Today’s post is our SafeSourcing Archives

There is some disagreement about where the term “The whole 9 yards” originated, ranging anywhere from WW2, to baseball, to concrete trucks, but I think the metaphor offered by the machine gun story is the most helpful context. The story goes, that early machine gun ammunition belts came in 9 yard lengths, and so it was easy to see the metaphorical application for everyday life. If I could break down the meaning into 2 components and the emotion behind them, it would look like this:

“The whole 9 yards”:

1. Meaning: Give it all you’ve got. Emotion: Determination.
2. Meaning: Fight for your life. Emotion: Fear

In war, winning meant living. Either you won the fight, or someone killed you first. Can you recall a time you were in that severe a situation? Where you would either beat what was threatening your survival, or you weren’t going to make it? The closest I’ve come to that was when a malady was threatening to kill my wife, and maybe me along with it. We overcame it, but the win or die situation it created changed me forever by teaching me several things:

Failure identifies the limits we need to overcome. Until you know what your limits are, how can you overcome them? And how can you identify your limits, until you’ve tested your abilities to the point of failure? Take calculated risks, see temporary failure as a necessary step to success instead of a fixed state. Fail forward by getting back up overcoming your limitations. Once you know your limits, you know what needs to be destroyed in order to become more.

Fear is a powerful but dangerous motivator in that it motivates us to destroy what we fear. Externally imposing fear at work or in relationships can cause employees to work harder to preserve their jobs or force significant others to be more agreeable, but can also cause them to see the organization or you as the enemy, creating resentment and causing more long term problems than short term gains. Self-imposed fear caused by identifying your own limitations can cause you to destroy your own weaknesses, breeding humility and self-worth once overcome.

Apathy sells me short of what I’m capable of. How many times have you said or been told “I’m doing my best”? But ask yourself, if your life depended on the task at hand, would you be doing it any better? If the answer is yes, you’re selling yourself short. Why settle for assuming your best is less than it really is?

My worldview had to change to fit my observations. At one point I had to come to the honest realization that the approach I was taking wasn’t working and would probably end up killing me, even though my worldview told me it was the right approach. I wouldn’t have been willing to recognize the solution without the crisis. Once I allowed observation, research, and testing to inform my worldview rather than let my worldview filter what I allowed myself to consider, the solution became obvious.

It’s easy to get distracted from being your best by fear, apathy, lack of belief in ourselves, the opinions of others, or personal biases. Every activity you undertake is a once in a lifetime event that you can’t go back in time to do over. But if you truly give it your all, approaching it as thoroughly as you would if your life were on the line, you’ll never need to do anything over again. Don’t wait for your 9 yards to be spent before deciding the life you want to build is worth fighting for.

For more information on how SafeSourcing can assist your team with this process 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.

Today’s post is from our SafeSourcing Archives

Creativity is the ability to come up with novel ideas, but innovation doesn’t occur until those ideas are productive. Many businesses end up chasing ideas that never bring any productive value, because the idea was adopted for reasons that were not objectively measured and vetted. There are two primary things we should be considering when trying to determine whether an idea is good or not: Value, and Validity.

Value and validity is NOT contained within an idea just because:

• It was given loudly
• It was given by the highest ranking voice in the room
• It was given from someone with many ideas
• It was given eloquently

These are all attempts to validate an idea through personality, not value or validity. Everyone has ideas, but quantity doesn’t mean quality. How many musicians have you heard that put out a brilliant project, but followed up with something that made you question their talent altogether? The true talent lies in the ability to order, demonstrate, communicate, refine, reject, and select their ideas.

An idea has value when:

• It solves an identified problem
• There is a specific benefit
• It supports a specific goal

An idea has validity when:

• The facts behind it are true
• There is hard evidence backing up what’s being proposed
• There are specific numbers taken into account, calculated correctly

Adopting an idea just because it “sounds good”, “feels good” or “makes sense”, doesn’t mean it will accomplish everything it needs to in the context of the conversation being had. It can be easy to get lost in the weeds, forget what you were trying to accomplish, and adopt the idea given by the most senior representative in the room with the most passionate speech, even if solves a DIFFERENT problem than the one you met to solve in the first place.

Objectivity means you can separate yourself from the object, measure the object with other objects, view it from a perspective outside yourself. Subjectivity means you can’t see the periphery, you can only see from a perspective from within yourself, and therefore can’t bring in anything not dependent on you to measure against. Don’t get lost in complex narratives, appeals to emotion, or appeals to authority in your meetings. There are more specific methodologies available for qualifying ideas, and I’ll get into those in future posts (Six Sigma perhaps being the most well-known, but cumbersome methodology). But for now, just remember that you have the ability to step back, look at the bigger picture, and find the appropriate solution by measuring each idea’s value and validity objectively.

