Today’s post is from our SafeSourcing Archives.

Does your procurement team seem like they never have time?

I would argue that working in procurement is one of the busiest careers. Between management of internal projects, working with suppliers on an individual basis, and working with customers, it is easy to forget tasks that are not considered a high priority.

Tools that SafeSourcing uses to manage time effectively:

1. Outlook Calendar- Typically my entire day is planned on my calendar, with reminders set.
2. Task List- Organized by priority first thing in the morning.
3. Checking things off- When you complete a task, make sure you mark it complete.

If your procurement team still seems extremely busy, you may want to consider partnering with a 3rd Party Procurement firm, such as SafeSourcing. Effective time management leads to successful events, and those results lead to savings. Time Management is huge when it comes to managing successful events.

For more information on how we can help you with your procurement needs 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.

Today’s post is from our  SafeSourcing Archives!

As a Project Manager within SafeSourcing, I am often tasked with beginning a sourcing project, as well as ending it. Mixed in with customer communication, there is also supplier communication.  We can learn vast amounts of information from the suppliers that we source products and services from.  We can find out current industry trends, as well as the forecast for the following year.  The possibilities are endless.

At SafeSourcing we are exposed to hundreds of suppliers on a weekly basis. Some suppliers shine brighter in some areas than others; however, we also run across suppliers who become unresponsive during the process of running an RFI, RFP, or an RFQ.  This is where the politics come into play.  When this happens, you “re-route” your approach.   Many times it becomes a simple solution by being redirected to another sales consultant, or perhaps a new department. Sometimes this approach is not conducive, and another strategy must be applied. At this point, the request becomes an escalated issue within the company. I normally ask whom the original contact’s boss is, “who makes decisions to participate?” More often than not, the company will want to know your credentials.  As a Project Manager who is intimately familiar with any project I take to market, I can accurately and confidently answer any questions or concerns.

At the end of the day, the politics in procurement is managing the supplier interactions from a sales individual all the way to the CEO.

For more information on how we can help you with your procurement needs 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.

Today’s blog is by Margaret Stewart, Executive Assistant at SafeSourcing.

Have you ever considered implementing procurement solutions  into your business? Find out the pros and cons before you decide.

The smartest way to make a big decision about your business or organization is to do the research and know the ins and outs of what you are getting into beforehand. Often times, big decisions on how you spend your money come with other side effects, both good and bad.

The idea of whether or not to implement procurement into your business’ processes has been a common theme for much debate and numerous articles. Many of these debates and articles say much of the same thing as they are important aspects to consider. This blog will highlight some of the stronger points on both sides of the debate so you can know better make a decision for your business.

Cost – Typically with procurement efforts, a business or organization will reduce their costs of the services and supplies they are already getting, often significantly, without sacrificing any amount of quality. However, the best way to realize those savings is to use an e-procurement provider, which does cost the business some amount of money, but those are typically small compared to the savings achieved.

Technology – Modern procurement efforts are most efficiently realized through the use of technology, like reverse online auctions. This technology can make things both easier and harder in different ways. More suppliers can participate from any location, diversifying options and enlarging competitive bidding. However, preparing businesses to use electronic systems can be time consuming and always runs the risk of human error.

Service – This is one area that often requires finesse. Negotiations, technical assistance, reporting, training, and management of accounts all fall under customer services and ineffective teams can jeopardize relationships with suppliers, possibly affecting any savings found during the procurement efforts. On the other hand, an experienced customer service team can help strengthen relationships with suppliers and even see increased savings.

Although there are many other pros and cons to implementing procurement, the above areas tend to appear in most conversations on the topic. If you decide to integrate procurement into your organization, SafeSourcing can assist you the entire way. Complete with experienced customer services, modern technologies, and a risk free trial offer, SafeSourcing can exceed your needs.

For more information on how SafeSourcing can help you realize the benefits of procurement, 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 written by Heather Powell, Director of the Customer Focus Team & Project Manager at SafeSourcing Inc.

Can you spend hours of time devoted to researching qualified and certified suppliers? Can you devote time to learning about the product and services your company need to buy? How do you know the product is apples to apples? Are the services providers licensed and bonded? How about obtaining multiple bids for your product?

From the website Procurement Service Providers:

At most organizations, it is very expensive and difficult to maintain domain expertise in every category of spend. Using a PSP avoids the burdens of procurement infrastructure for non-strategic categories. A Procurement Service Provider can provide a rapid analysis of an organization’s spend and implement changes, negotiate with suppliers, and use proven industry best practices. A good PSP will become an extension of the organization’s existing procurement resources, in a non-obtrusive fashion.

In a recent article titled “Strategic Sourcing in the Mid-Market Benchmark: The Echo Boom in Supply Management”, the Aberdeen Research Group wrote about potential new approaches of Mid-Market company’s sourcing initiatives due to findings showing that they currently have mostly fragmented or limited sourcing efforts. Specifically, to remain competitive, Mid-Market companies should have “Increased reliance on third-party consultants to help define strategic sourcing process and train internal employees on commodity costing models, sourcing automation tactics, and category and supply market assessments.”

Additional research shows:

“…research of enterprises that have outsourced management of specific procurement processes and/or specific categories of spending have been able to achieve material cost reductions that average between 10% and 25%. In some cases, material cost reductions topped 30%.”         Aberdeen Group Research Abstract: You Will Outsource Procurement: Here’s Why and How – October 16, 2002

What SafeSourcing, Inc. states:

SafeSourcing works with finance and procurement department professionals in order to analyze their entire companies spend data to detect opportunities for cost reduction, supply chain awareness and performance improvement, as well as product and service quality improvement. Our ROI is historically greater than 10X and measureable within a company’s current fiscal accounting period.

Want to try us out risk free? 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.

Todays post is by Ronald D. Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing Inc.

In yesterdays post ?Procure to Pay analysis requires careful planning Part I of II? we began to answer a customers question as to were they actually getting all of the savings from the low quotes in their online RFX process.

Here is an example of what might happen or actually does more often than not as result of the actions in?yesterdays post.

If we come up with the math from?yesterdays scenario, it takes a full quarter to execute which is not a stretch at all. Unfortunately your incumbent supplier was not selected and your contract with them expired 5 weeks ago. Now your out of contract costs are now up by 5% for the last five weeks because you are not so important to this supplier any longer. So not only has your existing price gone up for the last 5 weeks, you lost the opportunity to buy the product from your new supplier at 20% less over the same five weeks. These combined costs now erode your total estimated savings with your new supplier who you probably have not even added to your accounts payable system which will also result in late fees.

Ask your e-procurement solution provider how they can help you with this process. Or, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Services Account Manager in order to learn more.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

Todays post is by Ronald D. Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing Inc.

This is actually a great questions and a tough one to answer if in fact it has not been planned for during the planning process. We all know that there are all sorts of saving figures quoted in the e-procurement industry for just about any product or service available.

There are a number of areas necessary to consider when trying to figure out not only your ROI on these projects, but more importantly how much of the savings made their way to the bottom line and what is your leakage percentage. Some of those are as follows.

1.?How long did it take you to award the business?
2.?How long did it take you to test samples?
3.?How long did it take you to sign a contract?
4.?How long did it take you to accept your first delivery?
5.?Was the first invoice for the exact price you contracted for?
6.?Was the shipping and handling exactly as bid?
7.?Were there and SOW change requests that raised pricing?
8.?What P&L period are you reporting against?
9.?What was the budget for this product or service?
10.?Can you trace the spend to a specific P&L line item?

Can anyone guess what the results of these actions are? Check back with us on?Friday to?find out in Part II. Or,? please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Services Account Manager in order to learn more.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.