Archive for the ‘E-procurement Tools’ Category

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How many companies do not use e-Procurement Tools? If you don?t, do you want a FREE TRIAL?

Tuesday, February 26th, 2013

Today?s post is from Ron Southard CEO at SafeSourcing. I’m ofeering you a FREE TRIAL!

There is no doubt that for those companies that have not used e-Procurement tools in the past.? In fact, below the Fortune 500 level, it is possible that as many as 80% of companies have not used these tools, as they have historically been too expensive. There will be a continuing struggle to change the way companies operate and collaborate internally on procurement initiatives in more current and productive ways. However, with the advent of SaaS cloud based solutions like SafeSourceIt?, these tools are now available to any company, regardless of size, that wishes to use them. There really is no spend too small or category too complex to omit from consideration. Savings will always be available because there are always suppliers available that are interested in earning new business that you may not even be aware of. These suppliers are properly vetted and also offer quality services. In many cases these suppliers are also beginning to use these tools to make their sourcing easier and more cost effective. It would only seem appropriate that companies also hold suppliers accountable to share in those savings. Companies may not know who these suppliers are, but the use of tools such as the SafeSourceIt? Supplier Database will help you find them, improve your processes and shorten your sourcing cycle. Your company?s profitability will also improve as a result. At the executive suite this is what companies expect and also what business and free markets are all about.

If you?d like to learn more about how these tools can provide your company with at least a 10 X ROI on your use of these tools, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services account manager. If you do, we?ll give you a Risk Free Trial? with event completion in under 30 days.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

 

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How many companies do not use e-Procurement Tools? If you don’t, do you want a FREE TRIAL?

Tuesday, February 26th, 2013

Today’s post is from Ron Southard CEO at SafeSourcing. I’m ofeering you a FREE TRIAL!

There is no doubt that for those companies that have not used e-Procurement tools in the past.  In fact, below the Fortune 500 level, it is possible that as many as 80% of companies have not used these tools, as they have historically been too expensive. There will be a continuing struggle to change the way companies operate and collaborate internally on procurement initiatives in more current and productive ways. However, with the advent of SaaS cloud based solutions like SafeSourceIt™, these tools are now available to any company, regardless of size, that wishes to use them. There really is no spend too small or category too complex to omit from consideration. Savings will always be available because there are always suppliers available that are interested in earning new business that you may not even be aware of. These suppliers are properly vetted and also offer quality services. In many cases these suppliers are also beginning to use these tools to make their sourcing easier and more cost effective. It would only seem appropriate that companies also hold suppliers accountable to share in those savings. Companies may not know who these suppliers are, but the use of tools such as the SafeSourceIt™ Supplier Database will help you find them, improve your processes and shorten your sourcing cycle. Your company’s profitability will also improve as a result. At the executive suite this is what companies expect and also what business and free markets are all about.

If you’d like to learn more about how these tools can provide your company with at least a 10 X ROI on your use of these tools, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services account manager. If you do, we’ll give you a Risk Free Trial  with event completion in under 30 days.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

 

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No matter what our current government leaders say, the economy is still terrible.

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012

This author still can not believe how many companies, buyers and category managers do not advocate for the use of modern e-procurement tools.

The use of these tools preserves and creates jobs as well as generating many other benefits that your business is not receiving today.

The lack of use can really only be one or two reasons at this point. First is that you or your procurement team just go to work and do your job and don’t really care one way or the other. Second is that you do not stay up to date in your trade and have very little influence within your company. If this is not true, why are you still writing your own RFI’s and RFP’s for a small group of suppliers?

Maybe now there is a final chance to step up and try or recommend using e-procurement tools including reverse auctions? Who knows, maybe you’ll save enough money to save someone’s job, hire someone new or insure that your job will still be there when next years planning is complete.

Although they may not impact your job directly, the reduction of cost of goods, expenses and preservation of capital are all immediately achievable if you’ll just take a look.

A customer recently told me that they would not be adding any new jobs to their procurement department next year. In fact they have already more than doubled the size of their departments staff to drive  down costs through the use  of the SafeSourceIt™ family of procure to pay tools. This customer went on to say that others in other departments will in fact be able to keep their jobs as a result of the work we’ve done together. So in the worst economy since many of us have been alive, this customer has added jobs, protected jobs, saved significant money, improved quality with the use of SafeSourcing products. Another benefit is that we also continue to add jobs to support our customers during this same time.
In addition to all of the benefits listed above, here are some additional quotes from a CEO and his team that watched their first reverse auction.
1. “This was pretty simple to do”
2. “If we hired someone we could do these ourselves with you guys”
3. “This is fun”
4. “You mean the reports are already available”
5. “I love the sports concept”
6. “It was easy to follow the marquis and what was going on from one screen”
7. “The multiple color schemes were great”
8. “I can’t believe how fast you guys set this up”
9. “We saved that much money and only have to pay what we discussed”
10. “Can we do another one today”
11. “I may get a promotion out of this”
12. “I love that calculator at the end of the bid process”
13. “I like all of the supplier data that was accessible during the auction”
14. “Now I know how the big guys get the pricing they do”

It’s too bad our current political combatants for the highest office in our land can not be this detailed during their debates.

