by Janice Marquardt | Sep 9, 2025 | Contracts, Definitions
When I started helping businesses with their supply chains, I was surprised to learn how few had written contracts beyond purchase orders or maybe blanket POs. But I get it. Contracts are expensive, they don’t always seem to have value, and they take forever to...
by Janice Marquardt | Aug 19, 2025 | Definitions, e-Auctions, Savings
E-auctions have come a long way since they were introduced in the late 1990s. What started as suppliers in a room writing bids on a clipboard became mailed floppy disks (yes, really), and then the web-based software options we know today. Along the way, we added more...
by Janice Marquardt | Jul 8, 2025 | Definitions, e-Auctions, Savings
On a call with a client today, they asked me how a “lump sum” bid is different from a “unit price” bid. This led to a larger discussion about risk vs. cost in a supply chain and this client team said to me, “You should write an article about this topic.” So here we...
by Janice Marquardt | Jun 17, 2025 | Creative Solutions, Definitions
AI is the biggest buzzword of the day. To Joël Collin-Demers’ point, if you can substitute the word “computers” or “technology” for AI in a sentence, it’s probably not true AI but instead is a clever use of technology. While technology is still valuable and...
by Janice Marquardt | May 6, 2025 | Creative Solutions, Definitions, Processes
A large part of many corporate jobs is presenting data. Typically presented in chart form, data is intended to help others (especially management) make decisions, plan for the future, and understand the current state. This is especially true in a supply chain team,...
by Janice Marquardt | Apr 1, 2025 | Definitions, Processes, Savings
Back in January, we talked about tail spend and ways to reduce your spend with the bottom 20% of suppliers. But what if you don’t really know which tail spend items/suppliers to keep and which to get rid of? What else should we think about when classifying our...
