Daily Insights, Trends and Solutions for Professionals, Experts, Students and Society
China has fast become a key player in the world’s economy. Since 2012, China has been the world’s number one trading country, and it shows no signs of moving from this spot anytime soon.
China is now the leading exporter of many items and Chinese products have become absolutely ubiquitous. In America alone, consumers purchase more than $500 billion worth of Chinese goods per year.
Continue reading “Importing From China! The Essential Guide!”Whether you are starting a childcare business or own an established childcare business, there are numerous supplies required to efficiently and effectively run your business.
And, while there are numerous big box, wholesalers, distributors, retailers and online sources with supplies available, most childcare budgets require that you make careful, moderately-priced choices in a limited amount of time.
Continue reading “How to Source Supplies for Your Childcare Business!”As a boutique recruitment agency, we at Argentus are on the front-lines of the churn in the new jobs market. We speak with potential job candidates every day.
Some of them are passive, interested in moving into new opportunities when we reach out to them. Some of them are active, reaching out to us because they want to make a move.
With the economy experiencing a prolonged growth spurt, and demand for professionals in Supply Chain Management and Procurement – our area of specialty – going up, there’s a lot of activity, especially in short-term contracts where companies are onboarding talent for their change management and business transformation expertise.
Continue reading “6 Reasons Supply Chain Employees Look For New Jobs!”“Fish are friends, not food.” Similarly Suppliers are friends and not food.
Bruce, a great white shark, and his two shark friends gather alongside Dory and Marlin, taking a sacred oath, swearing off eating fish. This scene became an instant classic in the homes of the hundreds of millions that have seen Pixar’s mega-success, Finding Nemo.
If you’ve never seen the film, treat yourself by watching this clip below, and directly after you finish this blog, do yourself a favor and stream the entire film.
Now…
Is there something to be learned from this quote in Finding Nemo, that we can apply to procurement and sourcing? As buyer and suppliers aren’t we all living in the same ocean, existing in the same ecosystem, and working towards the same value creation?
In a realm known as the bustling world of business, procurement holds the key to unlocking the secrets of wise purchases and seamless operations. Today, we embark on an epic adventure to discover the winning formula and untapped potential of the Procurement Powerplay Quest, where you will learn the secrets of success in purchasing.
Continue reading “Procurement Powerplay: The Winning Formula for Seamless Success in Purchasing!”Businesses are consistently in search of practical and economical solutions to meet their manufacturing requirements. In recent times, injection molding has gained significant traction as a preferred approach for large-scale production of plastic components.
When considering injection molding quotes for your project, obtaining accurate and competitive quotes is essential to ensuring the success of your manufacturing venture. When venturing into the realm of Plastic injection molding, it is crucial to start with a solid understanding of the process and its requirements.
Continue reading “Key Factors to Consider When Requesting Injection Molding Quotes Online!”It’s amazing how quickly $4 trillion dollars can change a conversation about rare earth elements.
With the onset of the COVID19 pandemic, and the resulting supply chain fallout, many have speculated on how the U.S. found itself so reliant on a foreign country, mainly China, but certainly others.
The Covid19 global pandemic has cruelly exposed the utter dependence of the US and the world on China’s mass manufacturing capability and supply of critical medical equipment and materials. Not only are personal protective equipment and medical ventilators in a massive short supply, Chinese supplied medical tests have also been found to be inaccurate when used in various countries.
This acute shortage and dependence has raised alarms and questions about remediation supply chain strategies for materials and finished products.
Why are we so dependent on these countries and what can we do about it?
Continue reading “Time to Rethink Sourcing Rare Earth Elements”In a world where competition is fierce and operational efficiency is paramount, businesses often seek ways to streamline processes and reduce costs without compromising on quality. MRO inventory management, or Maintenance, Repair, and Operation inventory management, plays a pivotal role in achieving these objectives.
Understanding and effectively managing MRO inventory can be the difference between a seamlessly running operation and one riddled with delays, unnecessary expenses, and operational hiccups.
