Archive for the ‘Global E-procurement’ Category

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What does SafeSourcing do in the E-Procurement Space?

Friday, March 26th, 2010

Our SafeSourcing vision is to be the leader in knowledge driven retail e-procurement solutions that drive down costs and improve quality with an additional focus on safety.??? Beyond safety, we also focus on support of the environment which is a top of mind CSR issue within the retail executive suite.

By assigning as little as 10% of their cost of goods or expense related items to these tools a retailer can improve net earnings by up to 100% while also providing their consumers with safer products that support a reduction in the industries carbon footprint.

With SafeSourcing?s innovative e-procurement tools, a buyer can initiate reverse auctions or requests for information using the SafeSourceIt? e-procurement tools for new contract purchases, spot buys, replenishment, aggregation and collaboration with other buying organizations, saving as much as 30% to 40% in the process and then simply drop that data into our SafeContract? contract management solution to eliminate issues such as ever greening which costs the retail industry millions annually. Alerts can then be set that will remind procurement knowledge workers of required actions in the future as they arise.?

To support the above initiatives our SafeSourceIt?? global retail supplier database consisting of more than 380,000 suppliers contains thirty-five unique certification standards that are supported by our best practice initiatives such as GFSI, ISO 22000, Green Seal, ECO-LOGO, Fair Trade, SQF and Certified Humane Raised & Hand-Led to name a few. As our database continues to grow all SafeSourcing participating suppliers are regularly vetted for their support of ours and our retail partner?s socially responsible initiatives including their eco-friendly practices to insure continuity.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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How does a price index play into e-procurement practices?

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

From a simplistic perspective an index is a system used to make finding information easier. There are any numbers of indexes or indices available to help procurement knowledge workers insure they are sourcing products at the best possible pricing. The key word here is price as what we will be discussing are specifically price indices.

According to Wikipedia a price index (plural: ?price indices? or ?price indexes?) is a normalized average (typically a weighted average) of prices for a given class of goods or services in a given region, during a given interval of time. It is a statistic designed to help to compare how these prices, taken as a whole, differ between time periods or geographical locations.

Price indices have several potential uses. For particularly broad indices, the index can be said to measure the economy’s price level or a cost of living. More narrow price indices can help producers with business plans and pricing. Sometimes, they can be useful in helping to guide investment.

Normally an index reflects the current and historical price of a variety of commodities ranging from metals to grain. A common index used in sourcing petroleum products is OPIS or the Oil Price Information Service which you can learn more about by visiting www.opisnet.com.? However in order to drive the best possible fuel pricing there are other dependencies such as whether you are doing spot buys or bulk purchases and these strategies will determine what specific index you would want to review as well as it?s relation to other product information sources such as Platts or the Gulf Coast spot assessments.? This will put you in a better position to determine how to bid the product and also earn a discount relative to the lowest common denominator.

All other commodities have similar sourcing issues dependant on what the highest cost item is in their product makeup. An example here might be the cost of grain in the feeding of cattle or poultry.

Ask you solution provider to explain these tools to you and to recommend how you might use them toward the best outcome.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments

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Hey Retailers, what is your 2010 business strategy and how does e-procurement enter into it?

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

The business of e-negotiation and in particular reverse auctions has many benefits for retailers that support their business strategies.

According to Wikipedia, a business model is a framework for creating economic, social, and/or other forms of value. The term business model is thus used for a broad range of informal and formal descriptions to represent core aspects of a business, including purpose, offerings, strategies, infrastructure, organizational structures, trading practices, and operational processes and policies.

Often times during this author?s discussion with retailers the question comes up as to the benefits of the reverse auction business model or that of other e-procurement events such as Requests for Information or RFI?S.

I have never spoken to a retail executive that does not have as a significant pillar of their business strategy to increase profitability even if it takes reducing losses in the early stages of a turn around. Reverse auctions if run properly can reduce the cost of goods category, the expense category and hired services that impact both areas. They can also continue to reduce the same year after year and the savings are predictable.

