Archive for the ‘Strategic Sourcing’ Category

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How does your company protect their important non-contract documents?

Tuesday, September 12th, 2023

 

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

How does your company protect their non important noncontract documents?

Every company, in fact every individual has important documents that they would like easy access to as well as tracking and check in and checkout sharing features to maintain continuity and history of use. While maybe not to the degree of a contract, but then again why not?

SafeDocument™ is a document repository that allows companies to collaborate on documents through an online tool that is a cloud-based SaaS offering available through simple internet access. This tool Provides document sharing and collaboration options where users can organize, edit, protect, and track their documents.

SafeDocument™ includes safety features and controls that enable users to safely share large files across their organization, including the ability to save and recall multiple versions of a document and a notification system that alerts users when changes to the document have occurred.

Implementing SafeDocument™ provides companies with a cost-effective alternative to enterprise content management solutions that is safe and easy to use.

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. These include but are not limited to SafeContract™, SafePO™, SafeDocument™ and our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database that includes over 557,000 vendor/suppliers.

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

 

 

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Case Cubes and Full Load Shipments

Friday, September 8th, 2023

 

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

How does your company go about reducing your freight costs, and where do you start?

We all know that a full truck load versus less than a truck load will reduce the cost of your purchases primarily based on shipping costs. So how do you go about figuring this out?

You have to start somewhere so how do you define a case cube, and how many cubes does it take to create a full truck load? A case cube is a standard measurement used to calculate a shipping container’s volume. Calculating the case cube accurately is important in making sure that the warehouse space allocated for the shipment is sufficient. This is based on the size, rather than the weight of a shipping container. This is done by measuring the cases’ height, length, and width.

SafeSourcing is an eprocurement company that operates across multiple industries. As such we have specific experience in almost any commodity, service or capital related spend including shipping and freight costs. Our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database is an often used source for these alternate suppliers. To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

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Watch your commodity markets very closely!

Wednesday, August 30th, 2023

 

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

In an article by Bryan Doherty in Successful Farming titled EXPECT TIGHTER SUPPLY OF CATTLE IN 2023, ANALYST SAYS. Though cattle marketing numbers were heavier than expected late summer and fall, expect that beef production and the number of cattle marketed will be lower in the year ahead.

Why? The quick answer: higher input costs and drought conditions in key cattle-producing states will mean less inventory in the months ahead.

How do you make sure you are sourcing your commodity needs correctly? Contact SafeSourcing Inc. We buy it more often than you do and know the levers to pull. Glad to share some recent examples when you reach out.

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. These include but are not limited to SafeContract™, SafePO™, SafeDocument™ and our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database that includes over 557,000 vendor/suppliers.

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

References:

Successful Farming: Bryan Doherty

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High-Low Pricing Strategy

Friday, August 25th, 2023

 

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

According to Wikipedia, high-low pricing (or hi-low pricing) is a type of pricing strategy adopted by companies, usually small and medium sized retail firms. It is a type of pricing where a firm charges a high price for an item and later will sell it to customers by giving discounts or through clearance sales. The basic type of customers for the firms adopting high-low price will not have a clear idea about what a product‘s price would typically be or must have a strong belief that “discount sales = low price” or they must have strong preference in purchasing the products sold in this type or by this certain firm.

There are many big firms using this type of pricing strategy (ex: Reebok, Nike, Adidas). The way competition prevails in the shoe industry is through high-low price. Also, high-low pricing is extensively used in the fashion industry by companies (ex: Macy’s, Nordstrom…).  This pricing strategy is not only in the shoe industry but also in many other industries. But, in these industries one or two firms will not provide discounts and works on fixed rate of earnings those firms will follow everyday low-price strategy in order to compete in the market.

If you’d like to learn more about how SafeSourcing can assist in properly analyzing the total cost of your annual purchases, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

Sourced: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-low_pricing 

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Have you invested in EGGCoins yet? 

Thursday, August 24th, 2023

 

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

EGGcoins or just plain old farm fresh eggs are outperforming Bitcoin and most other crypto assets.

However, you cannot hold them for quite as long because they spoil quickly, or even worse they hatch and turn into ChickenCoins that require physical housing versus a virtual wallet.

While bitcoin is up 38.92% YTD. Eggs are up over 60% in the last 12 months and headed higher yet. Maybe you can exchange EGGcoin with Bitcoin.  At least if the price drops sharply, you’d have something to eat. Or even have a pet (not suggested as my grandfather was a chicken farmer so I know things).

While I know you all like tongue in cheek posts, please remember that like everything, egg prices vary drastically based on type, size, color, and farming styles like free range versus caged.

If you really want to get your best price for this commodity, Contact SafeSourcing Inc. We buy more of all commodities more often than you do and know the levers to pull. Glad to share some recent examples when you reach out.

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. These include but are not limited to SafeContract™, SafePO™, SafeDocument™ and our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database that includes over 557,000 vendor/suppliers.

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

 

 

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Doubles, Home Runs and Grand Slams for our Retail Partners!   

Tuesday, August 15th, 2023

 

Today’s post is from our repository at SafeSourcing Inc.

2023 has been a Grand Slam for SafeSourcing’s retailer clients and the trend is continuing! While vendors continue to push out price increases to retailers leading to rising costs, they are also reporting ever increasing profits. For those who have had enough of that, read on for some examples.

