Articles
Sourcing/Negotiations
You’re Invited To: Bring New Trading Partners to the Party
More U.S. companies are asking a Plus One guest to join China sourcing strategies, inviting suppliers beyond the border of the world’s primary outsourcing powerhouse to the dance.
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The Costly Consequences of Bad Data
A majority of sourcing and procurement leaders say they were inadequately prepared for supply chain disruptions in 2022. This lack of preparedness is partly due to continued and overwhelming reliance on manually updated source-to-pay platforms, which seriously limit operational efficiency. Worse, inaccurate supplier data inhibits business continuity, especially as disruptions continue.
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How to Unlock Opportunity With a Procurement Control Tower
With market volatility and sky-high inflation driving shifts in the price of oil and other commodities, it’s not surprising to see businesses adjust sourcing and inventory strategies in anticipation of future roadblocks. Plus, with consumer demand softening, many companies that largely over-indexed on orders last year are now sitting on a surplus of supply.
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Reshoring? Not So Fast
Reshoring might sound like the solution to the United States’ supply chain woes, but here’s why it is not a cure-all for current and future disruptions.
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Why Procurement Is the Key to Preparing for the Next Supply Chain Crisis
There is no clear sign when the global supply chain crisis will end. It began during the COVID-19 pandemic, worsened with the surge in demand that followed the lifting of national lockdowns around the world, and further deepened amid recent global events. Some corporate leaders contend that the crisis, triggered by these exceptional events, could […]
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Vertical Focus: Luxury Goods
Shedding Animal Materials Fur Good Dolce & Gabbana joins several other luxury fashion brands in banning fur from all future collections starting in 2022. It will continue to work with fur artisans in its supply chain to incorporate into its designs sustainable faux fur made from recycled materials, the fashion house says. The company has […]
Read MoreGlobal Shipping Costs Break Records
Today’s disruptions are even more significant than those during the financial crisis of 2008, says the Thomas Index Report. Prices for ocean freight shifted more than 72 percentage points over the course of the pandemic starting in 2020 to a peak in Q3 2021, when prices were more than 50% higher than average container shipping […]
Read MoreThe True Value of Supply Chain Transformation
Lyndsi Lee is senior vice president of supply chain with True Value Company, a leading hardware and home improvement wholesaler. Responsibilities: Drive end-to-end supply chain optimization, develop integrated planning and logistics strategies, and build best-in-class sourcing programs. Experience: Division vice president, inventory management and global sourcing, also with True Value; principal, project leader, Boston Consulting […]
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Applying Lean Thinking to Procurement
How to slate demand and supply initiatives and techniques into your procurement strategies.
Read MoreGREEN SHOOTS: How to Implement GSCM
Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) can be integrated into almost any industrial business. The key to implementing this concept is to identify areas where sustainable practices can be applied to an existing supply chain. These areas include: Cleaner material sourcing. For retailers, this may involve partnering with companies to redesign packaging using recyclable or biodegradable […]
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Trucking Strategies for Whichever Way the Wind Blows
Just because there’s more trucking capacity available today than there was a year ago doesn’t mean that shippers can overlook the basics. Here’s how to maintain capacity in all market conditions.
Read More12 Tips to Identify Quality Suppliers
When most buyers plan to select a new supplier, they are usually tempted to focus on the best price. But shaving a few cents off the product price is no help if the quality is below standard or the component does not arrive when you need it. Focus on quality by incorporating these 12 tips […]
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Leading a Supply Chain With Dogged Determination
Matt Cantatore is chief operating officer of Ollie, a national service that sells healthful, high-quality pet food direct to consumers. Responsibilities: Oversight of day-to-day operations, including sourcing, supply chain management, fulfillment, logistics, and customer service. Also an executive team member responsible for recruiting, goal-setting, and managing the P&L. Experience: Director of operations, Blue Apron; analyst, […]
Read MorePlastics Supply Chain Turns Off the Tap
HP Inc. and IKEA are joining the NextWave Plastics global consortium—a collaborative initiative that brings together leading companies to "turn off the tap" of plastic entering the ocean. The goal is not only to scale their own ocean-bound plastics supply chain efforts, but to also extend across industries to make it commercially viable for all, […]
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Going Straight to the Sourcing
Strategic sourcing, which consultants popularized in the late 1980s/early 1990s, is a supply chain management approach that formalizes the way organizations gather and use information to leverage consolidated purchasing power and find the best values in the marketplace. Strategic sourcing involves developing supply channels at the lowest total cost, as opposed to the lowest purchase […]
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Casting a Light on Procurement
As closer supply chain ties are forged with vendors, logistics managers must increasingly collaborate with procurement. To provide insight, a new study illuminates today’s procurement process, and the many challenges
purchasing managers face.
Simplifying Trade Complexity
Global trade professionals experienced a great deal of disruption during 2017, with trade agreements being canceled and renegotiated, regulatory enforcement on the rise, the timeline for Brexit approaching, political instability a growing concern, and more. Networks that had been relatively stable for years are now in flux. To respond to these global market forces, companies […]
Read MoreU.S.-Cuba Trade: The Intersection of Sanctions, Sourcing, and Compliance
With the changing diplomatic ties between the United States and Cuba, and expectations for the new administration to redraw U.S. policy toward Cuba, many involved in international trade are unclear of the sanctions status of trade with the island nation. The country is still embargoed and, at a practical level, for most all products, normalized […]
Read MoreFashion Supply Chain: What to Where
While most fashion and apparel executives are optimistic about the 5-year outlook for the industry, the percentage fell from 92.3 percent in 2016 to 71 percent in 2017, a record low for the United States Fashion Industry Association’s annual Fashion Industry Benchmarking Study, which surveyed executives from leading fashion and apparel brands, retailers, importers, and […]
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The Advantages of Strategic Procurement – Schneider Logistics
A sound strategy is important in every industry. It’s even more important than ever when the prevailing theme includes major changes to the regulatory landscape. A driver shortage, competitive rate market, and reduction in productivity will make it more difficult for shippers to secure capacity as we progress into 2018 and beyond. Strategic procurement practices […]
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