Brand/Current name or equal specification

July 24th, 2023

Do manufacturers deliberately make it difficult for you to source comparable products?

 

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

Do manufacturers deliberately make it difficult for you to source comparable products?

They really try to. It is like our comes in a seventeen-ounce bottle and fits better on your shelving than their twenty-ounce bottle. How many examples can you come up with? The fact is if you do not understand how to use Brand name or equal in your sourcing, Current, or equal and have the right responses for vendor participants, you will always pay more for your products. Please read on to understand the subtle difference in a Brand/Current Name or equal specification.

Brand name or equal specification is a specification that uses one or more manufacturer’s brand names or catalog numbers to describe the standards of quality, performance and other characteristics needed to meet the requirements of a solicitation and provide for the submission of equivalent products.  In addition, a brand name or equal specification could often obtain a competitive edge by basing a bid on an equal product which is less expensive than the brand-named product specified.

SafeSourcing is an eprocurement company that operates across multiple industries. As such we have specific experience in almost any commodity, service or capital related spend. Our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database has over 500,000 suppliers that make Brand/Current or equal sourcing easy to accomplish. You are probably paying too much for about everything. To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

 

 

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E-Procurement

July 21st, 2023

How does your procurement department define E-Procurement today?

 

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

How does your procurement department define E-Procurement today?

The following is a generally good definition of E-Procurement. However, complete SaaS offered end to end solutions have continued to evolve over the years. Often solutions today are used across multiple solution providers as they can be turned on and turned off and integrated in a truly brief period.

eProcurement is a business to business exchange of goods or services facilitated by the internet. A complete set of e-procurement tools can include products for management of correspondence, bids, questions and answers, previous pricing, contracts and email. Although many Enterprise Resource Planning suites offere-procurementsolutions, the current generation of software is typically purchased on-demand or as software-as-a-service (SaaS). Elements of e-procurement can include request for information (RFI), request for proposal (RFP), and request for quotation (RFQ), which together are categorized as “RFX”.

If you’d like to learn more about SafeSourcing’s additional E-Procurement solutions that are part of our SaaS offered esourcing suite like SafeContract™, SafePO™, SafeContract™ and the SafeSourceIt™ Supplier Database please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

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Indirect Goods and Services!

July 20th, 2023

Do you have a handle on your indirect spend?

 

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

Are you working to control all costs. Simply, that would be Cost of Goods which impacts your gross margin. Or it could be indirect spend that will impact net earnings. Or are you focused on capital, which is really the spending controlled by the emperor. Minus the humor, you should be focused on all three if you want to please all stake holders.

So, what is indirect spend?

Indirect goods and services are any purchases that do not end up in the product or service delivered to the customer. These are not only necessary expenditures to support the deliverable product or service but are also shared across the entire business organization. Examples of indirect goods and services might be interest expense, depreciation expense, costs associated with preparing and presenting proposals, administrative expenses, etc.

Here are some indirect items in retail that are all showing surprising reductions in cost right now.

  1. Lawncare
  2. Firewood
  3. Cleaning Services
  4. Waste Removal
  5. Ice Programs
  6. Beer Caves
  7. Facia
  8. Lighting
  9. Floor Tiles
  10. Ceiling Tile

SafeSourcing is an eprocurement company that operates across multiple industries. As such we have specific experience in almost any commodity, service or capital related spend. Our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database has over 500,000 suppliers that can reduce your costs today. You are paying too much for about everything. To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

 

 

 

 

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Bargaining Power

July 19th, 2023

Do you really have any bargaining power. Probably more than you think.

 

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

Bargaining power is the power which one party may have to influence another in a negotiation. Through negotiation, companies will work together in collective bargaining to increase their bargaining power by increasing their purchase sizes.  In addition, a party’s bargaining power is a key factor in determining whether or not trade occurs and how the value created is distributed. Other factors that may affect bargaining power include buyer’s leverage and the marketplace.

It’s often surprising to our customers when the run an online RFQ or Reverse Auction as to the amount of savings they achieve. Every customer or prospect tells us that they are very skilled at negotiating and get the best prices available in the market. They often assume this based on their size, industry status, relationships, and a myriad of other reasons. They are always wrong. I tell small chains that they can get the same prices as large chains about always. Ok, maybe not Walmart or Amazon prices, but close if not the same.

