Last week, Mike Petro outlined the opportunities presented by direct materials. On a similar note today, regular Supply Excellence contributor Rachel Rutkoski explains buyer’s market conditions for indirect spend and identifies several hot categories, including:
Labor - Rising unemployment means “buyers should evaluate any category where labor is a main cost component.” There is a glut […]
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Even in a very dour employment market, there are always bright spots. As the saying goes…fortunes are made during recessions. So, tremendous volatility in commodity prices and a recession provide a HUGE opportunity for direct materials procurement professionals to make their career “fortunes”. The buyer’s market conditions provide obvious strategic and savings opportunities for procurement […]
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Stephen Hayers, VP of Services Procurement at BT, recently sat down for an interview with David Rae from Procurement Leaders. The video replay of their discussion is available here (sorry, can’t link directly - hit “What’s New” the top of the player and it is the 1st video on the menu). It was a very […]
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As Pat Furey said yesterday, it is a buyer’s market right now. And transportation, which has seen a serious downturn in a very short period of time, currently provides sourcing, negotiation and procurement opportunities. Let’s look at the numbers:
International Air Freight: Volumes have declined for 4 consecutive months, dropping 11% in Asia, 7% in […]
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As my colleagues have recently pointed out (here & here), it is definitely a buyer’s market right now. And similar to the broader economic recession, which often takes hindsight analysis of numerical data before they can officially call it a “recession”, buyers often feel the shift in their favor before they can quantify it. But, […]
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Last week, my colleague Dan Kowal posed the question - if you’re not sourcing now, why not? Plummeting prices and demand make it a buyer’s market for indirect and direct goods. But as Dan pointed out, many buyers are still sitting on the sidelines. Why?
In my observations from the trenches, I think you can chalk […]
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In a recent interview with WallSt TV, our company’s President quoted a stat that really puts the impact of the recession on corporate profits and the opportunity that situation provides for procurement organizations in perspective. Kevin Costello said it takes a “20% increase in sales to create the same profits as a 5% decrease in […]
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In a recent post on the impact that corporate sustainability programs can have in driving bottom line savings during an era of shrinking top line revues, a commenter asked for a follow-up post on the tactics leading organizations are using to achieve results. Great request and I’ll do my best to oblige.
One of the first […]
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Walgreens recently announced their strategy for increasing revenues and cutting costs. And how do they plan to do it? Their “Rewiring for Growth” initiative will target strategic sourcing of indirect spend and plans to reduce corporate overhead in order to save $1 billion annually by 2011.
As we discussed last week and in a recent white […]
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I had the good fortune to attend the YouTube LIVE events over the weekend. This vaudville-esque circus featured talent ranging from the well known MC Hammer, Mythbusters and members of the 30 Rock cast to more organic superstars like Tay Zonday, Beardyman (a human-beat-box) and the marketing genius who created Will-It-Blend.
As part of the festivities, […]
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