PurchaseRealm: May 2006 Archives

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May17	Substitute Products Matthew W. Grant May 17, 2006 Know More: Vendor Management, procurement, purchasing, sourcing 2.0, sourcing Buyers often feel content and safe when they negotiate language into a contract that indicates "guaranteed" product availability. A step above that is when the contract indicates that there is "reserve" product available for their account. That usually means that the vendor is storing product specifically put aside for a particular account in its own warehouse. Should Buyers really feel safe or have they "bought into" a false sense of security? Continue Reading Posted at 12:33 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
May11	Top 7 Signs Your New Co-Worker is a Purchasing Dud Matthew W. Grant May 11, 2006 Did your Purchasing Manager just fill the cube next to you with a Purchasing Dud instead of a Purchasing Superstar? Here are the top 7 signs of a Purchasing Dud: 1) Files nails instead of PO's. 2) Says, "I didn't have... Continue Reading Posted at 9:49 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Careers in Supply Chain Management Matthew W. Grant May 11, 2006 I'm glad to learn that our industry is finally doing something to create career paths for students. Ask any long-established career Procurement type how he or she got into this line of work, and the answer will very likely be,... Continue Reading Posted at 9:46 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Perspective From Nissan & Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn Matthew W. Grant May 11, 2006 I read an article in Forbes today about Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of both Nissan and Reneault, that brought out a point that many people are overlooking today thanks to the ubiquitous communication technology on the market. First a little background... Working in... Continue Reading Posted at 8:41 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
May 9	Confirming PO's Matthew W. Grant May 9, 2006 New Buying Assistants never understand why Purchasing Managers insist on confirming PO's with vendors. A common comment is, "We sent them the PO, they are the ones who are responsible for it at that point. If they don't process it,... Continue Reading Posted at 11:22 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Purchasing Challenges - Part 5 Matthew W. Grant May 9, 2006 I left off the Purchasing Challenges series last week with Part 4 talking about the issue of strategic versus tactical Purchasing focus. This post is about one of the banes of the Procurement field - rogue spending. Rogue spending, also called maverick... Continue Reading Posted at 11:15 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	When Your Company Needs A Purchasing Specialist Matthew W. Grant May 9, 2006 Somebody asked me the other day how big a company should be before it needs a Purchasing Department. That is an interesting question since most articles and blogs are written by, for, and about large company Purchasing Departments. As a... Continue Reading Posted at 10:46 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
May 8	Rewards In Purchasing Matthew W. Grant May 8, 2006 We hear about incentives for salespeople in getting new customers, reaching a certain volume level over all accounts, reaching a new volume level with a particular client, or perhaps adding a new line of products to an existing account. Salespeople have cash... Continue Reading Posted at 3:48 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	When Lower Prices Are Unethical Matthew W. Grant May 8, 2006 We have debates back and forth in both real life and cyber life about how much cost is a factor in purchasing decisions. As I've said before, it's not the only factor, but it's a big one. Frankly, depending upon... Continue Reading Posted at 3:45 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Lack of Trust in Business Matthew W. Grant May 8, 2006 Can you do business with someone you simply don't trust? As consumers, we wouldn't patronize a company if we didn't trust the employee's capabilities to serve us properly. For example, would we go to a mechanic if we didn't believe he... Continue Reading Posted at 3:10 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
May 7	Price Surcharges Matthew W. Grant May 7, 2006 I've been writing recently about locking in prices (gas prices and postage rates), but there is an opposite phenomenon that haunts Buyers - the dreaded surcharge! The most popular type of surcharge at the moment is probably fuel surcharges due to... Continue Reading Posted at 6:49 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Have You Heard about the Forever Stamp? Matthew W. Grant May 7, 2006 There seems to be a theme running through my reading and writing today. It's about the opportunity to lock in prices, which means guaranteeing that you can buy a commodity or service in the future at a specified price, which is often... Continue Reading Posted at 6:28 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Gas Prices At Under $1 Per Gallon! Matthew W. Grant May 7, 2006 Yes, the headline is for real. There are people in America paying less than $1 per gallon as I write this blog entry on 5/07/06. How are they doing this? These people were in the right place at the right... Continue Reading Posted at 6:13 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
May 4	Service without the Smile Matthew W. Grant May 4, 2006 Have you ever had a service vendor that was so bad, the account rep would never even call you back? I have! I once had a rep that was so bad... (Audience yells, "How bad was he?) He was so... Continue Reading Posted at 9:33 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Discussing Savings Matthew W. Grant May 4, 2006 There is often a discrepancy between the savings numbers reported by Purchasing and those accepted by the financial wizards of a company. I worked at a company that had a "savings committee." Buyers constantly filled out and turned in savings reports that... Continue Reading Posted at 9:14 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
May 3	End User Ethics Matthew W. Grant May 3, 2006 The subject of ethics in Purchasing is not restricted to Buyers. Surprised? Unless you have encountered problems or dealt with this before, then you aren't likely to think about end users (especially those that are key stakeholders) and ethics.... Continue Reading Posted at 7:21 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Purchasing Challenges - Part 4 Matthew W. Grant May 3, 2006 In a previous post about renewing contracts, I mentioned the problem of being "too busy putting out fires to have time to build a fire station." I'm sure this is an issue for workers across the board, but I know... Continue Reading Posted at 5:56 PM \| Permalink \| Comments

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