This author will make the assumption that there is common? agreement that price compression in today?s world is critical and that the reduction in cost of goods and services is the largest area of opportunity on a retail P&L. As such, there are a number of reasons that the reverse auction business model works well within organizations that should drive the strategic growth in utilization of this business model within retail.

A few and certainly not all are listed below in no particular order…

1.?A larger number of suppliers: Because of an increased number of suppliers bidding for a retailers business, getting a relatively low price is a given. The suppliers benefit because of the potential reduction is selling costs and easy access to new sources of business which encourages them to lower their pricing.
2.?Location, Location, Location: In this case, location no longer matters. A supplier can participate from wherever they happen to be located. This opens up new potential markets for the supplier and new sources of supply for retailers.
3.?It?s like a game: Participating suppliers wait to see if their price is the lowest much the same way a gambler would wait to see the turn of the next card when playing blackjack or poker. This is a social interaction and dynamic that builds on itself and can drive a larger number of bids and extensions while ultimately leading to lower pricing.
4.?Early success drives a virtual circle for retailers and suppliers: The more a retailer uses the tool and the more success suppliers have with securing new business resulting from this process, the more the process will drive retailers to host new events and suppliers to participate in them again and again. Independent departmental successes can spread quickly within a retail company such that other departments not using the process do not want to be left out of potential savings opportunities and notoriety.

As always, we look forward to and appreciate? your comments.

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Retail e-procurement. What about your existing relationships.

Friday, February 26th, 2010

I could not agree more with the above comment. So beyond just reducing their prices which should not happen if you are being treated fairly, how else do suppliers benefit from participation in e-procurement events such as reverse auctions so that it is win-win?

Customers quite often ask us why suppliers would want to participate in an e-procurement event. A discussion usually follows relative to incumbent suppliers vs. new sources of supply. In general most vendors in the space would come up with many of the same points listed below. Please read on.

SafeSourcing? places a great deal of value in our SafeSourceIt??? Global Retail Supplier Database? which contains over 350,000? retail suppliers located in Mexico, Canada the United States, China, Korea, The United Kingdom, Japan and other countries. We place a great deal of value on each individual supplier regardless of their size. We believe that well thought out next generation e-procurement tools can provide significant benefits to buyers and suppliers whether they are hosting or participating in e-procurement events.?

Some but certainly not all benefits that suppliers can anticipate from SafeSourcing are:
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1. An easy to use e-procurement tool limited to a single page view where a supplier can be completely comfortable that their company?s best foot is being put forward to the soliciting company.

2. An increase in new business opportunities through engagements they would otherwise not be exposed to.

3. Clean data relative to the soliciting or host company and an accurate listing of their event guidelines, specifications, terms, conditions and other information necessary to build an accurate and successful pricing strategy.

4. High quality training in event participation and strategy development.

5. A clear focus on what?s important beyond price in next generation e-procurement tools such as supplier safety certifications and practices as well as their environmental programs that will differentiate them from other suppliers.

6. Closed loop reporting of results of the specific e-procurement event a supplier participates in as well as a detailed supplier feedback questionnaire..

7. Significant time savings associated with new business development that becomes more and more costly as fuel and other prices continue to rise.

8. Industry pricing trends extrapolated from their view of low quote information during the event if allowed by the soliciting company.

9. Use of these tools for their own procurement needs.

I?m sure many of you can come up with other reasons. E-procurement events have to be win-win if they are going to become part of a retail companies on going business processes.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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Why use E-Negotiation, e-Procurement or Strategic Sourcing tools?

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

This author has discussed on many occasions the various benefits to retailers of using e-negotiation tools. Not the least of which is significant profit improvement. Simply put if a retailer were seriously to assign twenty percent of their above the gross margin line spend to these types of tools, they could increase their net earnings by up to 100%. In addition, much of the following would also happen.

