Today’s post is by Mark Davis; Sr. Vice President and COO at SafeSourcing.

Last week it was announced that Kroger Company had agreed to buy the online health and vitamin provider, Vitacost, so that they could add a new selling channel for additional nutrition and healthy-living products.   In the move they will be able to leverage the technical and logistical expertise Vitacost has developed to improve its online presence against a slew of online retailers who are cutting into Kroger markets.  While not every company has $280 million to improve their online presence, there are a few key areas to focus on that will help internal departments source products and services to help accomplish the same goal.

Strong web content – There are a few things to look at when creating a strong site for customers.  The first above everything else should be the ease with which customers are able to find what they are looking for.  The content needs to be fresh and current to keep customers coming back to the site and customers need to be able to conduct transactions at all times.  This may not include every type of transaction but if an online version of the company is going to exist it should be useful to customers even outside of business hours.  Finally, the content should be packed with several industry key words so that the site will continue to be included high in search engine results.   Many web development companies can assist with keeping this updated regularly and many will guarantee results for the most important key words.

Mobile, mobile, mobile – Take a trip to any restaurant, bar, retail outlet or other social establishment and one of the first things you will notice is that everyone has a phone, and many of them have their noses frequently buried in them.  This is not a trend that is going to go away soon and will likely get worse.  People are attached to their phones and use them for bank transactions, dinner reservations, making purchases and many other types of activities so making sure a site is mobile-ready to get information and conduct business is critically important.  Once that is established, developing smart-device specific applications that leverage other capabilities of the phones is something virtually every company will need to do at some point.  When people walk into businesses, they EXPECT to have the capability to do things with their mobile devices that take advantage of technologies like Wi-Fi and GPS.

Create goals and measure progress – Part of knowing the success of changes to an online presence is to set goals for each of the pieces being adjusted and includes changes that may not be made directly to the site itself.  Areas such as the messaging being sent through social media sites like LinkedIn and Facebook may not be a part of the main website but their message and what customers are responding to is very important and need to be measured as well because they affect the overall strategy.  Google Analytics is a great tool to begin using to help track the activity but there are also many 3rd party companies who can help remove some of the trial-and-error process many companies face when they try doing it on their own.  The beauty of online marketing is how quickly goals can be measured and how easily they can be adjusted if the initial plans do not work as expected.

For more information on how SafeSourcing can help your team find partners that will increase you online presence 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 by Shelly Hayre; Project Manager at SafeSourcing.

Recent Institute of Medicine report entitled ?Preventing Medication Errors? cites that medication errors harm 1.5 million people and kill several thousand each year in the United States, costing the nation at least $3.5 billion annually. Because of such wide-spread drug errors, hospitals have made the implementation of automated bedside administration systems a top priority. Within a majority of the bedside automation system is a thermal barcode printer.

Thermal label printers are ideal for bar code printing because they provide an accurate, high quality image. Thermal printers are engineered to print within tight tolerances. There are two types of thermal label printers; direct thermal printing and thermal transfer printing.

Direct thermal printing uses chemically treated heat-sensitive media that blackens when it passes under the thermal printhead. Direct thermal printers have no ink, toner, or ribbon. Because there is no ribbon, direct thermal printers cost less to operate than inkjet, laser, impact, and thermal transfer printers.

Thermal transfer printing, a thermal printhead applies heat to a ribbon, which melts ink onto the material to form the image. The ink is absorbed so that the image becomes part of the media. This technique provides image quality and durability that is unmatched by other on-demand printing technologies. Thermal transfer printers can accept a wider variety of media than direct thermal models, including paper, polyester, and polypropylene materials. Thermal transfer printers can create extremely durable wristbands, asset tags, and certification labels, in addition to common labels, tags, and tickets.

So, what is the cost difference between laser and thermal labels?

Overall, the average list price for a thousand laser labels is $40.00 and $30.00 for thermal labels. Laser printers have an additional $10-15 per thousand labels in toner costs. However, the thermal label printers cannot provide the multiple functions that your laser printer may be providing.

Do you currently purchase labels for your laser printer and want to look into another solution, such as thermal labels? Let SafeSourcing help analyze your current spend, the capital investment, and future savings for switching equipment and products.

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 by Alyson Usserman, an Account Manager at SafeSourcing.

