by Janice Marquardt | Sep 10, 2024 | Contracts, Definitions, Savings
Disclaimer: I am not an attorney and cannot give legal advice. This series is from a supply chain practitioner’s perspective on negotiating contracts and is simply offering my perspective on common contract clauses. Seek professional legal advice for your own...
by Janice Marquardt | Aug 20, 2024 | Definitions, Processes, Savings
I first encountered Foreign Trade Zones (FTZs) and bonded warehouses while working for a manufacturer who was getting many components out of China. Before that point, most of my employers were getting the majority of their shipments domestically, either from US...
by Janice Marquardt | Aug 6, 2024 | Definitions, Savings, Supply Chain Career
The inimitable Mathew Schulz posted on LinkedIn last week about how the best procurement pros chase value instead of savings. This got me thinking about savings vs. value, and the differences between a procurement team who thinks tactically vs. one who thinks...
by Janice Marquardt | Jul 30, 2024 | Definitions, Savings
Language matters. Early in my supply chain career, my supply chain leader sat across his desk from me and told me, “Vendors sell hot dogs. Suppliers are partners.” I think I was implementing a supplier scorecard program at the time and was constantly referring to our...
by Janice Marquardt | Jul 16, 2024 | Definitions, Processes, Savings
One of the best tools to share price risks between buyers and suppliers is index-linked pricing. Most procurement professionals have heard of and used commodity indices to tie pricing to the wider market, but in short they are a third-party tracking tool for commodity...
by Janice Marquardt | Jul 9, 2024 | Creative Solutions, Savings
I first encountered supply chain rebates a few years into my supply chain career, and confess they baffled me. How could a savings mechanism where a supplier cut their customer a check retroactively ever be sustainable? Yet one of my suppliers was using them...
