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...
by Janice Marquardt | Feb 18, 2025 | Benefits, Processes, Supply Chain Career
I haven’t been in supply chain management as long as some, but I’ve been around long enough to have some observations on common errors supply chain practitioners make. Some are things many professionals can do better (such as continually learning) and some are very...
by Janice Marquardt | Feb 11, 2025 | Definitions, Processes
Does your business have a supplier manual? If not, do you feel like you struggle to communicate with your suppliers and hold them accountable? A Supplier Manual is one of those things every company should have, but many don’t. One of my first ever tasks for a client...
by Janice Marquardt | Jan 29, 2025 | Processes, Savings
In a deep dive training into Sourcing with a client recently, I mentioned the phrase “tail spend” and was met with a few blank looks. Tail spend is one of those procurement terms that we don’t realize is jargon, and this was a group of people new to the profession. So...
