a very common practice to assign Max Quotes to each item in an RFQ. The Max Quote is the highest price that can be entered into the RFQ for that line item. Often, we will get feedback from vendors directly that the Max Quote is too low and that we need to increase it to allow for their quotes. Depending on how the Max Quote was determined and other factors affecting pricing, this might be valid feedback. On the other hand, I can point to two separate instances where this feedback was not accurate. In fact, in both cases, the results of the RFQs indicated that the Max Quotes were set at a reasonable amount. The evidence was the double digit savings in both RFQs.

The last example of vendor feedback that I’ll share here is a little more difficult to spot and is not something that I would consider to be common. This is feedback that is given to create fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD). FUD might be caused by a vendor before, during, or after an e-Procurement event. FUD might be caused by a laundry list of questions or concerns. This might be done to imply that the results of the e-Procurement event are suspect, or that this vendor is the only one who is truly qualified for the opportunity. Again, this can be tricky to identify, but is most often identified by a vendor who is alone in their concerns or who asks unique questions, sometimes circumventing the outlined communication policies to do so.

What is common among each of these examples is that all feedback should be considered. Some of it will be actionable. Some feedback will be determined to be of a lesser value. Another commonality is that your e-Procurement provider has probably seen all of this and has the experience to help you decide which is which.

For more information, please contact SafeSourcing.  We look forward to your comments.

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

After several devastating hurricanes, the United States is in the cleanup, recovery, and rebuilding process for those areas hit worst. One notable area was the island of Puerto Rico, which was hit by multiple hurricanes, damaging a multitude of structures throughout and leaving the majority of the island without utilities. Because of this devastation, companies were sought to organize and begin the rebuilding of some of the necessities, like water and power.

One particular company, Whitefish, was contracted to begin the power grid restoration for the island, a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars. However, whether through oversight or intentional, this company, based in rural Montana, had no experience with projects of this size and, in fact, only had two employees. After that information was made public, the contract was ultimately cancelled and eventually awarded to another, larger company. The aftermath of this award of business, however, was a lengthy delay in the rebuilding process at a time when fast response could literally save lives.

While choosing a new supplier of your own may not have such an impact on millions of people as the situation in Puerto Rico, choosing the wrong one can still have a large and negative impact on your organization as a whole. This could mean additional time spent processing orders, paying a higher price until agreements are made or reviewed, or even legal fees involved if a contractual dispute occurs.

This is why it is highly important to not only research any potential suppliers ahead of time, but also to vet those suppliers. At SafeSourcing, we go to great lengths to ensure all the right suppliers are included for projects that you may consider running, and exclude those that do not meet the high standard we expect.

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

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.