Last Friday, the Huffington Post published the results of their small business survey and the news was grim. With around 600 responses, crunching the numbers revealed:
“Just about a third of the businesses that responded have had layoffs already, and almost half have reduced hours. Overall, they say layoffs are about equal to 15% of the […]
Read the rest » Supply Excellence
In speaking regularly with companies interested in improving their spend and supplier visibility, it is not surprising that there has been a marked up tick recently, given the ever-deteriorating economy, in the interest in supplier credit rating information. While credit ratings are useful providing meaningful directional information about which suppliers may be susceptible to […]
Read the rest » Supply Excellence
Bloomberg recently reported that Private Equity (PE) deals have fallen 70% in the first 10 months of this year, confirming what many in the industry have known for quite some time: economic conditions have put a near halt on deal flow and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. At The Deal’s M&A […]
Read the rest » Supply Excellence
News this week that Tesco is looking to double its payment terms with suppliers to 60 days should certain raise some eyebrows within (and beyond) cash-strapped food service and retail sectors. Yet, hopefully, it will not cultivate a cult of imitators.
While cash is certainly king in today’s economy, this is not the time to withhold […]
Read the rest » Supply Excellence
While it may not have the news-cycle cachet of a $700 Billion bailout, or the immediate voyeuristic drawing power of the battle of the banking titans (i.e. Wells/Citi/Wachovia), the struggles that suppliers are facing finding cash flow and short-term credit can have immediate and long-term impact on supply chains if those suppliers fail or are […]
Read the rest » Supply Excellence
According to a CFO.com survey released on Wednesday, “”[as a result of the credit crisis] 61 percent of finance chiefs are concerned about their companies’ access to day-to-day financing.” This concern is especially acute for small to mid-sized suppliers for whom short-term credit is the primary operational bridge allowing them to make it from […]
Read the rest » Supply Excellence
Like most of you, I spent the last week glued to my financial TV news outlets, rss feeds, Wall Street Journal and (because I was traveling) the USA Today Money section, trying to make some sense of the turmoil rocking the banking sector. When giant, old institutions like Lehman Bros. and AIG fail, and […]
Read the rest » Supply Excellence
Now that the ball has dropped and you’ve bid adieu to 2007, you are probably being bombarded with news reports and e-mails telling you what to expect in 2008. Supply Excellence is also throwing its hat in the prognostication ring, except with a twist. I’ve spent the past few months speaking with supply management executives […]
Read the rest » Supply Excellence
Congratulations. And thank you for responding to my request to share your favorite approaches for driving supply and contract management improvements.
Supply Excellence reader input — coupled with personal meetings with supply management teams around the globe — serve as the foundation of a new electronic book:
The 100 Greatest Supply Management Tips of All Time!
Practical […]
Read the rest » Supply Excellence
American Express signaled its entrance into the procurement solutions and services space yesterday with the launch of the Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP) portion of a future commercial Source-to-Settle (S2S) platform. The expected move follows Amex’s December acquisition of EIPP provider Harbor Payments, which had quietly amassed a top-tier customer base, including ADP, Proctor […]
Read the rest » Supply Excellence