For more information on how SafeSourcing can assist your team with this process 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.

Today’s post is our SafeSourcing Archives.

IT contracts are difficult. 

Now that we have that out on the table let’s follow that up with a second statement:

IT Contracts are usually in the top 5 categories of spend of every company on the world.

When it comes to executing IT contracts the main problem boils down to having a service, software license or piece of hardware requiring a contract the details of which a legal team doesn’t always understand from a technical standpoint and which has legal elements an IT staff does not always push hard enough to improve.  Some companies have developed strong Legal IT staffs to handle this issue but most are letting the IT department review and approve contracts that meet the technical needs without attempting to improve the business or legal elements.   Today we will look at some of the elements which the legal and IT team should be working together on ensuring meet the standards needed by their company.

Technical Aspects  – Obviously the most important first step is to ensure that the service or product meets the technical requirements of the business.  This is accomplished by having a well-defined Statement of Work which clearly defines the roles of both parties and what will be delivered during the course of the contract.  For hardware and software this defines how much each party is responsible for the installation and configuration of the project and the support of the project moving forward.  This includes testing, specifications of what the solution needs to deliver, the timeline for delivery, and what is covered by warranty or maintenance and support agreement.

Legal Aspects – Once the technical requirements are met then the legal team needs ensure that all of the language surrounding the engagement and contract are also met and to the satisfaction of the company’s best interest.  One of the first sets of details must surround protection in case the relationship is not executed according to the agreed upon terms.  It is the job of the business to foster a productive and beneficial relationship with the vendors and the legal team’s responsibility to plan for the protection in case that does not occur.  Defining the governing laws and jurisdiction of a potential disagreement, precedence of documents attached to the agreement,   as well as details surrounding the termination of the agreement by either party are all things which must be examined so that the business can be protected from every angle.

Business Aspects – Several aspects affect the business portion, but most of them boil down to two areas; ownership details and pricing details.  Understanding the details of who owns the product is extremely important not only for various accounting reasons but also from a liability standpoint.  If anything happens to the product, who owns it and when will determine who takes on the cost to repair or replace that product.  Having this defined in advance will influence testing, evaluation, timelines and acceptance of the installation efforts.  Pricing is also very important and should be examined closely to ensure the company has the best terms in the way of payment schedule, rebates, discounts and other factors that will result in the best possible pricing and what has historically been ultra-high margin goods and services.

SafeSourcing routinely works with our customers’ IT departments on procurement projects to ensure many of these details are laid out and agreed upon before an award decision is even made.  For more information on how we can help your team with IT projects 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 from our SafeSourcing Archives.

In a rapidly evolving world, are we losing the art of welcoming someone into a new situation? Is our culture too casual in the way we conduct business or form meaningful relationships? Have we taken for granted the meaningful notes and thoughtful extras that gives life meaning?

As of today, I’ve officially been employed at SafeSourcing for two weeks. As I reflect on the things that I learned over the last two weeks, it is only befitting to reflect on the warm welcome I felt on my first day; week. I walked into the office suite to notice a sign that read, “Welcome to SafeSourcing Inc. Jericia Stevens” sitting on the front desk.

SafeSourcing knows the value of a Welcome. We want to ensure that our customers feel welcomed while we manage their procurement needs.

Our procurement team works diligently to provide our customers with quality training and customer service. Our flexible service offerings and suite of e- procurement tools deliver the savings that can be referenced that are greater than 10 times the cost of our services.

We work closely together and make sure that we all have a role in providing our customers with the best value for their product and services.

I am glad to be a part of a company that knows the value of a welcome. Partner with us and experience The SafeSourcing Way. Let SafeSourcing 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.

Today’s post is from our SafeSourcing Inc. Archives

What does it take to make a candy cane, package it, market it, and distribution? All of these involve procurement. Today, the candy cane makes up a significant amount of the $1.4 billion Christmas candy market. In fact, billions of candy canes are made and consumed each year.

We have learned the history of the candy cane in part 1 and what ingredients are needed to make candy canes and how to procure the raw ingredients in part 2, and yesterday we learned how to make a candy cane and package it. Today we will cover how to market your product and how SafeSourcing can help you.

How to market your candy canes?

There are multiple companies out there who will help you in your areas of packaging, production and marketing. These companies can handle all of these areas in house for you or you can hire each area out individually. As with purchasing or procuring anything it is best to do your research.

