Savings rationalization: What would you sacrifice to maximize savings?

Posted: 01/03/2019 - 02:14
As we move through the holiday season, competition of all sorts is becoming prevalent. Big department stores and smaller retail chains all have their special deals in place and offer a variety of products and solutions to meet spikes in customer demand while racking in the big dollars. They promote discounts and incentives on brand-name products while other shops offer a more generic version of the same items at less than half the price. Consumers are left with a big decision.

Artificial Intelligence: Adopt or Surrender

Posted: 01/02/2019 - 02:53
Like it or not, technology disruptors are changing the way companies do business, causing fear and confusion for many IT professionals. The reality is that artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are developing at such a rapid pace that they impact pretty much every industry and companies are failing to keep up. The other technology disruptors that most people are familiar with include the Internet of Things (IOT), cloud computing, social media and block chain.
 

Introducing...Women in Global Sourcing

Posted: 12/28/2018 - 02:09
I have a passion for style and design. I like handbags, stilettos and lipstick so much that before I stumbled on sourcing during my senior year of college I planned on a career in fashion. I had recently finished my Alpha Gamma Delta sorority presidency and volunteered to coordinate Lip Jam, our largest fundraiser of the year benefiting diabetes. I hired a local print management company to source all the print, apparel and promotional items for the event. Out of nowhere, they offered me a job. I’m sure it was my charming personality and drop-dead good looks.  

Why wait to start your tech implementation?

Posted: 12/27/2018 - 03:37
Though slight variations are inevitable, most procurement organizations follow a familiar process for selecting and implementing their tools. Generally, it looks something like this.  
 
  • They decide they need a new procurement solution.
  • They conduct research and begin to engage with appealing providers.
  • They create and distribute an RFP.
  • They score the RFP responses to narrow things down.  

The Essential RFx Bidding Methods

Posted: 12/26/2018 - 01:20
Most companies use well-known and standard competitive bidding methods to pick suppliers. The most common is the Request for Proposal (RFP). However, in many cases, a conventional RFP falls short of finding the right supplier. Why? Conventional RFPs don’t always ask the right sourcing questions and as a result generate wrong (or less than ideal) answers from suppliers.   
 

Wait, What? From High School Dropout to President and Founder with Taso Du Val

Posted: 12/25/2018 - 12:00

In this episode of the Sourcing Industry Landscape, Dawn Tiura interviews Taso Du Val. Taso Du Val is the CEO of Toptal where he is in charge of the strategic vision and managing Toptal’s explosive growth. With an untraditional background that took him from high school dropout to CEO, Taso, who is also a musician, originally started out in the music industry as a producer.

The Impact of AI and Automation on the Global Supply Chain Part 1

Posted: 12/21/2018 - 03:34
Recently, at the United Nations Forum for Business and Human Rights at the Palais De Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, my colleague David Herman, Chief Data Scientist at SAP Ariba, and I had the honor of reflecting on the role of artificial intelligence and technology automation and their impact on human rights – especially as they relate to workforce displacement in the supply chain.

Hiring in a new state? Here’s what you need to know.

Posted: 12/21/2018 - 03:07
It’s an exciting time for your business – you’re looking to expand and hire workers in a new state. This might be your first time and you’re beginning to realize that it comes with heaps of administrative items, set-up and legal considerations. There are some important processes to establish to ensure that you can support your workers while also staying compliant with each state’s employment laws.  
 

Benchmarking: Procurement’s Next Big Competitive Advantage

Posted: 12/20/2018 - 03:45
The procurement industry is at a crossroads. Procurement executives are tasked with delivering value that impacts the bottom line, but demonstrating that value to stakeholders, finance and other departments is easier said than done. Almost every CPO strives to lead a best-in-class function, but how do we know what best-in-class actually looks like? 
 

Changes to Salaried Employees in New York and California

Posted: 12/19/2018 - 02:08
In 2017, the Department of Labor (DOL) scrapped U.S.-wide plans to increase the salary threshold for exempt employees following challenges from multiple states. The DOL has continued to postpone these plans, however, the states of California and New York have elected to raise their own exempt salary threshold for 2019, which means that some of your workers may be eligible for overtime pay. 
 
The changes, which go into effect on December 31, 2018, in New York and on January 1, 2019, in California, are as follows: 
 

Exploring the Capabilities of an Interconnected World with Kazu Gomi

Posted: 12/12/2018 - 10:18

In this episode of the Sourcing Industry Landscape, Dawn Tiura interviews Kazu Gomi. Kazu Gomi, CEO of NTT America, ranks as the 4th largest telecommunication company in the world. We learn the breadth and depth of NTT’s capabilities, from system integration, (they acquired Dell Services a few years ago) and are also one of the largest security companies in North America. 

Addressing Ethical Supply Chains One Step at a Time – From Intent to Action

Posted: 12/12/2018 - 01:18
This month, the U.K. government alongside the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, raised the bar for companies “to conduct appropriate due diligence in their supply chains to identify, prevent and mitigate human trafficking” to remediate modern slavery. It is no longer enough to just be aware and acknowledge that companies expect every supplier to sign a code of conduct – companies also need to demonstrate the action and the impact. 
 
This is where the rubber meets the road. 
 

How to Keep Bad Weather from Killing Your Logistics

Posted: 12/11/2018 - 04:15
Supply lines never look as vulnerable as they do when inclement weather strikes. At best, trucks face major delays as accidents and poor conditions make roads treacherous and, at worst, they suffer accidents of their own. Routinely, air carriers remain grounded while affected areas hunker down and airports close. Don’t think you’re safe even if you fall outside a storm’s high-impact area.

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