Continue reading “MRO Inventory Management: An Essential Element for Operational Efficiency!”Shortly after I joined the Commodity/Category Management Procurement organization I was invited to attend the annual Strategic Supplier Awards event. It was all about Strategic Supplier Relationship management.
There were Executives from dozens of Suppliers in attendance. The event concluded with award recognition given to Suppliers based on their scoring and standing as being of Strategic value to the company.
Prior to joining the Procurement team I had neither understood nor appreciated the importance of Supplier Relationship management. But having seen how motivated and inspired these Suppliers were I started to understand.
But in the weeks, months and years to come I also became much more informed about the good and bad aspects of Supplier Relationship Management.
From company to company I came to develop a list of Strategic Supplier Relationship Management “Do’s” and “Don’ts”.
Continue reading “Strategic Supplier Relationship Management – Do’s and Don’ts”This week saw one of the year’s most highly-anticipated releases in the Supply Chain industry: the Institute of Supply Management (ISM)’s annual salary and compensation survey.
As a recruitment company specializing in the industry, we consider it part of our mandate to spread the word about salaries in the field – and educate ourselves even further in the process.
Continue reading “Supply Chain Compensation is on the Rise!”Your business is only as exceptional as the goods or services it offers, and to get exceptional products, the right supplier is a must.
Whether you’re starting a new line of products from scratch or looking to revamp your shelves, here are five qualities of a reliable supplier to prioritize.
Continue reading “5 Qualities of a Reliable Supplier!”Aggregating your procurement spend for the purpose of delivering greater value is a sound objective. Theoretically you should be able to generate better service, better terms and conditions, and better cost. Therefore you should enable spend aggregation.
Yet there can be many obstacles in your way to achieving this seemingly simple goal. Loss of control, fear of job loss, questionable benefits, and a perceived loss of margin are some of the obstacles you may run across. We discussed these in greater detail in our post Procurement (Part 1!) – The Spend Aggregation Obstacle Course!
Continue reading “Enable Spend Aggregation in Procurement!”The partnership between businesses and their suppliers is the linchpin upon which success pivots. Understanding mutual objectives lies at the heart of effective collaboration. The synergy between a business and its supply chain partners is not merely a transactional necessity; it’s a strategic imperative.
Keep reading as we explore the intricacies of selecting Supply Chain partners whose values and capabilities resonate with your business objectives.
From defining clear, measurable goals to nurturing enduring relationships built on trust and communication, we uncover the strategies that drive businesses toward sustained prosperity.
Continue reading “Supplier Synergy: Aligning Your Business Goals with the Right Supply Chain Partners!”Purchase Price Variance, or PPV, is a common term in the realm of Purchasing/Procurement and Finance.
For some, PPV is a mechanical metric only, measured and reported on but without any further attention paid to it. For others it is tightly managed, actioned and used to determine Procurement’s effectiveness in either reducing losses or generating profit. Still for some others it isn’t even on their radar.
In my experience proactive, attentive, and detailed Purchase Price Variance (PPV) can make an incredible contribution to the profitability of a company. To ignore or downplay it is to lose sight of both the potential to drive profits and the exposure to incur losses.
What exactly is PPV, how can it be managed, and what is the strategic value of investing time and energy in this metric?
Continue reading “Purchase Price Variance (PPV)! A Profit or Loss Opportunity?”
As the old saying goes, “Take care of the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves!” This phrase, or rather the British version thereof, is attributed to William Lowndes, who lived from 1652-1724. And taking care of the penny is as true now as it was those many centuries ago.
Any savvy professional who works in Procurement or in Finance knows that this adage applies to everything they do. But it is not only the pennies that matter any more, but the fractions of a penny are just as important as ever.
Micromanaging the fractions of a penny across hundreds and thousands of skus in your inventory can add up to substantial savings, and profits, for any company astute enough to understand the opportunity.
Continue reading “Why $0.001 Matters!”
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