SafeSourcing’s retail customers have seen incredible success. Ongoing market challenges including inflation and vendor capacity constraints have been mitigated or disproven using eRFQ events.

A few Retail RFQ Highlights

  • Waste removal: 32%
  • Cooler Glides and Shelves: 34%
  • Hot Dogs: 17%
  • Cigarette Racks: 27%
  • Bagged Ice: 7%
  • Deli Containers: 14%
  • Coffee, Cappuccino and Hot Chocolate: 41%
  • Bottled Water: 31%
  • Labels: 31%
  • Plastic Cutlery: 41%
  • Windshield Washer Fluid: 18%
  • Concrete and  Pump Cleaner: 19%

 This is possible for you as well and it is possible right now. Connected with us to learn more about these examples and to talk about how to get started.

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. These include but are not limited to SafeContract™, SafePO™, SafeDocument™ and our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database that includes over 557,000 vendor/suppliers.

For more information, please contact SafeSourcing.

 

 

 

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Does your eProcurement Provider offer Education Programs?

Thursday, August 3rd, 2023

 

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

In addition to our education programs discussed below, SafeSourcing also endeavors to do something less tangible but more profound: the imparting of retail e- procurement and supply chain knowledge, positive judgment and well-developed retail wisdom that supports a safer and more eco-friendly global supply chain while driving increased efficiency and improved profitability for our customers and their stakeholders.

Our educational offerings support the SafeSourcing mission of providing information and services to our customers through e-procurement tools that proactively support consumer safety and environmental standards in the global supply chain. SafeSourcing educational offerings encompass the teaching and learning of specific e-procurement skills as regards:

  • Category to Market Strategy
  • Event Set-Up
  • Event Training
  • Supplier Selection
  • Buyer Training
  • Supplier Training
  • Category Discovery
  • Supplier Safety Certifications
  • Supplier Eco Practices
  • ROI Delivery

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. These include but are not limited to SafeContract™, SafePO™, SafeDocument™ and our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database that includes over 557,000 vendor/suppliers.

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

 

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E-Procurement

Friday, July 21st, 2023

 

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

How does your procurement department define E-Procurement today?

The following is a generally good definition of E-Procurement. However, complete SaaS offered end to end solutions have continued to evolve over the years. Often solutions today are used across multiple solution providers as they can be turned on and turned off and integrated in a truly brief period.

eProcurement is a business to business exchange of goods or services facilitated by the internet. A complete set of e-procurement tools can include products for management of correspondence, bids, questions and answers, previous pricing, contracts and email. Although many Enterprise Resource Planning suites offere-procurementsolutions, the current generation of software is typically purchased on-demand or as software-as-a-service (SaaS). Elements of e-procurement can include request for information (RFI), request for proposal (RFP), and request for quotation (RFQ), which together are categorized as “RFX”.

If you’d like to learn more about SafeSourcing’s additional E-Procurement solutions that are part of our SaaS offered esourcing suite like SafeContract™, SafePO™, SafeContract™ and the SafeSourceIt™ Supplier Database please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

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What is the benefit of a ranked reverse auction?

Thursday, June 29th, 2023

 

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

A tool that can be effective when running a reverse auction is called ranking. While this feature is not used all the time, it can be of strategic importance when trying to get to the best net landed cost for products that have very slim margins at the supplier level. The feature can be set up to let all suppliers know where they rank or a select number of suppliers like the top five (5). The feature can also be turned on for a specific time during the auction like in the last 5 minutes. As an example, you might have tight bidding for a particular commodity-based product. Only the low bid vendor knows that they are indeed the low bid and resultingly is not entering any more price adjustments. If ranking is deployed, vendors can find out if they are 2nd or 3rd etc. and this may entice them to try one more or make multiple more entries if their desire to win the business is strong enough. This is particularly true if the bidding activity has been robust to a point with the low-price indicator switching back and forth between multiple vendors.

It is the deep understanding of markets along with the use of tools like ranking amongst others that are included in strategy reviews with our customers that allows SafeSourcing to regularly exceed customer expectations across all spend areas. Our average annual savings against all categories are more than 24% beyond what you can negotiate on your own.

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.

 

 

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You can still improve gross margin and net earnings substantially in this market.

Monday, June 26th, 2023

 

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

Example: Prove me wrong if you think you can!

Assume a $150M Retail Company with industry earnings of just one percent or $1.5M. Additionally cost of goods for this company is 70 percent or $105M. Let’s also assume this company were to only source ten percent of their for-resale COGS or above the gross margin line spend or roughly $11M. With below industry average savings of only ten percent, total savings generated would be $1.1M which is a direct impact to net profitability. If all other segments of the P&L perform to plan and all savings are recovered during the same business calendar year net profitability would increase to $2.6M or a 73% improvement.

NO BS Here! If you don’t believe me, I will be glad to personally sit down with your CEO or CFO and Finance team and prove it to you! Imagine what else you could do to earnings if you also attacked your Expense in the same way.

Companies can begin with SafeSourcing almost immediately (SaaS/Cloud offering) with no risk (Cost Neutral Pilots) and no IT involvement at all, why don’t more companies use eProcurement tools. That’s a great question! Probably because they are embarrassed to not already be getting these results.

If this author were you, I just could not ignore this type of opportunity. If you’d like to learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Services Account Manager. Or me.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

 

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