They real key to getting the best price and terms is to have a large number of suppliers that want your business and have the capacity to service you. Most buyers are not aware of the number of suppliers that are available to bid for their business, and how to leverage them for the best price. At SafeSourcing we use our SafeSourceIt™ eProcrement tools that encourage behavior based on a variety of settings. In a recent food related event, we invited thirty suppliers to participate. Some were local, others national and others regional. All wanted the business, and our customer is willing to change suppliers if needed.

SafeSourcing is an eProcurement company that operates across multiple industries. As such we have specific experience in almost any commodity, service or capital related spend. Our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database is an often-used to assist companies in finding vendors that want to bid for your business, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

 

 

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Want to make your smart thermostat even smarter at home and the office?  

July 18th, 2023

A few years back I wrote a BLOG about smart thermostats.

 

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

A few years back I wrote a BLOG about smart thermostats.  In this Blog I wanted to touch base on something that you can do to make your house even more comfortable if you have a smart thermostat or are thinking of purchasing one.  A friend of mine told me about these add on sensors that you can purchase for some smart thermostats that allows you to help control the temperatures in other rooms of the house that may be warmer, or cooler based on their location.  Using these sensors, you can let your thermostat know which room or rooms should be at a certain temperature at certain times of the day.  All you have to do is place the sensor in the desired room either by hanging it on the wall or placing it on a shelf or table.  You can have multiple sensors throughout the house and prioritize each sensor using the app.  For example, if you work from home and your home office is too hot or cold during the day you can set the temperature and time for that sensor and the thermostat located elsewhere will use that sensor and make the temperature in that room the temperature that you programmed.  You can then have another sensor in your bedroom and program that sensor for a certain temperature at night and the thermostat will adjust so that the temperature in that room is set at the programmed temperature for comfortable sleeping.  And like I stated in the last BLOG, using a smart thermostat and these sensors can save you approximately 20% on your heating and cooling.  Below are some other benefits of a using smart thermostat.

Benefits of a Smart Thermostat

  • Save a lot of Money.
  • Reduce Energy Use which saves more money.
  • Control Remotely
  • Displays Energy Consumption in Real Time

At SafeSourcing, we can gather all the necessary information for you and help you decide what thermostat fits you or  or our businesses  needs as well as any other area of your energy costs.

 

If you would like more information on how SafeSourcing can help you, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative.  We have an entire team ready to assist you t

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Who you going to call?

July 17th, 2023

Have you tried reaching any companies lately?

 

Today’s blog is by Margaret Stewart, Director of HR, and Administration at SafeSourcing

In any business-to-business company, you can expect to be in constant communication with those organizations you rely on. You may even know many people well and might know their numbers from memory. A company like SafeSourcing is no exception. We often are emailing and calling other companies a significant amount of time.

One trend many of us have begun noticing, and you may have noticed this as well, is that a lot of companies no longer provide phone numbers or email addresses to reach them. While I certainly understand the workforce required to answer so many calls and emails, it can lead to some frustration when you are unable to reach someone.

This is surprisingly true oftentimes of sales as well. In order to be able to sell a product or service, consumers and other organizations must be able to reach you. While there may not always be a sale at the end of a conversation, there absolutely cannot be a sale if that conversation never takes place.

Having people available to answer inquiries can set your organization apart. It not only demonstrates that you care about those trying to reach you, but also provides an opportunity to gain more business. Most marketing companies find ways to promote an organization and increase traffic to sites or stores in the hopes that business can expand, so why not provide every opportunity to reach those people.

If you are having trouble reaching companies or if you simply need help with your own procurement team, SafeSourcing is always available for a phone call or email and can help you get to the right person for what you need.

For more information on what the SafeSourcing team can offer you, or on our Risk Free trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative. We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

 

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Overcoming Short Supply

July 14th, 2023

With the ever increasing and frustrating situation with supply chain interruptions, many of us are wondering what can be done?

 

Today’s blog is by Margaret Stewart, Director of HR, and Administration at SafeSourcing Inc.

With the ever increasing and frustrating situation with supply chain interruptions, many of us are wondering what can be done?

Most likely you have seen some shortage of good or supply lately. If not, you may have at least noticed prices going higher and higher. Prices go higher as demand gets higher, and demand gets higher as availability goes does. But as we are seeing now, sometimes there simply just is not any of what we are looking for. This is when having a strategic sourcing partner, like SafeSourcing, can help.

