Procure IQ

I was thrilled with the results of the recent IACCM worldwide study that found Canada is ‘Top Dog’ when it comes to World Trade. It just confirms what I’ve known all along … there’s no one easier to work with than us canucks and no one more eager to help you solve your supply chain problems. Furthermore, as Tim Cummins notes, with companies and public sector agencies worldwide increasingly concerned about reputation risk, it’s ethics, fairness, integrity that really matter. If there’s one thing us Canadians tend to have in spades …

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Mostly Harmless, Part XX Previous Post The last post defined catalogs and contracts and discussed reasons why they will need to be revisited and revised on a regular basis. As promised, this post will address the associated challenges of catalog and contract maintenance, some associated best practices, and the benefits that could be expected from an appropriate e-Procurement solution. Common Challenges Unused Item/Contract Identification Catalogs are continuously updated and procurement constantly negotiates and renegotiates contracts. However, how many of the items are …

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Mostly Harmless, Part XIX Previous Post A(n e-)catalog is an online catalog that lists products and services that a supplier is offering for sale. It can take many forms. It can be a simple flat file listing all products and services that the supplier sends to the buyer (who can then maintain it in their catalog system). It can be a database that can be queried. It can be the supplier’s website. It can be a punch-out marketplace. It can be an e-marketplace. It can be a virtual supplier network. …

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In addition to the fact that you will have an entire state on your side, as Dick Locke points out, and the fact that not using plain english can land you in some dire consequences, as Tim Cummins points out over on Commitment Matters, there is the fact that obscure language increases the risk of failure. If no one understands what they are meant to be doing, a dispute is more likely. Contracts need to be clear, so write them in plain English. …

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I had the good fortune of catching up with Tim Cummins, President of IACCM, at Ariba LIVE in Amsterdam recently. Tim shared a few minutes of his time to talk about contracts and the role they’re playing in buyer/supplier collaboration.

We’ll be posting more interviews with attendees and speakers from Amsterdam on the Ariba YouTube channel. So, [...]

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Last year, Dick Locke, who has an entire state on his side, wrote a great post on the importance of plain English in contracts. Then, last month, with the help of The Temp Life (Season 2, Episode 7), I made it very clear what might happen if you don’t follow his advice. But one aspect of contracts we haven’t tackled yet is that of “reasonableness”. As highlighted in this recent article over on SupplyManagement.com which asks you to now be reasonable, these clauses can end up causing more disputes than they ultimately resolve. While they are included …

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Founded in 1999, Intesource is another player in the e-Sourcing / e-Negotiation space, but one with a bit of a twist. Whereas most SaaS providers are trying to sell you the all-powerful self-service fluffy magic box cloud solution, Intesource is still focussed on providing a full-service offering. Specifically, while you are given full access to the platform, their sourcing experts, who have conducted tens of thousands of events for hundreds of companies with a combined supply base that consists of over 10,000 companies, handle all of the event details for you which frees your organization to focus …

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Over on Horses for Sources, Phil Fersht recently ran a great piece on practical outsourcing tips over a pint which contained advice from George Kimball that is definitely worth your time. The article contained nine essential tips for first-time buyers which can determine the difference between success and failure, including these too-often overlooked tips: Get good advice. Don’t try to do it all in-house, and, definitely, don’t just “turn it over to the experts”. No outside advisor will know your business as well as …

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Three weeks ago, in Part I, we told you how b-pack, hot on the heels of Ivalua, had decided to cross the Atlantic and join in the conquest to bring the bohemian revolution to the world of Procurement and P2P with their extensive solution suite that actually closes the P2P loop. Then, two weeks ago in Part II, and last week in Part III, we expounded on some additional capabilities, relatively unique in the marketplace, that extended the basic value offering beyond basic P2P. Today we’re going to address one of the advanced P2P capabilities, the tightly integrated …

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A while back, Dick Locke, who has an entire state on his side, wrote a great post on the importance of plain English in contracts that I’m betting many of you didn’t take seriously enough. To help you understand why this is very important, here’s a short video from The Temp Life that describes what might happen if you don’t follow his advice: …

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