Procure IQ

We’re already slaves to the machine! The Matrix predicts a horrific future where we’re slave to the machines (and where any attempt to rebel against our masters result in violence and destruction), but we’re essentially there already. Thanks largely to Apple, and to a lesser extent, Google, we’re addicted to our mobile smart phones and mobile communication devices — and most of us will never leave home without them (to the dismay of American Express who’d rather we remember our charge and credit cards). If they breakdown, we immediately fix or replace them. We’re constantly …

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From the FAIL Blog: …

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There are two topics this blog always comes back to — decision optimization and spend analysis, and there’s a reason for that. Not only do they both reduce costs more on average than any other technology this blog covers (an average of 12% in the first case and 11% in the second case), but they also improve the quality of decisions, often substantially. A recent blog post over on the Harvard Business Review on how to chart a course in strategy and innovation conflicts did a great job of putting this in perspective. The article, which discussed …

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Mostly Harmless, Part X Previous Post A (sales) invoice is a commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer that indicates the products, quantities, and prices for products and services the seller has provided to the buyer. An invoice indicates that the buyer must pay the seller according to payment terms. While the purchase order is the most important document to the buyer, as it outlines what the buyer is willing to buy (and at what price), an invoice is the most important document to the seller, as it represents money due to the supplier for goods …

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A recent article from the New York Times on the state of shipping around the globe caught my eye. It seems as though retailers are feeling the pressure.
Retailers are now seeing an even larger effect from the recession: they are in bidding war to ensur…

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Industry Week recently ran a great article on how Culture Counts and how maintenance is deeply involved in any true lean initiative. Fundamentally, lean is about finding and removing waste — and who knows more about waste than anyone else in the organization? The people who watch it go down the drain. The people who watch it get hauled away. The people who shovel it into the incinerator. In essence, the maintenance department. A true lean initiative never reduces headcount in the maintenance department. (In fact, it might actually increase headcount in maintenance.) A …

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When we introduced you to B2B Connex last December, we told you about their e-Document Management Solution for Small & Mid-Size Manufacturers that is a great fit for all types of small and mid-size manufacturing organizations that need simple e-Sourcing and e-Procurement functionality at a low price tag (which starts as low as $30,000 / year, plus 20% annual maintenance for a small operation, and isn’t much more than $100,000 a year for a mid-sized operation). Designed to fill the niche in the small and smaller mid-sized market left by the big end-to-end e-Sourcing and e-Procurement suite vendors whose …

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A recent Vision Statement in the Harvard Business Review on why a business should Behold the Extreme Consumers, the 5% of customers so infatuated with the brand that they spend more than 10% of their lifetime income on it that many brand managers fear, had some impressive statistics: 100% personally identify with and say they gain meaning from a favourite brand 98% have defended the brand against perceived attacks in the media or from other firms or individuals 96% …

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Mostly Harmless, Part IX Previous Post In the last post, the goods receipt was defined and some of the complexity around the requirements thereof were discussed. This post will address some of the challenges associated with the goods receipt, some of the associated best practices, and some of the benefits that could be expected from an appropriate e-Procurement solution that effectively handled goods receipts. Common Challenges m-Way Matching The goods receipt needs to be matched back to the appropriate purchase orders and/or contracts …

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When I asked the Strategic Sourcing & Procurement LinkedIn group members to suggest topics for upcoming calls, there were a lot of requests pertaining to indirect spend. So, this Friday, the group’s July member conference call will be an open discussion on indirect categories (marketing and consulting will definitely be covered – if you have [...]

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