In a recent survey of eight thousand (8,000) adults conducted by Disney Family.com between the 22nd of February and the 17th of March 2008. When asked who should enforce environmentally sound practices? Forty percent of respondents indicated that it should be the government; thirty nine percent indicated that it should be individuals; thirteen percent indicated that it should be businesses and nine percent indicated that it should be the schools. That equals more than one hundred percent based on rounding. The great news is that 100% of the individuals surveyed had an opinion. That’s a step in the right direction for the environment. In question is the fact that forty percent of individuals surveyed defaulted to this being a government responsibility. Did not our sixteenth President of the United States Abraham Lincoln say during his Gettysburg address during November of 1863 that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”?

I believe that it really is about the people. All of the people. I don’t believe that government can do it alone without guidance from the people. I don’t believe that businesses can do it alone without guidance from the government in the form of standards. I don’t believe that people can do it alone without taking it to the work place. And, unless we focus on it in the home and the workplace there is not much schools can do to enforce their environmental educational content. I really believe that their should have been a selection option in this survey stating that it takes all of us working together towards a common good. And, since I have always told my children and co-workers to give more than 100% if they want to be successful, rounding to greater than one hundred percent in this case would have been a win for the environment.

At SafeSourcing we pay it forward every day where the environment is concerned by focusing on the environmental standards of the suppliers in our SafeSourceIt™ supplier database such as Greenstar Certified, LEEDS, Green Seal, and EcoLogo to name a few.

I look forward to your comments.

Ron

The Pet Food Scare. It made me focus. What’s your Story?

It’s been almost 18 months, and my best friend is now over 14 years old. If you just used the common dog year formula of 7 years for every dog year he recently turned one hundred (100). How many of us today would sign up for that age if it was guaranteed to us? I hope I’m this healthy when I reach one hundred (100). Imagine waking up early every morning with the same eager air of anticipation. It’s another great day to look forward to. Have some breakfast, go to the park at the end of the street and then on a mile and a half walk. Have a light snack and something cold to drink when you get home and then take a nap in the warm sun spot coming through the window. This sounds like paradise to me, especially at 100.
Many of you probably have a friend just like this. They may not be as old, but the life you share is just as special to you.
How would you feel if this friend suddenly became violently ill and during the next two weeks lost nearly 20% of their body weight? Pets provide many benefits to humans. They comfort us and they give us companionship. In fact to many of us they are simply our family.
The situation described above is true, and fortunately my friend survived the pet food scare of eighteen months ago that for those of us affected we remember all too clearly. Some of our friends were not as fortunate. This is sad.
It sometimes takes personal incidents to initiate one’s focus on a particular subject. In this case it is safety in the supply chain. As a side note, to date retail sales of pet food have still not totally recovered from this incident. This is also sad.
I look forward to your comments
Ron

The Pet Food Scare. It made me focus. What?s your Story?

It?s been almost 18 months, and my best friend is now over 14 years old. If you just used the common dog year formula of 7 years for every dog year he recently turned one hundred (100). How many of us today would sign up for that age if it was guaranteed to us? I hope I?m this healthy when I reach one hundred (100). Imagine waking up early every morning with the same eager air of anticipation. It?s another great day to look forward to. Have some breakfast, go to the park at the end of the street and then on a mile and a half walk. Have a light snack and something cold to drink when you get home and then take a nap in the warm sun spot coming through the window. This sounds like paradise to me, especially at 100.
Many of you probably have a friend just like this. They may not be as old, but the life you share is just as special to you.
How would you feel if this friend suddenly became violently ill and during the next two weeks lost nearly 20% of their body weight? Pets provide many benefits to humans. They comfort us and they give us companionship. In fact to many of us they are simply our family.
The situation described above is true, and fortunately my friend survived the pet food scare of eighteen months ago that for those of us affected we remember all too clearly. Some of our friends were not as fortunate. This is sad.
It sometimes takes personal incidents to initiate one?s focus on a particular subject. In this case it is safety in the supply chain. As a side note, to date retail sales of pet food have still not totally recovered from this incident. This is also sad.
I look forward to your comments
Ron

Most companies understand that lowering their cost of goods provides the greatest benefit to their bottom line, but they face significant challenges in trying to do so. So, why do some companies succeed while others continue to implement program after program with no measurable benefit. First among these is the recognition that effective e-procurement initiatives like any successful program requires strong support from executive management. This is important because Retail as an industry lags well behind other industries in utilization rates of e-procurement tools. So at a minimum in order to get off on the right foot, this typically means the CEO, CFO, CLO or CPO sponsorship is critical. Once this directive has been issued, the next step is to identify savings targets across all corporate spend categories. Once these targets are identified and ranked, a category specific attack plan can be developed that best maximizes savings opportunities. It is important to note, that savings alone do not create a successful e-procurement plan. What can not be sacrificed in the name of cost reduction is quality, which can include safety as well as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) goals including environmental support programs.

