Archive for the ‘Sourcing Strategy’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Logistics Service Provider

Tuesday, June 13th, 2023

 

 

Today’s post is by Ronald D. Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing Inc.

Logistics outsourcing involves a relationship between a company and an LSP (Logistic Service Provider) which, compared with basic logistics services, has more customized offerings, encompasses a broad number of service activities, is characterized by a long-term orientation, and, thus, has a rather strategic nature.

An LSP is really what most people would see as a traditional 3PL provider offering a combination of warehousing and transportation services or one or the other. As global and multi-national providers enter the game, things have certainly changed, but the Logistics Service Provider at its core is fundamentally the same.

Third-Party Logistics Provider (3PL) involves using external organizations to execute logistics activities that have traditionally been performed within an organization itself. According to this definition, third-party logistics includes any form of outsourcing of logistics activities previously performed in-house. If, for example, a company with its own warehousing facilities decides to employ external transportation, this would be an example of third-party logistics. Logistics is an emerging business area in many countries.

If you’d like to learn more about how SafeSourcing can assist in managing your selection of a variety of logistics issues, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

 

 

 

Posted in , ,

SafeSpendAnalysis™, Why Your Company Needs It!

Friday, June 9th, 2023

 

Today’s post is from our SafeSourcing Research Team.

Managing expenses is a crucial part of running a business, and optimizing spending is vital to maximize profits. SafeSpendAnalysis is a research project that aims to assist companies in achieving this goal by analyzing their spending data to identify potential savings opportunities. Here are some reasons why your company would benefit from using SafeSpendAnalysis™.

  1. SafeSpendAnalysis™ can help your company identify potential savings opportunities by analyzing your spending data and comparing it with a global supplier database. This process can highlight areas where you may be overspending, as well as areas where you can negotiate better deals with your suppliers. By identifying savings opportunities, you can reduce your expenses and increase your profits.
  2. By analyzing your spending data, SafeSpendAnalysis™ can help your company optimize its spending. Analysis can help you identify areas where you may be able to consolidate your spending or reduce your expenses. This can help you make better-informed decisions about your spending, which can lead to better financial outcomes for your company.
  3. SafeSpendAnalysis™ can help streamline your company’s expense management processes. Automating the process of comparing your spending data against a database of global suppliers can reduce the time and effort required to manage your expenses. This can free up your team’s time to focus on other important tasks, such as developing new products or servicing your customers.
  4. By providing your company with detailed insights into your spending data, SafeSpendAnalysis™ can help improve your decision-making processes. The analysis can help you identify trends and patterns in your spending data, which can inform your decision-making. This can help you make more informed decisions about your spending, which can lead to better financial outcomes for your company.
  5. SafeSpendAnalysis™ can help your company increase profitability by identifying potential savings opportunities, streamlining processes, and improving decision-making. By achieving this goal, you can achieve long-term success and growth for your business.

If you are looking for ways to optimize your company’s expenses and increase profitability, SafeSpendAnalysis™ is a necessary requirement.

SafeSourcing is a Procure to Pay SaaS based provider of a number of e-Procurement solutions and associated white glove services that are part of our SaaS offered SafeSourceIt™ eSourcing suite.

For more information, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Services Associate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in

How can you save money very quickly in the current economic environment?

Friday, April 21st, 2023

 

Today’s post is by Ronald D. Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing Inc

I was reading Spend Matters Weekly Update today and section called A note from Nikhil Gaur

Titled “Reflections from Coupa customers and executives at Coupa Inspire” piqued my interest. I don’t like to mention our competitors in my posts by name as I have done here. However, the message is important and supports companies like SafeSourcing being able to save companies money very quickly. Today we reduced the spend for a customer in a non-retail industry by 45.68% vs, budget on a project of over a million dollars that will be completed this year. That my friend is money to the bottom line. We do it almost every day.

The quote below is from Nikhil’s “Reflections” from our competitor’s event. I have hi-lited  a few items that support this post.

“Of course, the unfortunate subtext is that one byproduct of downward economic trends may influence an organization to deprioritize procurement/supply chain software that can often save money quickly (when implemented successfully). As such, the strength of individual marketing teams — especially those that belong to smaller providers — may have an even greater impact in determining a company’s success in 2023 than previously thought”. 

 You can view my comments from an earlier post titled Just what do we mean by eProcurement White Glove Services that supports why our savings average over 24% better than what companies can do on their own most of the time.

