Tag: Quick Wins
-
Short-Term Tariff Strategies to Keep Procurement Costs in Check
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 up their use of “tariff forms”… Read more
-
Smart Payment Terms: More Than Net 30 vs. Net 45
One of the first places company leaders go looking for savings is supplier payment terms. While this seems simple, payment terms are more complicated than they first appear. Payment terms usually appear in the contract or even as part of the purchase order terms, if a company has written agreements with suppliers. Today we’re going… Read more
-
Tail Spend: What It Is and Why It Matters for Your Procurement Strategy
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 today’s article we’ll cover… Read more
-
How a Supply Chain Geek Sources a Live Christmas Tree
Because this week is Christmas and this post will publish on Christmas Eve, let’s talk about sourcing a live Christmas tree as a supply chain professional. Now, true to form, this post is coming too late to do anything about it this year, which is appropriate for the topic. We’re always getting requests to purchase… Read more
-
Express Gratitude Instead of Apologizing
In this season of gratitude here in the U.S., I’m reminded of one of the best pieces of professional advice I ever received: Don’t say “I’m sorry,” say, “Thank you.” The anecdotal wisdom is that women apologize more than men, but research shows it’s a little more complicated than that. Instead, women generally have a… Read more
-
The Do’s and Don’ts of Attending Internal Customer Staff Meetings
As a supply chain professional, it’s incredibly easy to fall into the “they vs. we” trap. “They” are the internal customer, the engineer, the end user, the operations team. “We” are the procurement, supply chain, or logistics team. While there are many ways to start shifting this mentality and start healing the rift between supply… Read more
-
Stuck in Supplier Diversity Limbo? Get Real Results
Many supply chain teams have supplier diversity initiatives, targets, and goals. These are typically not even new programs, as many of them have been on the agenda for ten, thirty, or even fifty years. They have survived multiple supply chain leaders, multiple CEOs, and multiple CFOs the way few things do other than cost savings… Read more
-
Hidden Tax Trap: How Shipping Costs Are Costing Your Business Money
Sometimes in the supply chain we need quick wins. One potential source of a quick win is in paying sales taxes on shipments. While this may seem to be the responsibility of the tax department, how the supply chain structures agreements and invoices has a big impact on whether a company pays freight taxes. Taxable… Read more