The more I have the opportunity to see how companies are (or aren’t) strategically sourcing indirect goods and services, the more I recognize that there are still huge benefits to be captured even in those categories of spend where companies have tra…
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On Tuesday, March 9th, First Index, a supplier-pays marketplace and former direct materials sourcing and supply chain consultancy, closed its doors. First Index had received significant funding from LMS Capital, a UK-based firm, and Bessemer ventures…
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My eye was caught by a recent article in the WSJ that suggests that currency volatility presents companies with an additional type of supply chain risk when they fail to localize their supply chains within the EU. The story cites the case of Mazda, w…
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On a recent call to discuss top trends in 2010, Chris Sawchuk of the Hackett Group said that procurement departments in many companies are looking to beef up their talent this year. It seems that the value of strategic-minded, savvy procurement pros became more clear during this brutal recession, where extracting value for every penny [...]
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When I say “casino”, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?
Probably for most of you, it’s money. Actually more like MONEY. Money being spent, won and lost at breakneck speed. And although you’ve possibly had trips to Vegas where you were up against The House (and ask a gambler, and they’ll always tell you [...]
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Earlier today, the news broke that government officials in the US, EU and Japan recently searched the offices of a number of Toyota suppliers that may be involved in cartel-like activities. According to The Wall Street Journal?s summary, ?Investigato…
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Friday’s group discussion on Vested Outsourcing led by University of Tennessee faculty member Kate Vitasek went very well. For anyone unfamiliar with her work, Kate literally wrote the book on Vested Outsourcing, a model that utilizes incentives to create more strategic relationships between buying organizations and their outsourcing vendors. So when she stepped up and [...]
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Office equipment is expected to remain a buyer’s market for the next few quarters as a result of macroeconomic conditions, which are reducing the demand for devices such as printers, copiers, fax machines, and multi-functional devices (MFDs). These conditions have caused office equipment sales to deteriorate throughout 2008 and 2009, with no upturn anticipated [...]
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As many of you know, the Category Managers who contribute to Supply Excellence also create a quarterly report called SupplyWatch. The Q1 issue is up and includes detailed category breakdowns for…
Metals
Plastics, Rubber & Raw Materials
Transportation
Electronics, Electrical & IT Hardware
Paper & Packaging
Services & Capital Goods, Construction & Engineering
In addition, there is a feature article on Cutting [...]
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Employee benefit plans are a critical component of a company’s ability to attract and hold talent. This sacred task often puts price negotiation with service providers in the hands of outside HR consultants and internal Human Resource specialists. …
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