SafeSourcing is a Procure to Pay SaaS based provider of a number of e-Procurement solutions and associated white glove services that are part of our SaaS offered SafeSourceIt™ eSourcing suite. That includes our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database that includes over 557,000 vendor/suppliers.

To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

 

 

Posted in ,

Are new car prices finally starting to come down?

Wednesday, April 19th, 2023

 

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

If you have been reading my BLOGs over the past few years, I have written a few about the rising price of items and how we are overpaying for a lot of things.  I finally saw a headline today that caught my attention, and there may be some good news at least for people looking to purchase a new vehicle.  The price of new vehicles has been dropping slowly over the past few months and according to the recent data, March was the first time in months that car buyers did not have to pay more than what the vehicle was listed for.  This marks the first time in almost two years that the buyers did not have to pay more than the vehicle was listed for because of the high markups on the dealer lots.  According to an automotive research company, brands like Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Hyundai, and others saw their average prices for their vehicles decline almost 4 percent in March.  Not all the brands have seen this drop others like Kia and Honda vehicles are continuing to sell between 3 and 6 percent over the sticker price in the non-luxury market.  In addition to this, new car prices have been trending down for a few months and March’s average price that was paid was about $1,000 less than December of 2022.  Like I stated above this is good news for buyers who have been shopping and seen the higher prices and the really low inventory at the dealers since the pandemic started.

If you need help finding new vehicles for your company fleet, please contact SafeSourcing. We have sourced about every type of tractor, trailer, truck, car, sprinter, or van in your fleet. We have also sourced just about everything that keeps them running including M&R. We can gather all the necessary information for you and help you decide what brand offering 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.

Posted in ,

Clean Data!

Tuesday, April 18th, 2023

 

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

With all organizations, there are expenses and costs. Good bookkeeping is important because it allows one to easily look up where money is spent and where it comes from. This is especially important when considering your next procurement project. Having up to date, complete, and easily understood data, or clean data, is essential to understanding where improvements can be made.

For example, if your company has a monthly service for cleaning and you aren’t sure how long you’ve worked with this associate, how much you pay, or how frequently you pay, then you may want to scrub that data and make it more easily accessed and read. This can allow for insight into whether you are paying too much or if it’s a great deal you want to continue. This kind of spend transparency can help you estimate expenses and also give direction into where you may want to explore your options.

A procurement partner, like SafeSourcing can assist with your sourcing needs and even more. We can analyze your spend details, categorize which areas you are spending, and help to access which areas you may want to reevaluate. We can help with not only cleaning up your data, but also run the numbers to see if you are likely overpaying somewhere. Even more, SafeSourcing can help you find suppliers that can fit your needs and save you money.

If you are not sure how clean your data is or if you think you might not be getting the best good or service for your money, reach out to a procurement partner, like SafeSourcing, and see what all we can help your team do.

For more information on what the SafeSourcing team can offer you, or on our Risk Free trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative. We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

Posted in ,

eRFX Strategies for Success a Refresher!

Friday, March 3rd, 2023

 

Todays post is from Ron Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing Inc. This post also includes input from the many talented teammates I work with every day and my Whitepaper by the same title.

Every sourcing project is different, from the data you start with to the results you hope to achieve and how to get there in a way that delivers great results and great participation. Knowing where to start and the path to travel is key to achieving both of these goals.

The world of procurement is continually changing, and this includes the world of eProcurement when it comes to the request for information, a proposal, or a quote.  The differences between the three requests, what expectations are when receiving the requests back, and how to make a sound business decision with what has been submitted are what separate each stage in giving procurement professionals the blueprint as to where to begin in the process.

While technology continues to evolve and have significant impact on the procurement space, is it bringing better results than the tried and true processes that have evolved but are seldom followed in their entirety. These processes have been in place for years. What are they, how to do them correctly and maximize your results, that is the real trick? If you cannot do them on your own, it may make sense to look to companies that can deliver them consistently in the form of white glove software as a service.

Tune back in tomorrow when we will explore the Request for Information or RFI?

If you’d like to learn more and can’t wait for the series conclusion, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Services associate, they’d be thrilled to hear from you.

Thanks.

 

Posted in , ,

It’s NOT being braggadocios if you REALLY are better than your peers.

Tuesday, February 28th, 2023

 

Today’s post is by Ronald D. Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing Inc

We are not bragging or being mean spirited; we are that good. Ask our customers. According to them we are invaluable to their company. So why not to yours. Take me to task and I’ll prove it. You nor anyone else on your team sources many of your products and services as often as we do. If you source a category once every one to three years, you are not a category expert because too many changes happen that you can’t keep up with. We can help you!