Why not join others that have come a little late to the party. You can still benefit because today’s tools are easier to use, more interactive, maintain your attention during an auction, integrate gaming technology to keep it fun and are lower cost than their predecessors. If you happen to have already been doing this for years, why not find an easier way or do it less expensively.

If you would like to have fun, save money and do it quickly, please visit us at www.safesoucing.com.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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Do you think you understand the elements of an effective e-Procurement Program?

Friday, August 17th, 2012

Critical components for the buyer include but certainly are not limited to the following:

1.   A comprehensive database that is developed maintained and continually updated by the e-procurement service provider.
2.   Scope and accuracy of information that goes well beyond that of a simple on-line directory.
     a. Global and local sources of supply
     b. Detailed Vendor Information (capabilities, financials, history, safety  and environment information)
     c. Historical procurement details
     d. Industry Alerts
3.   A sophisticated software application program that provides extensive functionality:
     a. Allows for quick and easy access to information.
     b. Provides detailed information based on the buyer’s defined parameters  and queries, similar to that found in the opening pages of a comprehensive RFI.
     c. Allows for the easy retrieval of information that includes a substantial number of records.
     d. Classifies the results according to the parameters defined
     e. Communicates the information clearly in an uncluttered format
     f. Directs the application to carry out the required e-procurement action steps.
     g. Results in a summary presentation to the buyer that provides the best price scenarios that maintain the required level of quality and service.
4.   Software alone is insufficient. Those responsible for purchasing/spending need training, guidance and support.

The above definition is a part of a document that was developed by one of our customers after they had used our tools and experienced our services in order to define the process to their investors.

If you’d like to learn more about how you can use these tools to reduce costs and much more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services representative.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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Is your freight company trying to pass on a base rate increase?

Tuesday, August 14th, 2012

Today’s post is from Ryan Melowic Director of Customer Services at SafeSourcing.

With freight being such a large factor in your cost of doing business, any price increase can be painful.  Maybe it’s time for a challenge by executing Reverse Auctions to drive down these costs.   With SafeSourcing experience in this category, we can help your company control costs associated with this category. 

When any company indicates they need to offset their rising costs because of rising tariffs and other costs but also are reporting a  significant profit increase for the last year, it may be time to consider challenging them.  In today’s market, businesses need to be smart and well informed with their expenses.  Just because you have had a long relationship with a vendor doesn’t mean they necessarily have your best interests in mind.  It’s always important to research and shop the market in order to make sure that your current vendor is being held accountable.

SafeSourcing has tools that hold suppliers accountable for their business practices while also helping to save you money and improve quality.  Our Database of over 427,000 potential suppliers can help identify new sources of supply willing to bid for your business..  In addition, our RFI and RFP tools are used to qualify those suppliers to key buying criteria you have indicated as important factors in how you wish to conduct business.  Whether combined as an entire strategy or standalone these tools can collect and insure that you receive the best price for the items and services you purchase.  The tools mentioned above are available to our customers with no IT cost because our solution is offered as a cloud based SaaS where you buy what you need.

SafeSourcing would like to help your control your company’s freight and other costs.

Please contact a SafeSourcing customer services representative to learn more.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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Understanding the Advantages of Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS)

Tuesday, May 29th, 2012

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

For the past few years we have been hearing about virtual servers, clouds, Software-as-a-Service (Saas) models and all have great reasons for why they are being talked about.? These same traits:? cost-effectiveness; scalability; easy-to-service also apply to a growing trend in the corporate world toward virtual desktops/instances or Desktop-as-a-Service.?

Similar to applications that remotely let you access a computer at the office or at home (i.e. Teamviewer) this new service allows you to pick and choose the applications, memory, internet speed and how a system is used without the costs of buying PCs, software CDs and installing and configuring the environment.? These easily accessible desktops could be opened with iPads, Macs or older Desktop PCs from anywhere with an internet connection.? Today we will look at some of the reasons many companies are considering using DaaS providers in their new IT plans.

Reduced Hardware Costs

New computer hardware is a necessity of any company as software and technology changes require upgraded equipment just to keep up.? With DaaS you can create multiple user environments that can be configured based on the functionality needed.? In this way, users can access and use what seems like multiple computers from one location, reducing costs needed to have these views.? With many companies like Desktone offering this service, they absorb the costs to upgrade and maintain the computer equipment needed for the virtual desktops.? Since virtual desktops are typically installed on large networked servers, adding more hard drive space, memory or internet speed is easily done and is handled by the provider.??