Typically using a company who serves all your needs in house will be the most cost effective, however it is still worth running a request for proposal to find out who they are, who their current clients are, areas of service they can provide, examples of product they have created, a prototype of an idea for your product, their solution on how to market your product, and a pricing model. Even with this helpful tool, it is still beneficial to interview the company.

An in house company should be able to provide at a minimum:

Brand management:
o Data Management
o Project Management
Printer
Color Lab
Artwork
Proofing
Prepress
Brand Protection

In addition to having the best product, best packaging, and best marketing you need to have the basic business 101 logic to selling your product according toan article in entrepreneur.com

 Get the correct buyer: One of your biggest challenges is finding the right buyer within a large organization, so do your homework. If you’re experiencing roadblocks, consider hiring a distributor or manufacturer’s rep who already has established relationships in your industry.
 Be prepared: Develop a presentation and have professional-looking sell sheets ready. Your product should also have packaging that’s ready to go.
 Know your target: Understand what products they already carry and how yours will fit in. Don’t waste your time pitching to a retailer who’s unlikely to carry your product.
 Take advantage of special programs: Some mass retailers, such as Wal-Mart, have local purchase programs that give managers authority to try local items. And other retailers may have different initiatives, such as minority business programs.
 Be patient: It can take up to a year or longer before you see your product on store shelves, so don’t get frustrated. And if the final answer is no, try to turn it into a learning experience.

Finally, remember there are other sales channels besides the traditional brick-and-mortar retail store. Catalogs, TV shopping networks and online stores can also be excellent methods to enable you to learn how to market a product online.

SafeSourcing, Inc. can help you source your packaging, production, and prepress services, create and run a Request for Proposal and compress the suppliers pricing by running a Request for Quote. 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 from our SafeSourcing Inc. Archives

What does it take to make a candy cane, package it, market it, and distribution? All of these involve procurement. Today, the candy cane makes up a significant amount of the $1.4 billion Christmas candy market. In fact, billions of candy canes are made and consumed each year.

We have learned the history of the candy cane in part 1 and what ingredients are needed to make candy canes and how to procure the raw ingredients. Today we learn how to make a candy cane and package it.

How are candy canes manufactured and packaged from madehow.com

1. The first step of production involves blending the ingredients together in a large vessel. Typically, a stainless steel kettle is used that is equipped with automatic mixers. Ingredients can be poured or pumped into the batch by workers known as compounders. At this step, the water, sugar, corn syrup, and other processing ingredients are combined. They are then heated to over 300°F (141.5°C) and allowed to cook until they form amber liquid.
2. While it is still hot, the sugar mixture is poured on water-cooled tables. The candy cools slightly and is sent to the working machines. These devices are equipped with arms that stretch the candy repeatedly until it looks silky white.
3. While the candy is being stretched, a line worker adds the proper amount of flavoring. Also, coloring may be added at this point.
4. Another worker then takes a large portion (95 lb [43 kg]) of the warm candy and forms it into a loaf. Part of the loaf is put off to the side, dyed, and cut into strips. For the traditional candy cane, this portion is dyed red. It will become the red stripes in the final product. The 4 in-long (10 cm) red strips are then pressed at set intervals into the white loaf.
5. The loaf can then be sent to the extruder machines to convert it into a candy cane. The loaf passes through the extruder and comes out the other side on a conveyor as a long strand of candy. The strand runs under cutters that slice it at set intervals to produce individual candies. They are then passed through a device that bends the candy. Since the candy is still slightly warm it can still be shaped as desired. Some extruders can handle over 2,000 lb (907 kg) of candy an hour.
6. After the candy cane is formed, it is put into its packaging. Some manufacturers wrap the candy cane in a clear plastic. This is done right as it is exiting the extruder. The plastic is then wrapped around the candy cane and sealed by a heat sealer.
7. In most instances, a set amount of candy canes are collected and boxed in secondary packaging. These boxes are passed through a shrink-wrap machine and sealed. This extra layer of packaging ensures that no moisture damages the product. The boxes are then put into shipping containers, put on pallets, loaded on trucks, and delivered to stores around the country.

Quality control is an integral part of all candy production. The first phase of control begins with tests on the incoming ingredients. Prior to use, lab technicians test ingredients to ensure they meet company specifications. Sensory evaluations are done on characteristics such as appearance, color, odor, and flavor. Other physical and chemical characteristics may also be tested such as liquid viscosity, solid particle size, and moisture content. Manufacturers depend on these tests to ensure that the ingredients used will produce a consistent batch of candy canes.

