Importers Self-Assessment Program (ISA)

July 8th, 2022

How do you evaluate your vendor/supplier import partners?

 

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

How do you evaluate your vendor/supplier import partners? Sometimes it is interesting to compare your view to their own. The ISA is a voluntary program that you might suggest for your import partners.

ISA is a voluntary approach to trade compliance that originated from the passage of the Customs Modernization Act (Customs Mod Act) in 1993 as it ushered in an era of new partnership concepts between the importing community and the United States Customs Service (Customs and Border Protection – CBP). The program provides the opportunity for importers who have made a commitment of resources to assume responsibility for monitoring their own compliance in exchange for benefits. The ISA program offers benefits that can be tailored to industry needs and requires that importers demonstrate readiness to assume responsibilities for managing and monitoring their own compliance through self-assessment.

1 Purpose: The ISA program is built on the knowledge, trust, and willingness to maintain an ongoing Customs and Border Protection (CBP)/importer relationship that is mutually beneficial to both parties. CBP’s goal is to partner with importers who can demonstrate their readiness to assume the responsibility to manage and monitor their compliance through self-assessment. Importers who are accepted into the ISA program receive tangible benefits, while allowing CBP to re-direct valuable resources to focus on high-risk and unknown importers.

2 Background: The passage of the Customs Modernization Act (Customs Mod Act) in 1993 ushered in an era of new partnership concepts between the importing community and the United States Customs Service (Customs and Border Protection – CBP). Under the Mod Act, CBP and the importer share the responsibility for compliance with trade laws and regulations. The importer is responsible for using reasonable care when declaring the value, classification, rate of duty applicable to entered merchandise, and CBP is responsible for informing the importer of its rights and responsibilities under the law.

3 Program Overview: The ISA program is a voluntary approach to trade compliance. It is built on knowledge, trust, and a willingness to maintain an ongoing CBP/importer relationship. The ISA program offers meaningful benefits that can be tailored to industry needs and requires that importers demonstrate readiness to assume responsibilities for managing and monitoring their own compliance through self-assessment.

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 holds import and supplier vendors accountable to 100’s of certifications. To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

 

References: Http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/trade/trade_programs/importer_self_assessment/isa_hb.ctt/isa_hb.pdf 

 

 

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Event Review Time

July 7th, 2022

What is your practice when you conclude an eProcurement event?

 

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

This is step six of the SafeSourceIt™ white glove project plan SaaS offering with the very first item being to Send Vendor Thank You and Customer Survey Links. The reason we return better results that anyone in our space is our thorough and well tested process.

The Event Review Time indicates how much time, beyond the close of the event, that the event host and sourcing partner reserve the right to re-open the event. Also known as the “validation period”, this time is used to review all the details of the event to ensure there were no technical difficulties and /or that the system accepted all quotes, as appropriate. The event review time requires each participant to be available, via telephone, during the event review time. If a participant has not heard from the sourcing partner within this time, then the event is considered closed. The results will be reviewed by the host, who will decide on the award of business.

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™ white glove project plan continually delivers savings more than 24% greater than you can achieve on your own. To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

 

 

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Organic Certification

July 5th, 2022

So much has happened with local farming.....

 

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

So much has happened with local farming and so much sourcing is local. Are your local and national suppliers adhering to the same certifications.

An Organic Certification is given by National Organic Program (NOP) which is a USDA accredited agent. Each of these certifying agents is authorized to issue an Organic Certificate to operations that comply with the USDA organic regulations. The NOP is a regulatory program housed within the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. They are responsible for developing national standards for organically-produced agricultural products. The standards assure consumers that products with the USDA organic seal meet consistent, uniform standards.

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 requires our suppliers to adhere to a number of certifications including Organic Certification.  To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

Source: usda.gov

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Human Resource Management or HRM Spend!

July 1st, 2022

 

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

When was the last time you reviewed the spend in your HR Department?

Frequently some of the largest savings come from this department across all industries. Just think about the areas of spend the control from Payroll Processing, Hotel, Rental Cars, Travel Management Software, translation services and many more. You are paying too much for about everything.

Human resource management (HRM, or simply HR) is the management of an organization’s workforce, or human resources. It is responsible for the attraction, selection, training, assessment, and rewarding of employees, while also overseeing organizational leadership and culture and ensuring compliance with employment and labor laws. In circumstances where employees desire and are legally authorized to hold a collective bargaining agreement, HR will typically also serve as the company’s primary liaison with the employees’ representatives (usually a labor union).

HR is a product of the human relations movement of the early 20th century, when researchers began documenting ways of creating business value through the strategic management of the workforce. The function was initially dominated by transactional work such as payroll and benefits administration, but due to globalization, company consolidation, technological advancement, and further research, HR now focuses on strategic initiatives like mergers and acquisitions, talent management, succession planning, industrial and labor relations, and diversity and inclusion.

In startup companies, HR’s duties may be performed by a handful of trained professionals or even by non-HR personnel. In larger companies, an entire functional group is typically dedicated to the discipline, with staff specializing in various HR tasks and functional leadership engaging in strategic decision making across the business. To train practitioners for the profession, institutions of higher education, professional associations, and companies themselves have created programs of study dedicated explicitly to the duties of the function. Human Resource management includes (1) conducting job analyses, (2) planning personnel needs, and recruitment, (3) selecting the right people for the job, (4) orienting and training, (5) determining and managing wages and salaries, (6) providing benefits and incentives, (7) appraising performance, (8) resolving disputes, (9) communicating with all employees at all levels.

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. In the area of HR related spend our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database has over 95,000 suppliers for this category alone. You are probably paying too much for about everything. To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

 

 

 

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Are you aware of CertiPur-US® Certification?

June 30th, 2022

Flexible polyurethane foam is......

 

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

Flexible polyurethane foam is widely used as a cushioning material in the production of many specialty items that we all use every day. The question is what type of standard are adhered to when they are manufactured and does it support emerging circular economies.

According to the CertiPUR-US® website “the CertiPUR-US® program was developed to provide the comfort and confidence of knowing the flexible polyurethane foam meets standards for content, emissions and durability and are analyzed by independent, accredited laboratories. Today, foam producers from all countries may participate in the program, as long as they meet our rigorous certification guidelines.

CertiPUR-US approved foams are:

  1. Low emissions (VOCs) for indoor air quality
  2. Made without ozone depleters
  3. Made without PBDEs
  4. Made without mercury, lead, and heavy metals
  5. Made without formaldehyde
  6. Made without prohibited phthalates

If you’d like to learn more about how SafeSourcing can assist in properly helping to ensure your current suppliers or new ones from our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database are using certifications like CertiPur-US®, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

 

 

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Organic Certification

June 29th, 2022

Are the organic foods you are buying certified? Do they need to be?

 

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

Are the organic foods you are buying certified? Do they need to be?

As many more small farms continue to evolve with specialized offerings that make it to our grocers’ shelves, it is more important than ever that your buyers make sure to check for the proper certifications as they expand their sourced locally initiatives.

An Organic Certification is given by National Organic Program (NOP) which is a USDA accredited agent. Each of these certifying agents is authorized to issue an Organic Certificate to operations that comply with the USDA organic regulations. The NOP is a regulatory program housed within the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. They are responsible for developing national standards for organically produced agricultural products. The standards assure consumers that products with the USDA organic seal meet consistent, uniform standards.

If you’d like to learn more about how SafeSourcing can assist in properly helping to ensure your suppliers are adhering to all organic or safe food standards, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

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Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)

June 28th, 2022

Are you sure that your contractors are following LEED certification standards and principles?

 

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

The recent pandemic and resulting supply chain impact has caused so many new retail format modifications, are you sure that your contractors are following LEED certification standards and principles.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system is the nationally accepted benchmark for design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED is an ecology-oriented building certification program run under the auspices of the U.S. green building Council (USGBC). LEED concentrates its efforts on improving performance across five key areas of environmental and human health: energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, materials selection, sustainable site development, and water savings.

LEED has special rating systems that apply to all kinds of structures, including schools, retail and healthcare facilities. Rating systems are available for new construction and major renovations as well as existing buildings. The program is designed to inform and guide all kinds of professionals who work with structures to create or convert spaces to environmental sustainability, including architects, real estate professionals, facility managers, engineers, interior designers, landscape architects, construction managers, private sector executives and government officials.

On its Web site, the USGBC says that LEED defines “a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance Green Buildings” and “provides building owners and operators with the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance.” According to the American Institute of Architects, the 69 LEED points that make up the program’s specific design points and considerations can be reviewed in a two-hour meeting, during which time the design team and the owner can decide what level of LEED compliance is desirable for their building project.

