by Janice Marquardt | Apr 15, 2025 | e-Auctions, Processes
“The 80/20 rule always applies” is a phrase I’ve lived with so long I don’t even know where I heard it first. But I’ve definitely repeated it – to my teams, to clients, to my poor family who are no longer at all interested (if they ever were). But what is it,...
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...
by Janice Marquardt | Mar 25, 2025 | Processes, Supply Chain Career
Several months ago, I published an article on what makes a utility supply chain unique. This article is the same for the manufacturing supply chain – which is a HUGE category with thousands of businesses represented. I’ve been working in and with manufacturers...
by Janice Marquardt | Mar 18, 2025 | Creative Solutions, Processes
Some months ago on LinkedIn, I saw an account rep run a poll about all the questions he had to answer for a Request for Proposal (RFP), asking his fellow sales team peers about their experiences with long question lists. This struck me because my reaction was: why is...
by Janice Marquardt | Mar 4, 2025 | Creative Solutions, Definitions, Processes
Item numbers can be so powerful. An item number for a part provides a common spec/description, a way of tracking a part across time and different suppliers, and increases the efficiency of a supply chain. Item numbers, also known as part numbers, material numbers,...
by Janice Marquardt | Feb 25, 2025 | Processes, Savings
I try to stay off of bandwagons. But (you knew that “but” was coming, didn’t you?) I was at a client’s site this week reviewing category strategies, and of course the subject of trade tariffs came up. Then on a call with a different client this week, someone brought...