The next phase of quality control is done on the candy cane paste. This includes pH, viscosity, appearance, and taste testing. During production, quality control technicians check physical aspects of the extruded candy. A comparison method is typically used. In this method, the newly made product is compared to an established standard. For example, the flavor of a randomly sampled candy cane may be compared to a standard candy cane produced at an early time. Some manufacturers employ professional sensory panelists. These people are specially trained to notice small differences in tactile, taste, and appearance properties. Instrumental tests that have been developed by the confectionery industry over the years may also be used.The process of making candy canes can be done on a much smaller level at home or in the instructions above on a large scale.

In the large scale, items to be purchased or procured would be the candy kettles, stainless steel tables, working machines, extruder, conveyors, cutters, plastic wrap machine, heat sealer, various types of cardboard, shipping containers, pallets and hand pallet jacks as well as fork lifts. In addition, you can procure hiring services of standard and seasonal workers, fork lift drivers and temporary delivery truck drivers, janitorial/sanitation workers, certified engineers and lab technicians and quality control supervisors.

SafeSourcing, Inc. can help you source your manufacturing goods and services, create and run a Request for Proposal and compress the suppliers pricing by running a Request for Quote. 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.

Tomorrow we will discuss how to market candy canes and how SafeSourcing can help in this area.

Todays’s Post is by Eli Razov, SafeSourcing  Account Manager.

What are Leuco Dyes and how are the affecting millions across the globe? Right now the world is seeing huge increases in the thermal paper market. Leuco  dyes are made of many different chemicals which can combine  to achieve the desired color. These dyes have a colorless leuco form when crystalline or when in a pH neutral environment, but become colored when dissolved in a melt and exposed to an acidic environment. Lueco dyes provide little color when melted unless they are melted with one or more organic acids. These are called developers. One example of organic acid is Bisphenol A (BPA). These developers and Leuco dyes often mix poorly upon melting. A third chemical called a sensitizer is often added to the imaging layer to increase the effect. So what does this mean?

These are the components used to make thermal paper. The same paper you see daily from receipts at the local grocery store to fast food chains. The world thermal paper market is about one million tons annually, with about 2/3 of that tonnage for receipt paper. But right now, there is a major shortage in Lueco Dyes. This shortage is due to a company in China named Connect Chemicals which is responsible for 35% – 40% of global dye demand for thermal coaters. In September of 2017 the Connect Chemicals was shut down due to environmental reasons and China’s new anti-pollution laws. This spells disaster for retailers especially Going into the holiday season, which is the busiest time of year. Thermal paper pricing has seen an increase of over 20%-45%. This is making the demand outgrow the supply in many cases. Many major distributors have been unable to supply their entire current customer base and are preventing them from acquiring new clients.

There is hope because this shortage is estimated to be only roughly 3 months while Connect Chemicals closes to conform to China’s new environmental laws. This will take months to recover losses and hopefully set the market normal again.

For more information on how SafeSourcing can assist you or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Representative we have an entire team waiting to assist you today.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

References —————————————————-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_paper

https://cohally.com/2017/10/05/largest-supplier-of-leuco-dye-shut-down-in-china-for-a-minimum-of-three-months/

Today’s post is from our SafeSourcing Archives!

Many procurement professionals state they do not have a strategic role in board meetings or with major organization decisions. Why should a procurement professional participate in board meetings?

Companies that do not engage their procurement department early in the process are failing to make effective purchasing decisions, not fully leveraging their spend and economics of scale, and opening themselves to commercial risk. Procurement is usually brought into the process to either close a deal or execute the contract; at this point it is too late to add significant value.

Common issues corporations face when procurement has little engagement within the department:

• Spend is spread thin throughout multiple categories and suppliers.
• Process improvements (make vs. buy) are not always the ideal cost-savings decision
• Procurement policies are lacking – leading to no contracts, multiple price points, etc.

Handling these internal issues is not a day’s job. Procurement will need to monitor and track compliance with policies within departments. Departments that do not comply will be held accountable. Many times the CPO will need to become involved in this initiative to place more focus on the value of procurement.

In turn, this will also require procurement to refocus their efforts to include other value-added services to the departments besides simply reducing costs. However, this usually requires a change in culture, taking procurement away from the tactical, category-focused culture that dominates most functions, to one that is fully aligned with the company’s goals.

At SafeSourcing, we are an extension to your procurement department. We will work with procurement and other departments to help avoid the common issues when procurement does not have a chair at the table.  Please contact us in order to find out more.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments