Ev’rybody’s looking for a perfect world
where you could save everything your heart desires.
A perfect buy will happen every time
and the perfect order will set your world on fire.
What you gonna do
when one and one makes three?
And a vision of the future is impossible to see.
Nobody’s perfect
not even [...]
Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation
March 31st, 2007 | Posted in Miscellaneous, humour
There is an online publication named Outsourcing Journal which recently ran a story on eSourcing technology and they got some very interesting quotes for the story, namely from Moi. Obviously, I am not going to run many opinions out here on the story, because my opinions are already in the story. I will [...]
Read the rest » E-Sourcing Forum
March 30th, 2007 | Posted in General, Supply Management Best Practices, Technology, e-Sourcing Marketplace
Ever wonder what your CEO is thinking? Well, a new study of 443 C-level executives from Saugatuck Technology and Business Week Research Services purports to have the answer. Here it is:
(Click image to enlarge.)
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Okay, stop laughing.
There really are some valuable insights buried in that chart — even if they’re not presented in the most coherent [...]
Read the rest » Supply Excellence
March 30th, 2007 | Posted in Supply Management
When I posted my 2007 predictions for the supply management discipline earlier this year, one projection caused considerable backlash: “You will rethink your low-cost country sourcing strategy.”
I argued that the risks, lead-times, and hidden costs of emerging market hotspots — particularly India and China — would make these faraway regions less attractive as sourcing destinations. [...]
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March 29th, 2007 | Posted in LCCS and trade, Sourcing, Supply Management, supply market dynamics, supply risk
As you know, Supply & Demand Chain Executive recently announced their Pros To Know for 2007. Like Jason, I think some names were missing from that list. Jason pointed out that Mickey North Rizza and Mark Hillman were conspicuously absent.
Today I make my first nomination to the Pros You Should Know – But [...]
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March 29th, 2007 | Posted in Miscellaneous, Serious
On the same day Purchasing ran an article on how buyers are taking aim at costs, Purchasing also ran an article on how it’s not just about cost. Even more amusing is that the first article is about Sun Microsystems while the second article is about IBM.
The first article notes how Sun’s supply base [...]
Read the rest » E-Sourcing Forum
March 29th, 2007 | Posted in General, Supply Management Best Practices, Technology
Although not a common topic for this blog (as my only post focussed on the topic to-date discussed The Dismal State of US Health Care), it is an important one, and a favorite of vendors like VendorMate and CombineNet. I don’t know of a single country where health care is not as good as [...]
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March 29th, 2007 | Posted in Miscellaneous, rants
No one would dispute that China is fast becoming the manufacturing capital of the world. But this new-found status comes with challenges. Mainly, manufacturing plants require lots of power. Power requires oil. And therein lies the conundrum.
While supply managers in the U.S. and Europe have been bragging about securing “the China price” for goods and services [...]
Read the rest » Supply Excellence
March 28th, 2007 | Posted in LCCS and trade, Supply Management, supply risk
Aberdeen Group just released a report entitled B2B Collaboration: How On-Demand Platforms Accelerate Value and Impact TCO (How to Assess Whether On-Demand Solutions Are the Right Fit for Your Supplier, Customer, and Transportation Processes) that had some great statistics.
46% of above average supply chain performers use on-demand SCM applications today, and 8% plan to [...]
Read the rest » E-Sourcing Forum
March 28th, 2007 | Posted in Analysts/Research, General, Technology
When I was down in the valley, I made a point to visit Santa Clara to catch up with Ketera, who recently announced their next generation spend analysis solution, which I’m not going to spend too much time talking about (even though they are getting a good reception and a lot of customers because [...]
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March 28th, 2007 | Posted in Miscellaneous, Procurement Innovation, Spend Analysis