Have you ever had a best friend? Many people can never really say that they have. You may have family, friends, acquaintances and a variety of close relationships, but a best friend is something special and elusive. It is an unconditional acceptance of oneself by another and visa versa.? A best friend does not need to be another person. It is just an entity that understands you, listens to you, looks forward to being with you and generally gets excited when you are around and conversely is upset when you are not around.

The above is exactly the relationship I have or had with my dog Riley. Riley was born on The 25th of January in 1994. We found him at a store called Jacks Aquarium. Riley is a big boy at 52 pounds and being half chow and half golden retriever looks very much like the lion king. I think Riley picked us more than we picked him. We were a sad family at the time having lost my children?s childhood dog Ishi and then relocating to somewhere my family nor I? wanted to move to shortly afterwards. I really think he knew he could help us. So when my oldest daughter Tara picked this little ball of fur up, he pooped on her foot and it was at that minute that I knew he was ours and would become my very best friend. His mom named him on the way home because she wanted him to live the life of Riley for those that remember that TV show. And he did.

Riley really was a wonder dog. He house trained (potty trained) himself in two days and learned very early on that our clawless cat Ginger could box him silly if he messed around with her to much. It was just a pleasure to watch him do what he did as he grew. Riley loved to walk. In many cases he went twice a day about a mile and a half each time regardless of weather. We even made snow angels together and hid under trees during a severe storm one time. I?m sure that the many miles both my wife and I walked with him helped us physically and emotionally. Riley loved to go to the ?The Creek? on a car ride every Saturday regardless of the weather. He knew that in addition to the ride and walk that he would get to eat Jack?s Links Beef Jerky on the way home and he still does to this day. No boring biscuits for this boy, he wants his Jerky. At seven years old, Riley lost his eye sight to glaucoma; he had such beautiful golden eyes. I knew he would still want to be good looking for the girls so I had his eyes replaced with fake ones. After all an intact male dog does not need to see to perform at his best, but he does need to be good looking. Several years later Riley lost one of those eyes and has had only one since. The best line we ever hear is from small kids that say something like; ?does the other one work?? At nine years old, Riley and his mom and Dad (me) moved to Arizona and left his sisters Tara and Meri behind. This was really hard on Riley, but every time he heard their voices on the phone or saw them during a visit he would go crazy because he loved them so.

?During his years in Arizona Riley found wonderful places to walk including a big lake he called the fountain. It did take him a while to remember not to stray from the path because of Cacti (ouch). Remember he is blind. During Riley?s life in Arizona he was a victim of the pet food issue that killed thousands of dogs and cats across the country because of melamine. (This actually was one of the motivations for my company SafeSourcing) He lost a lot of weight and we thought we would lose him but this boy is a fighter. He has however never eaten dog food again. He loves tuna, chicken, hamburger, steak and most anything we eat for dinner which he dutifully eats along with us at my feet every night. When Riley was 13 he got to take a car trip across the country to visit his old haunts in Ohio. He absolutely hated the scenery on the car ride and could not wait to get to his hotel room each night for dinner, jerky and some well earned sleep. Riley remained very healthy for most of his life until he turned fifteen. The last year has been tough as he has had a number of issues but has fought his way back each time. In fact he is asleep at my feet as I write this short tribute. He does not know what is going to happen tomorrow, in fact at the moment I?m not sure he is aware of much as the steroids are what keep him with us at this point. He does know that it seems to be raining today which does not happen in the desert very often. I?m glad he can not see because he would know it is my tears that are falling gently on him as we hug for one of the last times.

I?m still praying for a miracle but not holding out much hope. During his last rebound over Thanksgiving we had one last walk to the park where he told off another large dog that thought it was now his park. He had not been able to be there in months. I will miss my walks and rides into the desert with the top down. I will miss him sleeping beside my bed at night. I will miss him sleeping at my feet in my office while I work. I will miss how he intelligently finds his way around the house without eyesight. I will miss how he can find Jerky on the other side of the room. I will miss talking to him when I?m lonely. But most of all I will miss that he misses me when I?m gone whether it is for a minute or a month. That?s because we are best friends and we love each other.

So, good by my dear best?friend your mom, sisters Tara and Meri, granddaughter Sammi and brother Ryan all miss you already. I however miss you most of all and always will. You are my best friend and my son. Until we meet again run free you now have you sight back.

Your Dad loves you most of all?and will never be the same again.

I know many will not read this. If you do and want to comment, find someone you love and hug them first. I hope you have a best friend like this some day.

Comments welcome.

Riley on a Car Ride.

CSR is subject to a lot of debate as to whether there it has a strong business case. This author and many others argue that corporations benefit in multiple ways by operating with a broader perspective that will produce longer term benefits than their immediate, short-term profits. Others continue to argue that CSR distracts from the fundamental economic role of businesses.

In support of a well established CSR program, a 2008 study indicated that twenty six (26) percent of consumers indicated they planned to be consciously greener during the next year. Thirty four (34) percent indicated they would even be willing to pay more for it. These numbers continue to trend upward.

While many continue to minimize the impact of a well thought out CSR program, successful companies are building and measuring the impact of these programs with an increased focus on energy, waste, construction, carbon footprint, products, charitable giving, community action, food safety and the intersection of all of these components on their enterprise consituatants.

At the center of a good CSR program, is the ability to hold suppliers and other trading partners accountable to the same standards a company has set for itself. This however can not come at additional cost. As such, procurement solution providers play a huge part in ensuring that the following listed items are not only part of a well constructed CSR program, but are also included in the CSR programs or initiatives of your incumbent suppliers and potential new sources of supply. The following questions then become a good cross reference point as to what should be in your CSR program as well as that of your collaborating business partners.