Some say that becoming a parent is the greatest, most rewarding thing you can ever do. While I agree, I am also well aware that it is the most trying times financially. The average cost of raising a child in the United States from birth to age 18 is $241,080, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. I doubt that number includes things like braces, injuries, or extracurricular activities over the years; it is also based on the child leaving the house at age 18. This number is also based on public school education, and a family income of less than $60,000 per year.

So, where does this leave parents who only have one income? Bargain shopping, couponing, and putting off expenses until the very last day possible. It poses the question of what is absolutely necessary and what is not? If it is not absolutely necessary then it is left on the store shelf. They find ways to make their own baby food, finger paint, and sometimes even baby wipes.

However, for the things you cannot make, most of us shop around for the best deals. We look at the value of what we are getting for the money we are spending. Questions often come up like, ?How long will this last? Can we reuse it again?? These questions also come up in businesses too. What is the best deal? Who can provide what we need in the most cost efficient way possible?

We, at SafeSourcing can help answer these questions to see if your company can improve on unnecessary spending. 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 by Mark Davis; Sr. Vice President and COO at SafeSourcing.

Last year I wrote a blog about Father?s Day and this year it means all the more to me so I have decided to refresh and repost it again this year.? I have enjoyed another year of my Father?s sage advice and wisecrack jokes and have graduated from normal Skype to video Skype which has been even better than I could have imagined.? As I reflect on this day it makes me think of all the advice that fathers, mine and millions of others, have given their children over the years and how simple the ideas are and yet at the same time how powerfully applicable to the business world we all live in every day.

In today?s blog I want to go back to some of that advice and see how much value still stands in concepts that are so simple.

If you keep doing the wrong things it WILL catch up with you ? So many procurement departments have begun and are being run based on practices and principles that are not only not sound but are potentially damaging to the company.? Having weak supervisory controls for buyers, no or poor management of the company?s contracts, and not researching the background of your suppliers are all things that can leave an organization vulnerable.? Like living without auto, home or medical insurance, in time it will catch up with you even if it has been years since anything bad came as a result.

Treat people as you expect to be treated ? The procurement space can be brutal.? Suppliers are trying to deliver value and make money; customers are trying to get as much value as possible while controlling costs.? These two things can often create clashes and tension as both sides work to get the things they want out of a business relationship.? The key that comes here is to remember that the same suppliers you are beating up on price will be the same ones you are asking for rush service and special assistance on down the road.? Creating partnerships with the best value and cost is the goal.? Everyone is a supplier and everyone is a customer at some level and applying this simple advice can help forge the greatest value for your company.

Plan your work; work your plan -? I have heard this advice over the years from many people I have admired and respected.? It is simple and encompasses everything that best sourcing projects need in two pieces.? 1.? Plan the work (create the project); this involves research and a knowledge of what you are going after that goes beyond a 15 minute Google search.? It means researching the market, indexes, new technologies and trends, new suppliers and new government regulations that may affect your goals.?? Knowing your category allows you to plan the work with measureable milestones teams can follow and be a part of.? 2.? Work the Plan you have created with little exception.? Once you have created the plan for the project, stick to the timelines and employ leverage where you need it to keep projects moving.? Everyone is always going to be overloaded with work, so if you are not the one working your plan every day you will be replaced in our people?s priorities by someone else who is.

Don?t spit in the wind and don?t take any wooden nickels -? I will be honest, I still have no frame of reference by which to link these sage pieces of advice back to the world of procurement, but they both still seem like really, really good ideas.

We, at SafeSourcing, hope your Father?s Day was full of great memories and happy times!? 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 by Mark Davis; Sr. Vice President and COO at SafeSourcing.

Last year I wrote a blog about Father’s Day and this year it means all the more to me so I have decided to refresh and repost it again this year.  I have enjoyed another year of my Father’s sage advice and wisecrack jokes and have graduated from normal Skype to video Skype which has been even better than I could have imagined.  As I reflect on this day it makes me think of all the advice that fathers, mine and millions of others, have given their children over the years and how simple the ideas are and yet at the same time how powerfully applicable to the business world we all live in every day.

In today’s blog I want to go back to some of that advice and see how much value still stands in concepts that are so simple.

