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

When developing software, third-party controls are often used to speed up the development process.  Third-party controls are reusable software components that are developed by software companies and can be redistributed with your software applications.  When purchased, most of the controls are usually free to re-distribute.  When purchasing controls, they usually come in a package and contain comprehensive out-of-the-box features that are commonly needed within an application.  A control can be something as simple as a text box that contains code to auto fill text, to something more complex such as an entire reporting engine.  Controls are not just visible objects such as a button or an editor, but can be code that performs processing such as PDF creation.  Utilizing third-party controls allows you to develop faster by re-using code and allowing you to focus on the business logic within your applications.  It also allows for faster testing times because the code within the controls has been thoroughly tested by the third-party company and your testing team can focus on other key areas within the applications.  Below are some examples of third-party controls that can be help speed up your development process.

• DataGrids
• PivotGrids
• TreeLists
• Calendars
• Schedulers
• AutoComplete Editors
• DateTime Pickers
• Charts
• Gauges
• Document Upload
• Progress Bars
• Menus
• Toolbars
• Media Players
• Maps

If you are looking to speed up your development cycle and would like help researching third-party control options, feel free to contact SafeSourcing.   We can gather all the necessary information for you and help you decide which one meets your needs.

If you would like more information on how SafeSourcing can help you, please contact a SafeSourcingCustomer Service representative.  We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

Today’s post is written by Heather Powell, Director of Major Accounts and Special Projects at SafeSourcing Inc.

What potato makes the best potato salad? That is a difficult question to answer because everyone has a different opinion based on heritage, location, and preference of taste or texture.

How do you purchase potatoes? Again, this varies on how and what you plan to do with them. Manufactures of potato salad, or even French fries, may purchase by the pallet. Smaller manufacturers or restaurants may purchase by the 50-pound bag.  Some purchase raw potatoes while others purchase steam peeled pre-cooked potatoes.

Are you concerned about the price you purchase potatoes? How do you know if you are paying the best price? Are you concerned about the source of the potatoes? Are you aware of how many hands or transfers your potatoes have gone through? How long were your potatoes stored somewhere and what were the conditions in which they were stored before they arrived on your dock? How do you re-coop money if there is more than 5% of spoilage?

All of these questions are valid and SafeSourcing, Inc. can assist you through answering all of the questions through producers and brokerages. Your first step to knowledge is learning what the market index is doing and what season the growers are in currently. Have you tracked weather patterns to see if the crop is forecasted to be a high yield year or a low yield year?  The Producer Price Index can serve as a leading indicator of ultimate price changes at the consumer level, and of inflation if the trend in the PPI is higher. Low inflation is good for stimulating consumer spending, corporate profits and ultimately the stock market. Increased inflation can be a sign of an overheating economy and potentially higher interest rates.₁

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

This author hopes that you find this series fun and educational. In part three of the Procurement of Potato Salad, this author will provide procurement details for “creamy” details of mayonnaise for potato salad.

We look forward to your comments.

References:

1 _{https://www.investopedia.com/university/releases/ppi.asp}

Today’s post is by Ashley Riviello, Account Manager at SafeSourcing, Inc.

According to Trading Economics, propane was quoted at 0.68 USD/GAL on Thursday December 27, 2018. Propane reached an all-time high of 1.67 in February of 2014 and a record low of 0.33 in January of 2016. Propane is expected to trade at 0.71 USD/GAL by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts’ expectations. Looking forward, we estimate it to trade at 0.66 in 12-months’ time.

I have been working on an RFQ for a few weeks. This RFQ was actually one that I did on my own since starting back with SafeSourcing, Inc. I obviously had to do my market research and found out that propane has declined. Prices are going down drastically.

I love grilling out! It is one of my favorite things to do. It’s also something that most households in the US enjoy doing as well. Many appliances run on propane also. Obviously, the most common propane appliance is an outdoor grill; however, households can run almost exclusively on propane…from dryers to space heating.

According to the website Propane Deal (a website dedicated to having access to not only statistics about propane usage, but also where to find propane dealers near you), 47million people in the US use propane for grills and 14.3 million households run on propane. This accounts for about 4.5% of the population. The Midwest region has the highest residential propane consumption (8% of all households); Michigan is the state with the most residential propane users (6.6% of all homes). On average, a US household consumes 464 gallons of propane every year. That is a lot of propane for one household. Approximately 47-million people in the US use propane in their everyday lives.

If you are reading this, and you have a huge demand for propane, now is the time to find the best deal. The market is going down, but the need for propane is rising. Let us save you money on things you need in your everyday life. We have the ability to save you 5-30% annually on your propane needs.

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

References….………………………………………………………………………

1. www.cdn.tradingeconomics.com/commodity/propane 2019
2. www.propanedeal.com/basics/propane-usage 2018

Today’s post is from our SafeSourcing Archives

Supplemental documents are information, such as charts, illustrations, brochures, and technical data, supplied by a bidder on request as part of a Request for Proposal. It will describe the items offered in greater detail. It may also show the characteristics or construction of a product and explain its operation to enable the purchaser to determine the acceptability of the item.

Many RFI’s, RFP’s, and RFQ’s will require supplemental documents, or supporting documents within their specific projects. Traditionally, this information acts as a backup and provides greater depth to agreed-upon or quoted items.

Let SafeSourcing better manage your sourcing projects. We enjoy bringing this blog to you every week and hope you find value in it. 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 written by Heather Powell, Director of Major Accounts and Special Projects at SafeSourcing Inc.

Procurement of potato salad? How many types of potato salad can you name? What are your favorites? What ingredients make the potato salad your favorite?  Do you walk up to a deli counter and get overwhelmed by the sheer number of potato salad behind the glass? Do you spend your valuable time to make your own potato salad?

The types and number of potato salad is limitless. Every region and continent has their type of potato salad. If you can imagine an ingredient to be included into the potato salad, then a recipe or manufacture has probably created it. There are varieties of potatoes that can be used for potato salad, as well as, the various types of “sauce”. There is even a debate if potato salad can be served hot, such as the German potato salad.

This author’s mother would often make her own potato salad, but in her later years she would buy cheap potato salad and “doctor it up” by adding additional ingredients like more mustard or celery seed, eggs, onion, or whatever else she could imagine. This often created some very tasty salads and only one time in this author’s memory can remember a not so great potato salad with an overzealous garlic powder version of potato salad.

You are probably wondering what any of this has to do with procurement.  I often use potato salad to explain to family, friends, and even strangers what procurement is and why it is important. Potato salad has so many facets of purchasing requirements, whether the salad is pre-made by a manufacture or homemade. Where do the potatoes come from? How are they processed? Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip? Yellow Mustard or grain mustard? Eggs? Spices? Celery? Even bacon?

Why there are three to five different types of potato salad behind the glass at the deli counter and why do the price per pound vary so much if the potato salads visually look similar? How would you choose which one to purchase? In explaining what procurement is, it is also important to explain why sampling is critical to making a purchase.  The best deli departments are the ones who will let you sample each of the potato salads and be able to tell you what makes each one unique to be behind the glass and not in some plastic bucket in the refrigerator section to be purchased by the gallon.

This author hopes that you find this series fun and educational. In part two of the Procurement of Potato Salad, this author will start at the “root” of procurement of the potatoes for potato salad.

SafeSourcing can assist you in exploring your procurement solutions for your business or on our “Risk Free” trial program for RFPs and RFQs, 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 by Troy Lowe, Vice President of Development at SafeSourcing.

Hiring new employees can be a very daunting task.  Sometimes it can be a real struggle finding the right talent.  Even if you find the right talent, the new hire may not fully satisfy your company’s needs.  This can result in wasted time and money.  As a result of this, a lot of companies choose to work with staffing agencies to help them find the right talent.  When done in-house, the vetting process for a new hire can be very time consuming and expensive.  Staffing agencies can help with this because they do all of the vetting and may absorb other costs such as skill assessments, background checks, drug screenings, driving records and training.  Using a staffing agency ensures that you get qualified candidates that can come aboard and start being productive right away.  Below are some other reasons to consider working with a staffing agency.

• Faster Hiring Process
• Better Candidates
• Save Money
• Superior Market Knowledge
• Lower New Employee Overhead
• Performance Guarantees
• More Effective Job Descriptions
• More Access to Experienced Candidates

If you are planning to hire new employees and would like help finding a staffing agency, feel free to contact SafeSourcing.   We can gather all the necessary information for you and help you decide which one 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 blog is by Margaret Stewart, Manager of HR and Administration at SafeSourcing.

When is the best time to procure? This is a question we get often and the answer varies. For many different goods and services, particular times of the year are best to take to market. For example, services like air conditioning repair often yield greater savings if they are taken to market during the winter or spring. This is generally because it can guarantee a provider a certain amount of work and they can budget their time ahead of time. If you seek pricing for air conditioning repair in the heat of the summer, providers may already be booked and may charge much higher rates than normal.

Another factor to consider when determining the best time to procure is market conditions. These can vary month to month, but paying attention to any recent news or trends in the market can delay the timing of your procurement event. For example, if you are seeking maple syrup and there have recently been any devastating natural disasters in Canada or the northeast US, you may want to delay your procurement efforts until the product is more readily available and more competitive pricing can be obtained.

These are just two different factors that can affect the timing of your procurement efforts. There are many other things that could expedite or delay them further, like contract expirations, anticipated tariffs, etc. While we often get questions regarding the best time to procure, we can always give one piece of advice– talk to your procurement partner to plan the best timing for your procurement needs well beforehand. They can help you with all the factors that go into running a successful procurement project.

For more information on how SafeSourcing can help in your procurement efforts, 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 Alex Borbely, Director of Sales at SafeSourcing

In yesterday’s post we explored what Spend Analysis is and some of the experiences I have had spending time with customers during the review process.

Today we’ll look at the steps involved in Spend Analysis.

Typical Steps of Spend Analysis: Identify all the sources available for your spend data, from all of your departments, plants and business units. This includes accounts payable, general ledger, pCard, eProcurement systems, etc. Gather and consolidate all of your spend data into one central database. This can be difficult if your data is in different formats, different languages and different currencies, however, there are programs available specifically designed to accomplish this however not necessary and a simple Excel workbook may be used.

Cleanse your data. This includes finding and correcting errors in descriptions and transactions, as well as standardizing the spend data for easy viewing. Group, or link, your suppliers for better supplier management. For instance, purchases made from IBM, IBM Corp., or Cognos should all be grouped together, since they’re the same supplier. Categorize your spend. Whether you use specific industry standard classifications or your own company-specific categories, you need to be able to determine where your money is being spent. Office supplies, marketing travel, legal, direct and indirect spend should all be categorized appropriately.

Analyze your spend data. Ensure that you have negotiated the best contract deals per supplier now that all of your spend is identified. Ensure that all of your buyers are purchasing from preferred suppliers. Reduce the number of suppliers per category. Repeat. Performing a spend

analysis once is a great start to identifying savings, however, you need to continually update your data to ensure that contract terms are being adhered to, that buyers are purchasing from preferred suppliers and that savings opportunities are being identified.

Once the Spend Analysis is completed, and reviewed with the client, there are several lessons learned as a result:

1. Upon completion you now have a baseline for sourcing initiatives
2. Spend Analysis now becomes an enabler for process improvement
3. The known data is now a measurement device for cost reduction programs such as SafeSourcing’s Reverse Auction Events
4. Significant cost-savings opportunities through supplier and commodity consolidation
5. Enhanced compliance through effective spend and supplier monitoring, which by the way is part of the SafeSourcing full service program
6. Comprehensive spend visibility across direct and indirect commodities and services

In closing I cannot help but to remember something that was drilled into my head as a young individual by my parents: “It’s not about how much money you make, it’s about how you save it.” This says it perfectly as to why spend analysis is such a vital part of procurement planning.

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