SafeSourcing can help your organization find alternatives to what you are looking for or even come up with plans to obtain the supplies or services you need. For example, collaborating with other organizations can provide a greater buying opportunity for you since it will increase, often dramatically, the volume of the item to be bought. This in turn provides a selling opportunity for a manufacturer or distributor that may have otherwise not been able.

Finding alternatives is another fantastic way to source the goods or services you need. For example, if you need honey, you may not be able to get imported honey you have in the past, but you may be able to source it locally. This adds another benefit of keeping business and revenues local and supporting the investment of a community.

Another option is to find items that are comparable. While this is trickier than the other methods, it can still greatly benefit an organization. For example, if 12-ounce plastic bottles are proving difficult to source, you may weigh the costs and benefits of looking at either a ten ounce or 16-ounce bottle. Sometimes the price difference covers the additional cost of product in those bottles.

For more information on what the SafeSourcing team can offer you, or on our Risk-Free trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative. We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

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So just what is Open Sourcing?

July 13th, 2023

I’m betting not too many can answer this without looking it up!

 

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

I’m betting not too many can answer this without looking it up! See, it did not even have to do with procurement, but does make it much easier for companies like SafeSourcing to grow without the need for a huge development staff. We are an open-source user and it save both SafeSourcing and our customers money.

The term open-sourcing is the act of releasing previously proprietary software under an open source/free software license.  Open sourcing also refers to any program which the source is made available for modification as developers use to fit their needs.  Another term related to open-sourcing is Open Source. Open Source is a certification owned by the Open-Source Initiative (OSI).  The purpose of the OSI is giving the developers of the software the ability to redistribute with the OSI trademark. Before the developers could redistribute with the OSI trademark, they must meet the requirements of the OSI.

SafeSourcing is an eprocurement company that operates across multiple industries. As such we have specific experience in almost any commodity, service or capital related spend including software and development costs. Our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database is an often used to help companies find open-source companies for their own use. To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

 

 

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Ten intangibles we bring to the table from our associates in a recent internal survey!

July 12th, 2023

What would your employees say about your company, and how can you take advantage of how ours feel?

 

 

Todays post is from Ron Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing.

I am very proud of the results of a recent internal survey that identified 80 intangibles that our employees and management believe SafeSourcing brings to our customers. Here are ten that have a great impact on our customers.

  1. SafeSourcing’s staff is passionate about Saving Companies money.
  2. SafeSourcing is willing to develop new solutions or strategies to meet our client’s needs.
  3. SafeSourcing’s staff is willing to put in the extra effort needed to meet our client’s timelines.
  4. SafeSourcing’s employees bring extreme category knowledge to all events they execute.
  5. SafeSourcing develops and provides detailed custom reporting on complex events.
  6. SafeSourcing works to keep our costs low so we can offer an extremely competitive pricing.
  7. SafeSourcing’s white glove customer service is second to none.
  8. SafeSourcing’s leadership team truly cares about the wellbeing of their employees.
  9. SafeSourcing truly cares about sourcing safe products and services.
  10. SafeSourcing is committed to continuous improvement and desires to lead our industry.

If you would like more information on how SafeSourcing can help you improve your sourcing results,  or to learn more about our risk free trial, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Services representative.

We have an entire team anxious to assist you.

 

 

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Seller-Driven Auctions

July 11th, 2023

What is a seller driven auction and how can it help your bottom line?

 

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

At SafeSourcing we run many seller driven auctions. These may come in handy as the supply chain loosens and retailer realize they have way overbought and have backrooms full of dated products. We actually use our Forward Auction Tool from our SafeSourceIt™eProcurement Platform. This is also a great way to reduce SHRINK which I have written about in the past

A seller-drive auction is an auction where sellers post goods for sale and buyers will bid on them. A good example of a seller-driven auction would be eBay©. A seller would place a particular item that they want to sell online, and buyers wanting to purchase that item will place bids trying to ultimately win the auction for the product (s).

SafeSourcing is an eprocurement company that operates across multiple industries. As such we have specific experience in almost any commodity, service or capital related spend. Our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database has over 500,000 suppliers including companies that often bid on aged inventory. You are probably sitting on quite a bit of inventory right now. To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

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