If you keep doing the wrong things it WILL catch up with you – So many procurement departments have begun and are being run based on practices and principles that are not only not sound but are potentially damaging to the company.  Having weak supervisory controls for buyers, no or poor management of the company’s contracts, and not researching the background of your suppliers are all things that can leave an organization vulnerable.  Like living without auto, home or medical insurance, in time it will catch up with you even if it has been years since anything bad came as a result.

Treat people as you expect to be treated – The procurement space can be brutal.  Suppliers are trying to deliver value and make money; customers are trying to get as much value as possible while controlling costs.  These two things can often create clashes and tension as both sides work to get the things they want out of a business relationship.  The key that comes here is to remember that the same suppliers you are beating up on price will be the same ones you are asking for rush service and special assistance on down the road.  Creating partnerships with the best value and cost is the goal.  Everyone is a supplier and everyone is a customer at some level and applying this simple advice can help forge the greatest value for your company.

Plan your work; work your plan –  I have heard this advice over the years from many people I have admired and respected.  It is simple and encompasses everything that best sourcing projects need in two pieces.  1.  Plan the work (create the project); this involves research and a knowledge of what you are going after that goes beyond a 15 minute Google search.  It means researching the market, indexes, new technologies and trends, new suppliers and new government regulations that may affect your goals.   Knowing your category allows you to plan the work with measureable milestones teams can follow and be a part of.  2.  Work the Plan you have created with little exception.  Once you have created the plan for the project, stick to the timelines and employ leverage where you need it to keep projects moving.  Everyone is always going to be overloaded with work, so if you are not the one working your plan every day you will be replaced in our people’s priorities by someone else who is.

Don’t spit in the wind and don’t take any wooden nickels –  I will be honest, I still have no frame of reference by which to link these sage pieces of advice back to the world of procurement, but they both still seem like really, really good ideas.

We, at SafeSourcing, hope your Father’s Day was full of great memories and happy times!  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?from our?SafeSourcing?archives

Earlier this week a LinkedIn Post by Gregory Ciotti talked about how Steve Jobs didn?t listen to his customers.? The basis of the statement about Steve Jobs focused on creative and innovative approaches to new ideas that go beyond trying to deliver what customers wanted and onto figuring out what they wanted before they know it.? It wasn?t that Steve Jobs didn?t listen to his customers, he was just focused on the type of feedback we used from them.? Using this approach, Apple and dozens of cutting edge companies like them were able to continue delivering fresh and ground-breaking products to the market that customers couldn?t have talked about wanting in a feedback survey because they had no idea that something was even possible.? They only knew they liked it when they saw it.

Being able to develop new products in a vacuum may work for some companies like Apple, but the majority of companies can?t afford to ignore their customers? ideas and have customer bases that would resent even trying this approach.? That is why finding out what customers (both internal and external) want without directly asking them and then using that feedback to determine where the problems are without relying on them to tell how to resolve those issues is the key to effectively using customer feedback.

Discovering without asking ? The process of uncovering feedback without it being direct is key to getting effective information to improve procurement department?s processes.? When questions are asked that uncover how the customer felt during the process and what worked for them and did not work for them the basis of what the true issues are is developed without asking the customers to begin solving the problems.? Knowing that they were confused with where the priorities of the project fell is the beginning of understanding the issue.? Once the issue is know the procurement team can begin finding the solution to resolve it.

Seeking the issues not the solutions ? This piece goes hand in hand with the point above.? Focus on the details of what didn?t work not on the how to resolve them.? The danger with asking opened ended questions such as ?Did the process work for you??? or ?What can we do differently for you?? is that it instantly puts customers in a mode of trying to deliver a solution to you because their answers will usually be, ?Fix this.? Change this. If only it did this.?? These do not tell what the real issues are the way questions like ?How did you feel when we finished the pre-event kickoff call?? or ?What piece of information on the reporting was the most helpful?? Most confusing?? or even ?Did you understand the RFP result package to the point of having clear next steps???? Answers to these questions can then help the procurement team adjust the things to produce better results.

Prioritize the issues ? As with any process like this, not everyone will be satisfied and not every issue can be resolved immediately.? Coming up with a prioritized approach of dealing with the issues uncovered from customer feedback based on severity and frequency will allow the team to focus their attention on the areas that can make the most impact and show the greatest attention to the customer?s input.

For more information on how we can help you collect and use feedback from your internal and external customers to develop stronger sourcing processes and 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.