Today’s Christmas Eve post from a former associate is from our  SafeSourcing, Inc Archives

As with most children being curious, my 7  year old niece and I were baking cookies last weekend when she said, “Aunt Heather, what do you do for a living? Mommy is a nurse and Daddy is a policeman. What do you do?”

Well, I said, thinking quickly of how to explain what a project manager does in the e-procurement world at SafeSourcing, “I help Santa with getting toys for presents and delivering them to all the children around the world.”
She said, “Aunt Heather, you’re silly! Santa has elves that make the presents, and Santa has reindeer help his pull the sleigh to deliver the presents!”

“Oh Alli, I have to tell you a secret, but you have to promise not to tell a soul what I tell you, ok?” She agrees.

Santa needs help lots and lots of help. Yes, his elves make the homemade toys, but toys like Furbies and Barbie’s have to be made somewhere else and delivered to the North Pole to be wrapped.

With big eyes, she says, “ooohhhh. That makes sense. Elves are mostly boys and boys don’t know anything about Barbies!”

So then I tell her, that Santa comes to me with his list of toys and how many he needs, and it is my job to make sure he buys them all much cheaper than what he can buy them for at the store. In fact, it is my job to make sure all the companies that make and sell the toys compete against each other to make sure Santa gets the best price for them.

“Wow!” she said, you have an important job helping Santa!

I said yes, but that isn’t all I do for Santa. She said really? I said, yes, I help him deliver the presents too. She said, how?

I said that Santa does use his sleigh and reindeer for most of the night, but the reindeer do get tired. So we help Santa by hiring a charter jet to cross the ocean with the presents and reindeer. Saving him money by having the airlines compete against each other to get lower pricing for Santa. This way the reindeer get to rest and Santa can get to the other side of the world much faster.

Also Santa pre-ships the presents to parts of the world to keep the weight down on the sleigh. So we help him with semi-trucks picking up the presents and taking them to all areas of the globe waiting for Santa to pick them up to deliver them to all the boys and girls. I explain to her that this is called transportation logistics. I told her that, like the people who make and sell toys, we ask the trucking companies to compete against each other lowering their prices for gas (fuel rates was too hard to explain to her), and mileage.

My, oh so smart niece, says, “Santa really has a big job to do in one night. He is so lucky he has you to help him!!”

So I ask her, do you understand what I do now?

She said,” yes, you help Santa buy toys and you help him fly across the ocean in an air plane, and you help him ship presents across the world to be picked up and delivered all in one night, AND you save him lots of money!”

So if SafeSourcing can help save Christmas, what can you do to help save you money in your business?

If you’d like to learn more about how SafeSourcing can help energize your self-service program, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services representative.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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

According to a recent article by Thomas Barrabi in the New York Post, Americans will face a record-high cost for a traditional Thanksgiving turkey this fall because of inflation and a shortage caused by bird flu outbreaks.

The cost of turkey hens — the bird that most often appears on Thanksgiving dinner tables — is currently up 57% compared to its five-year average, according to market data from research firm Urner Barry cited by the Wall Street Journal.

Prices have hit their highest level on record. Turkey breast meat has surged to a record of more than $6.50 per pound this year. The same cut cost less than $2 per pound in 2020.

This is another example of prices that do not need to be as high as they are. There are ways to mitigate these costs, but you should have been considering that in February and March. And you should have been engaging SafeSourcing Inc.

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: Thomas Barrabi,  The New York Post

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

According to TRADINGECONOMICS Retail sales in the US surged 1.3% month-over-month in October of 2022, the strongest increase in eight months, after a flat reading in September and beating market forecasts of a 1% gain. Sales at motor vehicle dealers were up 1.3% as supply chain constraints have been easing while rising gasoline costs pushed sales at gasoline stations 4.1% higher. Excluding gasoline and autos, retail sales were up 0.9%. Other increases were also seen for sales at food services and drinking places (1.6%), food and beverages stores (1.4%).

When results for this quarter are reported, we believe margins will also rise when looking at the cost savings we are seeing for our retail customers. If you want better margins and better earnings, maybe it’s time to talk to SafeSourcing about our risk-free trial. Sales up and costs down is a perfect formula

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.

References:

1. TRADINGECONOMICS

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

There is always something. We have been watching as costs for everything continue to rise every month. There seems to be no end to the scary stories we are being told that seem to keep the prices rising and our wallets lighter.

One that has me particularly disappointed is the news coverage about a potential diesel shortage. The facts are minimal, and the stats are carefully selected. Comparisons are not offered nor are typical averages. The headline just tells us we are only have a 25-day supply of diesel. Of course, that is not really true. If you just look past the click bait and breathless recounting of the story, you will see it is nothing to be worried about.

What is worrisome is the effect that could have on already high prices. We all know that everything runs on diesel. America runs on diesel. That means that even a perceived shortage can spike prices (or just justify the already high prices to hold them there).

Regardless of the story and the excuse, when faced with increasing costs we must push back. Our customers have been doing that already and it is more important than ever.

For more information, please contact SafeSourcing.

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

If you drive, then you may have noticed that the fuel prices are starting to rise again.  Over the summer the price of fuel did start to come down because of a variety of price stabilization efforts that seems to have brought us some temporary relief.  One of these efforts was a historic release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.  The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is the world’s largest supply of emergency crude oil and was established primarily to reduce the impact of disruptions in the supply of petroleum products and to help carry out the obligation of the United States under the international energy program.  But now, after three months of fuel prices declining, they are now starting to creep up again.  Part of the reason for this rise in prices is because OPEC recently announced that they are cutting its oil production by two million barrels a day.  According to the Saudi foreign ministry the decision was adopted through a consensus, considered the balance of supply and demand, and was aimed at curbing market volatility.  No matter what the reason is for the cut in production we will see higher prices at the pump.  Below are some actions you can take to try and save some money with the rising fuel prices.

• Fill Up on the Cheapest Days of the Week
• Use Fuel Reward Cards
• Join a Grocery Store Reward Program
• Use a Fuel App to Find Cheapest Locations
• Check Your Fuel Cap and Replace if Broken or Cracked
• Accelerate Slowly when Taking Off
• Do not Speed
• Spend Less Time Idling
• Plan your Routes
• Use Cruise Control on Long Uninterrupted Trips
• Reduce AC Use
• Remove Excess Cargo Weight
• Maintain Correct Tire Pressure

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.