State and local governments around the United States are adopting LEED for public buildings of all kinds, and LEED initiatives at the US Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy and State drive activity at the federal level. In addition, various types of LEED projects are currently underway in over forty other countries, including Canada, Brazil, India, and Mexico.

If you’d like to learn more about how SafeSourcing can assist in properly helping to insure your contractors are adhering to all LEED standards,  please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

Source: https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/LEED-Leadership-in-Energy-and-Environmental-Design

 

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The Interest Rates Will Increase Until Morale Improves

June 17th, 2022

Riding the Line Between Inflation and Recession

 

Today’s post is by Patrick Quinn is a Procurement Specialist at SafeSourcing Inc

Lock in your mortgage rates everyone because the gravy train has officially ended. The Fed has announced the biggest increase in interest rates since 1994 in an all-out effort to reduce inflation. So now, we can all expect to see the usual activity during times of increased interest rates. Fewer auto loans, lower mortgage limits, higher credit card rates, and among the consumer commodities hits come more difficult aspects such as lower hiring rates as spending slows down.

This long-term strategy is sound economic theory, but not one without its struggles. Since business growth will be reduced because of reduced consumer spending, the focus now shifts from revenue growth to spend reduction to weather the storm. Long term contracts at a competitive rate are now far more valuable than jumping from short term contract to short term contract seeking out world-beating prices. Fortunately, the Fed only seems interested in increasing the rates as little as possible to mitigate the subsequent unemployment as it recognizes the worse of two evils. Unfortunately, that does mean incremental rate increases for the foreseeable future. So, lock in your contracts yesterday, everyone, it is going to be a bumpy ride.

To help secure your next contract, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.

 

 

 

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Shrinkflation?

June 15th, 2022

Just another word for Just Noticeable Difference that hurts the consumer.

 

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

In a recent post titled “How are you dealing with your overstock issues” Where I discussed using eprocuremnt tools to help reduce retail shrink. Then today I opened the paper and there it was Shrinkflation. Which is the Reduction in the size or weight of retail products, especially items of packaged food, with no corresponding reduction in the retail price. This improves financial results for the company with the expense born by the consumer who end up getting less for more.

In economics, shrinkflation is the practice of reducing the size or quantity of a product while the price of the product remains the same or slightly increases. In some cases, the term may indicate lowering the quality of a product or its ingredients while the price remains the same.

When I was studying Psychology in college out professor brought up the term Just Noticeable Difference or (JND). He asked us if anyone though that candy bars were getting smaller year over year. We all know the answer to that question, particularly if you ever trick or treated or now take your kids trick or treating. Those darn candy bars keep shrinking. So just what is a Just Noticeable Difference

According to Helensinblog on WordPress, Just Noticeable Difference, also known as the difference threshold, is the minimum level of stimulation that a person can detect 50-percent of the time.

For our senses, there is a measure called an absolute threshold. The absolute threshold shows that we can hardly see the difference in stimulus and are able to perceive its ability, and the difference threshold is that we cannot notice the difference, better known as the” Just-noticeable difference” (JND). For example, if you hold a bag of 100 pounds of oranges, plus a pound will not be noticed. But if you hold 5 pounds, then you add a pound, you will notice.

SafeSourcing is an eprocurement company that operates across multiple industries. As such we have specific experience in helping our customers source their products through a variety of tools. One of those is our SafeSourceIt™ Templates Library. Here we house thousands of specifications that have evolved over the years as products have changed. Having the proper specification is key to sourcing the correct products at both the manufacturing and the retail level. Take care of your customers the way they deserve to be. Don’t sell them less for more, they are already hurting enough.

To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

References: shrinkflation meaning – Search (bing.com)

Just-noticeable difference (JND) – Consumer Behaviour (wordpress.com)

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Does your company have a Buying Committee?

June 9th, 2022

SafeSourcing has found that many companies achieve improved results......

 

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

SafeSourcing has found that many companies achieve improved results by having additional eyes available to review complex categories before final contract award. Often, SafeSourcing is asked to be a part of these committees as we are generally very deeply involved in the data and meta data. Additionally, many companies only source service type categories annually while SafeSourcing may host these categories dozens of times in a single year and be more aware of nuances that can improve final negotiation.

A buying committee is an organization’s committee that analyzes and selects new products, deals, and offers special promotions. The buying committee has been implemented in many industrial organizations, hospitals, and government. The salesperson must provide information to all the members of the buying committee and should target the real sales efforts.

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. To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

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