The credit crisis is the supply chain risk getting most of the attention these days. But in the recent online Town Hall forum, IACCM President & CEO Tim Cummins, pointed out another risky behavior that many companies engage in. Tim said a “hero culture”, where saving the company from disaster in the nick of time, […]
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It is with a heavy heart that I tell you we lost a friend and colleague suddenly last week. Justin Falgione, a father, husband and friend, passed on Wednesday. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette obituary and guest book are here.
Over 9 years with FreeMarkets and Ariba, Justin earned the love and respect of his colleagues and customers. […]
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I recently laid out my thoughts how Web 3.0 will change sourcing and procurement by increasing the volume of information about buyers and suppliers. B the time that evolution occurs, the internet itself will be massive. Actually…what am I saying…it already is massive and that’s why everyone relies so heavily on Google to index everything.
But […]
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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 […]
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Last week, I posted on best practices for category assessment. While that advice should walk you through executing on categories where there are savings opportunities, I think it’s a good idea to take a step back and look at exactly how you should identify those categories. After all, it’s not as though the decision […]
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It’s that time of the quarter again when I get a chance to take a step back, gather my thoughts and scour through the data as I write the metals category article for SupplyWatch. As you can guess…there’s a LOT to talk about this quarter. Plummeting commodity prices, a global credit crisis and an underlying […]
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Ryan Walicki of National City Bank leads a procurement team with some very aggressive savings goals. With their focus on indirect spend (a bank, after all, can’t print money), they’re tasked with a 500% ROI on their efforts this year and a whopping 700% next year!
Despite those massive goals, procurement has actually taken a lead […]
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Dropping commodity prices have buyers salivating at the prospect of saving some money, especially in the face of top line stagnation. But where do you start? What categories are ripe for the picking vs others that are either a lower priority or best left alone?
Ultimately the goal is build a prioritized sourcing pipeline that meets […]
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When asked for his thoughts on emerging low-cost country sourcing (LCCS) opportunities during an online Town Hall forum last week, Larry Welch cited an unusual contender; Indonesia. Welch, the former VP of Indirect and Services Procurement at Hewlett Packard, said Indonesia is making strides towards becoming a regional and global player. It was an intriguing […]
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Another enlightening presenter at last week’s Spend Management Day in Seattle - which by the way was at the Edgewater Hotel of Beatles fame and Led Zeppelin infamy - was Erik Rupinski from MeadWestvaco’s Supply Chain Solutions group.
Like many companies, MeadWestvaco (MWV) is global in terms of their supply chain, acquisition strategy and sales. Some […]
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