At SafeSourcing, we help procurement teams save considerably on costs by providing tools and services that enhance the ability to do business in a better, safer, smarter, more streamlined, and cost-effective way.   Our Customer Services team is one of the best in the industry at complimenting existing procurement teams to help structure and develop projects in less time for better results.

Our white-glove service offerings coupled with our suite of e-procurement tools deliver referenceable savings results that are greater than 10 times the cost of our services, improving Gross Margin and Earnings significantly.

So, give us a call.  And ask us about our e-Procurement solutions and associated white glove services and our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database  that includes over 557,000 vendor/suppliers. We can get you better pricing on about any category of product or service.

To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

Posted in , , ,

Twelve areas to consider in your spend analysis if you don’t want to lose your hard earned savings.

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023

 

Todays post is a favorite by Ron Southard our CEO from our SafeSourcing Archives

Our answer was that is actually a great questions and a tough one to answer if in fact it has not been planned for during the strategy 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.

Here are 12 areas of focus 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.

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

It would not be too hard to add another dozen items to this list. The answer here is that proper planning helps eliminate savings leakage. Don’t plan and it will hurt or erode some or all of your potential savings.

If you’d like to learn more, please contact us any time!

Posted in , ,

Misconception: eProcurement cost reduction only works for commodities  

Thursday, February 16th, 2023

 

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

It’s too easy to be dismissive of a concept, especially when you have preconceived notions.

For years, conversations with prospective users and even some customers have often headed down a familiar path. At SafeSourcing, we’re talking about reducing spend and ending overpayment across all categories by an average of 24%. Then we learn that the contact is only hearing this in terms of some pre-defined set of categories. Usually that’s supply items or some other items the person deems are commodities.

What if I told you that the most impact in terms of raw dollars saved come from other categories? What if I were to say that the highest percentages of cost reduction often come from using eProcurement to source services and even custom items?

Some people would still not believe me or would still fall back on their misconceptions, even if I shared recent results like these.

  • Armored Car Services: 21.61%
  • Windows and Doors: 13.84%
  • Floor, Wall, Ceiling Tiles: 40.37% (incl. installation)
  • Cooler Glides and Shelves: 33.41%
  • Exhaust Hoods: 21.33%
  • Waste Removal: 24.04%
  • Employee Assistance Program: 55.19%
  • Common Area Maintenance (CAM): 15.97%
  • Promotional Signage: 33.34%

Here is a quick test:

  • When you think of eProcurement, what spend categories come to mind first?
  • Have you competitively sourced any of the categories in the list in the past 3 years?
    • If no, why not?

For more information, please contact SafeSourcing.

 

 

 

Posted in ,

Fail Quickly!

Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

 

Today’s post is from our SafeSourcing Archives.

Those of us who are too afraid to fail, inherently play things safe. Those of us who play it safe, don’t set “unachievable” goals.  Those of us who don’t set “unachievable” goals, don’t rethink our mental models of what is possible for achieving success.

Of course, no one will say failure doesn’t hurt. However, it doesn’t have to be crippling, if we approach it correctly. In weightlifting we have to allow the uncomfortable microscopic tears in our muscle fibers to occur before those cells can rebuild bigger and stronger. In our personal lives, it we have to be challenged and tested, and shown where our blind spots are before our character can be improved. In business, sometimes we need to surpass our own expectations of what is possible, and test that with both success and failure, before we will know what we or our organization is truly capable of.

Nathan, my second youngest brother, is more of a risk taker than I am, and I suspect there’s a lot I could learn from him. He’s traveled extensively, goes sky diving, purposely seeks out random strangers in public to sit and have lunch with, and generally is always trying new things that I’d rather not.  But he has a method about it; If the only reason he doesn’t want to take a risk is apathy, he takes it anyway. However, if the risk is so great that failure would be unrecoverable, he doesn’t go through with it. He has a lower and upper threshold for the risks he takes, so that he’s never too inactive, but also never betting more that he can afford to lose.

The point of failing quickly is not to take on gargantuan risks. In other words, we don’t go out and bet the farm just to prove a point. There are foolish ways of taking on excessive risk of course.

The point of failing quickly is to expand our self-imposed limitations of what is possible within the proving grounds of activity that we can quickly recover from should the experiment be a failure.

Please contact SafeSourcing if you’d like to discuss how this strategy can help your sourcing projects.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

Posted in ,

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »
© 2025 SafeSourcing