Easy application support and installation

Aside from getting new hardware installed, installing and configuring the software needed can also be very time consuming and if done incorrectly, can open holes of vulnerability into your company.? With Desktop-as-a-Service providers like Applications2U, users can preconfigure all of the applications they will allow accessibility to by their employees.? These instances, once configured, are then available to any user that needs it without having to reconfigure a new pc or even to apply a saved image to a new PC.? All upgrades and patches can be applied by the provider behind the scenes with no effort by your company.

Control and Monitoring

Most of the major providers of DaaS like Nivio?s solution easily provide centralized administrative control to allow users to do only the types of things they want to allow by controlling each of the configured instances.? While many large companies with experienced IT staff can exact this same level of control, there are thousands of medium to small companies who do not have the resources in-house to do this and being able to control everything from a central administration panel is a terrific tool for them.? Another nice benefit of control is that many of the providers offered paid, free and rental licenses for applications giving the capability to allow use of applications for certain projects without the expense of purchasing the entire application.

For more information about how begin to research 3rd party DaaS providers for your company, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.??

We look forward to your comments.

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Gingrich says he can get gas to $2.50 a gallon! Do you believe him?

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

One thing is for sure; if you don?t ask you will never know.

There are a lot of factors that drive prices, if that was not true, why can I drive 5 miles from my house and pay twenty cents less per gallon than right around the corner. Why is gas cheaper in Boston than it is in Scottsdale? Why do eggs cost less at the local inner city convenience store than they do at the local chain that won?t come in to the inner city and buys from the same wholesaler? There are a lot of answers to these questions; many of which consumers would not like.

Many companies think that because commodity indices are up that they should not even bother to try and compress pricing.

This is the precise reason why some companies are profitable and others are not. Just because the commodities that are the basis for products we buy are up, is no reason to not try and compress pricing through the use of e-negotiation tools or other more traditional methods. With that said e-negotiation tools will make the process much easier and insure compression in a much shorter period of time.

Whether or not a retailer is willing to share savings with consumers when using these programs is a whole other discussion and could be a reflection on some of their other? program offerings they have not been successful.

There is a lot that goes in to the products companies buy and maybe even more in the prices they pay. Two things are certain. There will always be suppliers that want to bid on your business. There will always be suppliers that are willing to invest to get your business. This dynamic is what will allow you to compress prices in an up market.

Understanding everything about what you re buying and what drives its pricing and using the proper tools to leverage the supply base can and will result in price savings even in an up market.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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Here’s a repost that I love. Here are twenty reasons why all retailers should use E-Procurement tools now.

Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

Since this is not Late Night with David Letterman, our list is not ranked in order of importance although many might argue that not much is more important than improved earnings. but for yesterdays customer question, here are two Letterman shows worth.

1.?Guaranteed to improve net earnings
2.?Guaranteed to improve safety
3.?Guaranteed to improve Corporate Social Responsibility.
4.?Guaranteed new sources of supply
5.?Retail has less spend assigned than any other industry
6.?Streamlines the? procurement process
7.?Holds suppliers accountable to your standards.
8.?Improves quality
9.?Coast avoidance in a volatile market
10.?Creates a competitive environment
11.?Drives reliable market pricing
12.?Maintains a reliable history for future comparison
13.?Educates suppliers as to how retailers wish to procure products
14.?Supplier training eliminates questions
15.?Improved and consistent product specifications
16.?Improved negotiation.
17.?Improve carbon footprint
18.?Simple award of business process
19.?Frees up time for other tasks
20.?Works for procurement of all product categories

This author is not sure why a derivative of this list could not become the mission statement for any procurement department.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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Here’s a repost that I love. Here are twenty reasons why all retailers should use E-Procurement tools now.

Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

Since this is not Late Night with David Letterman, our list is not ranked in order of importance although many might argue that not much is more important than improved earnings. but for yesterdays customer question, here are two Letterman shows worth.

1. Guaranteed to improve net earnings
2. Guaranteed to improve safety
3. Guaranteed to improve Corporate Social Responsibility.
4. Guaranteed new sources of supply
5. Retail has less spend assigned than any other industry
6. Streamlines the  procurement process
7. Holds suppliers accountable to your standards.
8. Improves quality
9. Coast avoidance in a volatile market
10. Creates a competitive environment
11. Drives reliable market pricing
12. Maintains a reliable history for future comparison
13. Educates suppliers as to how retailers wish to procure products
14. Supplier training eliminates questions
15. Improved and consistent product specifications
16. Improved negotiation.
17. Improve carbon footprint
18. Simple award of business process
19. Frees up time for other tasks
20. Works for procurement of all product categories

This author is not sure why a derivative of this list could not become the mission statement for any procurement department.

We look forward to and appreciate 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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