However, a key challenge for any procurement organization directed to implement e-procurement tools across all of their unique spend categories, is to not over complicate the process into something that you can?t maintain. At a high level, the following steps will insure that you are headed down the right path.

Identify all opportunities
Develop a total company strategy
Source qualified suppliers
Negotiate final terms
Award of business
Contract completion
Results Analysis

Most quality e-procurement organizations have well developed plans that will aid you in implementing your best practices while maintaining quality and supporting your CSR initiatives.

I look forward to your comments.

Ron

A ccording to sources such as Wikipedia and others, a Request for Information (RFI) is a standard business process whose purpose is to collect written information about the capabilities of various suppliers. Normally it follows a format that can be used for comparative purposes.

So a Request for Information (RFI) is primarily used to gather information to help companies make a decision on what steps to take next. RFI?s are therefore most often the first stage in the procurement process particularly with new sources of supply. They are used in combination with: Requests for Quote (RFQ), Requests for Tender (RFT), and Requests for Proposal (RFP). In addition to gathering basic information, an RFI is often used as a solicitation sent to a broad base of potential suppliers for the purpose of preparing a supplier?s thought process in preparing for a Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Tender (RFT) in the government sector, or a Request for Proposal (RFP).

Much of the data required for an RFI is generally available and can be found on company websites, U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings for publicly traded companies in their Edgar system, industry guides from companies like Trade Dimensions, or from sources like Dun and Bradstreet.

The challenge for most companies is that they do not have the necessary resources to complete this research. Therefore providers of supplier data should be able to make this data available in templates that companies can begin with. Simple data should always be available in any database as to Company Name, Annual Sales, Product category expertise, contact information, e-procurement experience and product specifications. This data should be easily exportable to a variety of formats such as MSFT Excel.

A simple request of your e-procurement supplier should get you well on your way to completed RFI?s that lead to quality RFP?s and RFQ?s without spending a lot of your valuable time on basic research. If they do not, we?d be glad to hear from you.

I look forward to your comments.

Ron

According to the king of all wikis, Wikipedia; a wiki is a collection of web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites. For example, the collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia is one of the best-known wikis. Wikis are used in businesses to provide affordable and effective intranets and for knowledge management. Ward Cunningham, developer of the first wiki, originally described it as “the simplest online database that could possibly work”.

“Wiki? is a reduplication of “wiki”, a Hawaiian word for “fast”. It has been suggested that “wiki” means “What I Know Is”.

So, what is a SafeSourcing Wiki? Since SafeSourcing is a company dedicated to retail e-procurement that is safety in the supply chain and to environmental consciousness, it makes sense that the SafeSourcing Wiki would be a specialized wiki ( in this case retail e-procurement) that concentrates at a minimum on any or all of the following.

1. Retail procurement terms and links.
2. Safety standards and definitions and links.
3. Environmental certifications and definitions and links.
4. Educational content for procurement and supply chain professionals.
5. Procurement templates for commonly sourced products and services.

The nice thing about wikis is that the definitions are not static. Authorized users can add to definitions or add definitions and terms as well as rate the site. In this way a body of work can grow from the contribution of all users and help to provide a reliable source of data for professionals in a specialized field.

Please feel free to visit the safesourcing wiki regularly and offer your comments, terms, definitions and suggestions. This section of the SafeSourcing website is free tool, and it is for your use as a procurement and supply chain professional, the most difficult job in retail.

I look forward to your comments.

Ron

I love it when I open the paper in the morning and read something like “What’s Big Green and Found All Over” that’s exactly the title of the lead article in the Business Section of The Arizona Republic yesterday Tuesday May 27th 2008 by Cathryn Creno. An accompanying article titled “Chains sold on Green” also written by Cathryn Creno details how retailers embrace energy efficiency. The environment wins twice in one day. We must be making progress. Areas of focus within the article are Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED, the EPA’s Retail energy Star program, and the EPA’s retail Green Power Partnership list.

A couple of other certifications that retailers may want to pay attention too are Green Seal www.greenseal.org .Green Seal works with manufacturers, industry sectors, purchasing groups, and governments at all levels to “green” the production and purchasing chain. Green Seal utilizes a life-cycle approach, which means they evaluate a product or service beginning with material extraction, continuing with manufacturing and use, and ending with recycling and disposal. EcoLogo www.ecologo.org . is also worthy of consideration and is North America’s most widely recognized and respected certification of environmental leadership. By setting standards and certifying products in more than 120 categories, EcoLogo helps you identify, trust, buy, and sell environmentally preferable (“green”) goods and services. Both of these certifications are included in the SafeSourceIt™ North American supplier database as one of our supplier certification standards

Personally and for Safesourcing I would like to offer congratulations to the following retailers. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Whole foods Market Inc., J.C. Penney Co. Inc., Kohl’s Corp., and Safeway Inc. You all serve as a wonderful example of leading the charge in what we all can do towards leaving a better world for our children and theirs.