1.?They would continue to source high quality products.
2.?They would continue to have great supplier relationships.
3.?They would free up time to do other tasks.
4.?They would improve their company?s net earnings by up to 100%.
5.?They would support our fragile environment.
6.?They would support global food and product safety initiatives.
7.?They would have a larger audience of piers to converse with daily.
8.?They would have a single source of information about their profession.
9.?They would be instantly alerted to product recalls.
10.?They would support a traceable supply chain.
11.?They would have an endless source of new suppliers to review easily.
12.?They would have product specifications at their finger tips.

If you are wondering why most companies are not enjoying these benefits, the following are the objections we to often hear during initial discovery meetings with managers that have not been exposed to e-negotiation tools in the past.

1.?I already get the best cost.
2.?We?ve done business with this supplier for years.
3.?I don?t have product specifications.
4.?I don?t have time for this.
5.?Switching costs will be too high.
6.?I can?t insure the same quality.
7.?We need to adhere to certain standards.
8.?What about my relationships.

One thing you may notice is that the companies almost always include me or I and almost never we. To much individual emphasis is not a good thing. Healthy skepticism is. If you have an objection that is not listed above, or they pretty much fit your thinking, please review the dozen benefits above and weigh your objections against them.

As always, we look forward to and appreciate your comments

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China is at it again. Are we being vigilant enough?

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

A blurb in Today?s News Briefing section of USA TODAY was titled China recalls 170 tons of tainted milk powder. On the surface one might think this is good news because the product was detected and removed from the supply chain. The bad news is we thought the same thing in 2008 about the same exact product. Not the same issues with a new product, but the exact same product that was to have been recalled and destroyed but was repackaged and then distributed again. The product again is milk power tainted with melamine which I have posted on in the past.

The product mentioned above may not have been destined for or ever have made out side of China. The real issue is what is being done by companies to check for and insure the ingredients, formulas and makeup of products they are buying overseas when unscrupulous individuals or poorly run companies try to pull the wool over our eyes. Who is your internal agent that asks the right questions? Who are your service providers that do the same on your behalf? It is something that most companies do not think about and need to.

Below are four posts from previous years on related subjects. Please review and refresh your efforts on the behalf of your consumers to make sure that your offshore purchases have less risk associated with them.

1.?Do we get quality products from China?? When will we and how much will it cost? 9/08/2008

2.?At what cost profit? Procurement professionals need to exercise great care when sourcing food products from China. 10/22/2008

3.?Let?s review a good idea from China and build on the traceability discussion. 10/08/2008

4.?Part II of II What should grocery product procurement professionals know and do about Melamine. 12/01/2008

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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Bad sourcing practices can cause more than just “the cadmium blues.”

Friday, January 15th, 2010

According to Wikipedia cadmium has no constructive purpose in the human body. Cadmium and its compounds are extremely toxic even in low concentrations, and will bioaccumulate in organisms (that?s us) and ecosystems (that?s where we live).

This author posts frequently on safety issues and realities in sourcing practices. Particularly when you are buying from and unknown source, offshore or products for which you have no specific product specification. Consumers would be surprised how many products are bought offshore during buying trips that don?t have a specific specification. An example might be something as simple as a tiki lamp that comes under the category of seasonal, pool supplies or miscellaneous. Another that has been in the news recently is children?s costume jewelry. The issue that bothers this author is that for some of the largest names in retail that generally have great procurement practices there is really no excuse for these products making their way on to the shelves of our stores. There should be a check list of standards and certifications that suppliers have to adhere to in order for their products to come onshore in the first place. I can?t believe that a simple question like ?Do these products contain any harmful chemicals in their makeup such as cadmium etc.? If the answer is we don?t know then don?t buy them or make the manufacturer provide a chemical breakdown of the product.

Inez Tenenbaum the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission advises, ?Do not allow young children to be given or to play with cheap metal jewelry, especially when they are unsupervised. This author whishes to paraphrase, DON’T ALLOW IT WHETHER SUPERVISED OR NOT. And further. Retailers don?t buy these products regardless of profit margins unless you know they are safe period.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments

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Bad sourcing practices can cause more than just “the cadmium blues.”

Friday, January 15th, 2010

According to Wikipedia cadmium has no constructive purpose in the human body. Cadmium and its compounds are extremely toxic even in low concentrations, and will bioaccumulate in organisms (that’s us) and ecosystems (that’s where we live).

