By RSouthard on
8/19/2008 6:00 AM
A customer asked me last week why suppliers would want to participate in an e-procurement event. A discussion followed relative to incumbent suppliers vs. new sources of supply. In general most vendors in the space would come up with many of the same points listed below. Please read on.
Read More »
|
By RSouthard on
8/18/2008 6:00 AM
As the salmonella scare winds down, with no new cases reported since the 27th of July and the count of infected individuals at 1,423. The leading causal candidate seems to be water used on Jalapeños from Mexico. Two questions come to mind. What did procurement professionals learn from the St. Paul Salmonella out break? And, what can be done in the future to shorten the amount of time it takes to come to an end game that does not result in millions of dollars in lost revenue for farmers, distributors, brokers, suppliers, retailers and any other organization in the supply chain.
Read More »
|
By RSouthard on
8/15/2008 6:00 AM
Many of you are probably tired of my posts regarding the Salmonella outbreak that sickened over 1400 US citizens from one of my June first posts “I say Tomato, you say Tomahto” to a July post on the same subject “Holy Jalapeño” I have discussed the lack of traceability and adherence to food safety standrdards in our supply chain. Below are some other activities also related to this subject. As a former Ohio resident, I applaud Senator Browns work.
Read More »
|
By RSouthard on
8/14/2008 6:00 AM
The vast majority of e-procurement events are in the form of a reverse auction. That does not necessarily mean that reverse auctions are the only auction format that retail e-procurement strategists should consider. There are additional auction formats available when trying to drive to the best event strategy. In fact at times, using different auction types may have a positive impact on price compression when used strategically.
Read More »
|
By RSouthard on
8/13/2008 6:00 AM
A high profile Presidential election issue this year has been the loss of jobs particularly in the manufacturing area to low cost of labor countries out side of the USA and North America like China. This practice is known as off shoring. If the price of oil continues to rise, that problem may be solved for us. So, where are the new sources of supply located and how would you find them once this happens.
Read More »
|
By RSouthard on
8/12/2008 6:00 AM
I’m just back in the office after spending three weeks on the road meeting with retailers and business partners in eight different cities. During that time, we discussed next generation e-procurement tools. On several occasions the subject of greenwashing came up. So as regards e-procurement, just what is greenwashing? I’ll leave it up to you to determine if you are guilty.
Read More »
|
By RSouthard on
8/11/2008 6:00 AM
This seems like a silly question, but it begs asking. Becoming world class at e-procurement and assigning a significant amount of your spend to these types of tools has not historically been a top priority for the executive office. Let’s face it, this is not as sexy as releasing a new format, not as political as chasing down run away health care costs, and it just doesn’t resonate as fun.
Read More »
|
By RSouthard on
8/8/2008 6:00 AM
Reviewing why retailers do not have continuing success when running prior e-procurement events over again, one area of commonality is a lack of new suppliers. Another is the price being too high for the same event that has already been built and will result in lower savings the 2nd and 3rd time around.
Read More »
|
By RSouthard on
8/7/2008 6:00 AM
As I visit with retailers throughout North America, one theme continues to prevail. The percent of spend that retailers assign to the use of e-procurement tools lags that of all other industries. In fact in retail companies with sales of less than two billion dollars, the use of these tools is almost non existent.
Read More »
|
By RSouthard on
8/6/2008 6:00 AM
I was walking my best friend the other day. He’s over fourteen and still loves to go to the park. He’s blind now, but can still smell the grass and the p-mail and go about doing his other business. When I went to the container to clean up after him; He’s blind so he can’t do it himself. I noticed that the bag said biodegradable. If there are plastic bags good enough for this purpose, why not for our groceries and other retail purchases?
Read More »
|