I look forward to your comments.

Ron

I love it when I open the paper in the morning and read something like ?What?s Big Green and Found All Over? that?s exactly the title of the lead article in the Business Section of The Arizona Republic yesterday Tuesday May 27th 2008 by Cathryn Creno. An accompanying article titled ?Chains sold on Green? also written by Cathryn Creno details how retailers embrace energy efficiency. The environment wins twice in one day. We must be making progress. Areas of focus within the article are Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED, the EPA?s Retail energy Star program, and the EPA?s retail Green Power Partnership list.

A couple of other certifications that retailers may want to pay attention too are Green Seal www.greenseal.org .Green Seal works with manufacturers, industry sectors, purchasing groups, and governments at all levels to “green” the production and purchasing chain. Green Seal utilizes a life-cycle approach, which means they evaluate a product or service beginning with material extraction, continuing with manufacturing and use, and ending with recycling and disposal. EcoLogo www.ecologo.org . is also worthy of consideration and is North America?s most widely recognized and respected certification of environmental leadership. By setting standards and certifying products in more than 120 categories, EcoLogo helps you identify, trust, buy, and sell environmentally preferable (?green?) goods and services. Both of these certifications are included in the SafeSourceIt? North American supplier database as one of our supplier certification standards

Personally and for Safesourcing I would like to offer congratulations to the following retailers. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Whole foods Market Inc., J.C. Penney Co. Inc., Kohl?s Corp., and Safeway Inc. You all serve as a wonderful example of leading the charge in what we all can do towards leaving a better world for our children and theirs.

I look forward to your comments.

Ron

Most of us have heard these three words many times before, and most of us have the same reaction when we see them in print. ?Oh, I?ve heard of that.? The funny thing is once you start to focus on them, the way you do things begin to change. When you leave a room you look to make sure all the lights are off. When you?re shaving in the morning, you fill the sink and don?t just stand there with the water running. You really do start to segment your trash into separate containers. By the way, did you know that in Japan they actually have someone that works daily in their apartment buildings to separate the trash after you do to make sure you go it separated properly? That?s having a commitment. I think more and more each day about my personal carbon footprint and how I can leverage those thoughts in our business with suppliers and retailers.

My granddaughter was in town visiting for the Memorial Day weekend and leaving a better world to live in just seems that much more important every time I see her. So in trying to come up with an idea for today?s blog, I was getting ready to go out for my daily run when I remembered an interesting article called Mr. Greenshoes in my Running Times magazine. It talked about going beyond being passionate about your own personal fitness to being equally passionate about the health of mother earth.

There was some excellent information about what some running shoe companies are doing to reuse old running shoes. There is the Nike ?Reuse-A-Shoe? program. They regrind the shoes and use them for sport courts and tracks for the economically disadvantaged. This is a much better story than the subject of my blog on May 14th ?How safe are we?? where I discussed the health risks associated with artificial turf. Additionally, Brooks Sports has started to produce their new shoe boxes with 100% post-consumer/production recycled content. The graphics on these boxes are printed with vegetable based ink, as are the labels which are made from recycled paper. These are just examples of how two companies clearly understand the importance of paying it forward for the next generation. We should honor manufacturers and suppliers like this with our business and our recommendation to others.

What can your company do?

I look forward to your comments.

Ron

With gas prices approaching $4.00 per gallon (and that?s economy fuel) it may be time to figure out how to save pennies that you might not have focused on historically in order to continue working with your legacy fuel suppliers. Are you aware of other sources of supply? Is it possible to save a few pennies per gallon by making your suppliers compete for your business?

When the price of oil goes up, and today crude futures retreated slightly after topping 135 U.S. dollars a barrel for the first time; we hear mostly about the price of our gas at the pump. In the U.S. we don?t expect to pay this much for that precious commodity we all need in order to get to work, drive the kids to all of their activities, buy groceries, go to the doctor, and when time permits enjoy our leisure activities. What we don?t hear a lot about is the price of all the related fuel products like diesel, kerosene or jet fuel. The truth is they are all going up.

In our SafeSourceIt? North American supplier database there are 3,292 U.S. suppliers in the major category fuel. This data can be further filtered into sub categories such as kerosene, diesel etc. Data can then filtered by region, zip code and a variety of other classifications. The same data is available for Canada and Mexico.

With the availability of this type of data, retailers may be able to reduce or hold their fuel prices. In most cases fuel either directly or indirectly represents one of many retailers top spend categories. Watching rack rates daily and having new sources of supply that are also trying to survive compete for your business provides a formula for saving pennies and takes the emotion out of the decision making process. In the food industry where net profit regularly runs at 1% or less pennies add up.

I know I?d go to a pump that was priced at $3.99 per gallon instead of one next to it priced at $4.00.

I look forward to your comments

Ron