This author posts frequently on safety issues and realities in sourcing practices. Particularly when you are buying from and unknown source, offshore or products for which you have no specific product specification. Consumers would be surprised how many products are bought offshore during buying trips that don’t have a specific specification. An example might be something as simple as a tiki lamp that comes under the category of seasonal, pool supplies or miscellaneous. Another that has been in the news recently is children’s costume jewelry. The issue that bothers this author is that for some of the largest names in retail that generally have great procurement practices there is really no excuse for these products making their way on to the shelves of our stores. There should be a check list of standards and certifications that suppliers have to adhere to in order for their products to come onshore in the first place. I can’t believe that a simple question like “Do these products contain any harmful chemicals in their makeup such as cadmium etc.” If the answer is we don’t know then don’t buy them or make the manufacturer provide a chemical breakdown of the product.

Inez Tenenbaum the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission advises, “Do not allow young children to be given or to play with cheap metal jewelry, especially when they are unsupervised. This author whishes to paraphrase, DON’T ALLOW IT WHETHER SUPERVISED OR NOT. And further. Retailers don’t buy these products regardless of profit margins unless you know they are safe period.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments

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Traditionalist retailer thinking says e-negotiation tools will never work for them.

Friday, November 6th, 2009

On many occasions I have discussed the various benefits of using e-negotiation tools with retailers. I still believe that the primary benefit to any retailer if they were to assign twenty percent of their above the gross margin line spend to these types of tools could be an increase in their net earnings of up to 100%.

Beyond an earnings improvement however many of the following benefits could also take place.

1. They would continue to source high quality products.
2. They would continue to have great supplier relationships.
3. They would free up time to do other tasks.
4. They would improve their company?s net earnings by up to 100%.
5. They would support our fragile environment.
6. They would support global food and product safety initiatives.
7. They would have a larger audience of piers to converse with daily.
8. They would have a single source of information about their profession.
9. They would be instantly alerted to product recalls.
10. They would support a traceable supply chain.
11. They would have an endless source of new suppliers to review easily.
12. They would have product specifications at their finger tips.

You might be wondering why many companies are not enjoying these benefits today The following are common objections you might hear daily from procurement knowledge workers that have not been exposed to e-negotiation tools in the past.

1. We already get the best cost.
2. We?ve done business with our supplier for years.
3. We don?t have product specifications.
4. We don?t have time for this.
5. Switching costs will be too high.
6. We can?t insure the same quality.
7. We need to adhere to certain standards.

If you don?t feel that these benefits would support both corporate goals and underlying CSR initiatives, give us a call and we?ll make you a hero and get you promoted.

As always, we look forward to and appreciate your comments

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SafeSourcing Website experiences significant traffic growth.

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

During the last ninety day period the SafeSourcing website www.safesourcing.com has experienced significant growth globally. According to a number of rating services including Alexa and Google Analytics our website has had visitors from thirty seven (37) countries. Our reach which is a percentage measure of global internet users has grown 130%. Our traffic rank has increased 168% and our page views have increased 150%.

This growth places us amongst the top websites in the procurement space. Spend Matters and Sourcing Innovation continue to be the ranking leaders in our space. Both are required daily reading for this author.

We are very proud of our growth as it indicates that SafeSourcing is providing valuable content to regular visitors as well as registered members. We are also enjoying a good mix of both returning and new users. In reviewing these data the entire website is being explored on a regular basis including the following areas.

1. Sourcebook our professional social network for procurement professionals.
2. The SafeSourcing Wiki
3. The SafeSourcing daily Blog
4. SafeSourcing environment and safety alerts
5. SafeSourcing specifications template library
6. The SafeSourceIt? Supplier Database
7. The SafeSourcing Query tool
8. SafeSourcing Product Information Sheets
9. SafeSourcing White Papers
10. SafeSourcing Press Releases.

Thank you to those of you that have allowed us to achieve this growth.

As always, we look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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