1. What percentages of the products you carry are green or have undergone reformulation to make them more environmentally friendly?
2. Are you using reusable bags as a way to defer plastics from our landfills?
3. What are your utility reduction plans?
4. Do you have an energy reclamation plan?
5. Do you have a renewable energy program?
6. How are you or your suppliers making your fleets more efficient?
7. Are your new construction projects LEED certified?
8. What are your outbound or community education plans?
9. What community programs do you support?
10. What is your charitable giving program?
11. Do you have a CSR committee?
12. What are your product recall procedures?
13. How do you support product traceability?
14. What are your plans to protect your customers from food born illness?
15. Do you have a company certification cross reference map in place?

Ask your solution provider how they can assist you with this process.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

Evidently at least 46 people have been affected with two resulting in two deaths to date in a new E.coli out break linked to ground beef produced by Fairbank Farms of New York. Fairbanks recalled over a half million pounds of its product on October 31st.

The issue now gets tricky for the CDC, involved retailers and Fairbanks of finding why and where the outbreak took place so as to not have it happen again. This may even involve tracing the product beyond the distributor. As such the proper traceability standards are still not in place to make this an easy task if required.

Precautions that procurement professionals can take to make sure they have necessary safeguards in place when buying meat products is to check the certifications their incumbent or future suppliers have on file? These may differ depending on the country of origin. Certainly SQF and GFSI certifications should be in place. Other potential certifications might include ISO 22000 as well as American Humane Certified, Certified Humane Raised & Handled and others. This should be a requirement of all supplier databases as well as the most recent certification dates and other practices that suppliers and processors may have in place that will mitigate risk that could lead to the cause of future outbreaks.

While meat products are a major contributor to E.coli outbreaks, other areas causing outbreaks? can be person to person contact, lake water and animal contact to name a few.

We appreciate and look forward to your comments

There are several important elements to understanding retail competitive bidding when using e-negotiation tools.

Competitive bidding is the process of inviting and obtaining bids from competing suppliers in response to documented specifications, by which an award is made to the best overall bid that meets or exceeds the specifications in areas such as price and quality. The process contemplates giving potential bidders a reasonable opportunity to bid, and requires that all bidders be placed on an equal playing field. Ideally each supplier must bid on the same documented specifications, terms, and conditions for all the items. However breaking out individual line items that a specialty supplier can provide bids for can help to reduce the opportunity for suppliers to manage the overall gross margin of their bids and drive higher savings. The purpose of competitive bidding is to stimulate competition, prevent favoritism, and secure the best goods and services at the lowest possible price, for the benefit of the host Retailer. Competitive bidding cannot occur where specifications, terms, or conditions prevent or unduly restrict competition, favor a particular supplier, or increase the cost of goods or services without providing a corresponding tangible benefit for the host Retailer.

As always, we look forward to and appreciate your comments.

A discussion followed relative to incumbent suppliers vs. new sources of supply. In general most vendors in the space would come up with many of the same points listed below. Please read on.

SafeSourcing Inc. places a great deal of value in our SafeSourceIt? North American Retail Supplier Database of over 250,000 suppliers located in Mexico, Canada the United States and China. Additionally we also place a great deal of value on each individual supplier regardless of size. We believe that well thought out next generation e-procurement tools can provide significant benefits to buyers and suppliers whether they are hosting or participating in e-procurement events.

Some but certainly not all benefits that suppliers can anticipate from SafeSourcing are:

1. An easy to use e-procurement tool limited to a single page view where a supplier can be completely comfortable that their company?s best foot is being put forward to the soliciting company.

2. An increase in new business opportunities through engagements they would otherwise not be exposed to.

3. Clean data about the soliciting company and an accurate listing of their event guidelines, specifications, terms, conditions and other information necessary to build an accurate and successful pricing strategy.

4. Best practice training in event participation and strategy development.

5. A clear focus on what?s important beyond price in next generation e-procurement tools such as supplier safety certifications and practices as well as their environmental programs that will differentiate them from other suppliers.

6. Closed loop reporting of results of the specific e-procurement event a supplier participates in as well as a detailed supplier feedback questionnaire report.

7. Significant time savings associated with new business development that becomes more and more costly as fuel and other prices continue to rise.

8. Industry pricing trends extrapolated from their view of low quote information during the event if allowed by the soliciting company.

9. Use of these tools for their own procurement needs.

We appreciate and look forward to your comments.

The other day while I was mowing the lawn, a man pulled up to ask if he could take some logs that had been stacked by the curb to use as firewood. We started talking and the conversation was pretty typical for two people that had never met. Then, it took an interesting turn when I mentioned that I had been up at the high school football game and had a burger there.

The man then began talking about E. coli and how he does not trust the grocers to provide him with safe meat. He actually went on to tell me that his son is a chef who grinds his own meat. Not just that, the man actually went on to name a retailer where he bought ground beef that he claimed gave his wife food poisoning.

This conversation, albeit brief, was very interesting to me. At SafeSourcing, we are very aware of product safety issues and the ramifications of unsafe products. To this man, his fear of the meat was based on his distrust of the supply chain. He struck a chord with me when he mentioned that he had no idea where his meat comes from.

Can this man?s concerns be managed? Through traceability, the products you offer could be proven to be safe. Retailers must be aware of their entire supply chain and the product safety procedures in place at each point. Here again, it is fair to ask; what certifications do your suppliers hold? Clearly, when these product safety questions arise such as an outbreak of E. coli, only a relatively small portion of the product is affected. With the technology available today, retailers should be able to defend their products against this type of concern.

If you don?t think this is important, ask yourself this question: How many other people did he tell?

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.