Procurement function one of most important drivers of future business success
The procurement function has a significant role to play in an organisation’s future business success in the global market, far beyond its past role of simple order processing, said Gerd Kerkhoff, CEO of Kerkhoff Consulting, tells SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 12:07 AM
Volume leveraging benefits - Where's the evidence?
Public sector Procurement organisations of many of today’s recession-hit territories are responding to demands for savings in various ways, including increasingly desperate attempts (in many cases) to deliver Procurement savings by pressurising suppliers to deliver lower prices, on the largest possible scale. Over the last few years public and pri vate sector volume leveraging strategies have been evolving worldwide, very quickly indeed. However, it is generally unknown if the greater the volume to which a buyer is able to commit lowers the unit price the buying organisation will be quoted. Is volume leverage ad infinitum a valid proposition when designing public and pri vate sector purchasing structures and strategies? Wally Johnson of Purchasing Index (PI) speaks to SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 9:00 AM
Timing of vehicle replacement essential to control a fleet's TCO
The timing of vehicle replacement can have a massive impact on an organisation’s fleet costs and ultimately the total cost of ownership (TCO) of the fleet, Ashleigh Young, General Manager at FleetCube tells SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 9:35 AM
Does single source supply give customers leverage?
During the Apartheid era, organisations often grew by purchasing or amalgamating with their competitors. As a result, in the 1990s, when organisations had access to the world stage, South Africa had and still has many industries that are controlled by monopolies or duopolies.
Posted by StaffWriter at 3:23 PM
Events Procurement: The professionals are the answer, but transparency is key
“The events and conference industry has grown in leaps and bounds in South Africa over the past few years. In light of this, organisations will, at some point, need the services of an Events or Conferencing Company who can assist with services ranging from conceptualisation, design, and marketing to operations,” Lou-Marie Radyn, Managing Director of Red Shack Events, told SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 7:15 AM
Report back on SmartSourcing Conference 2008
SmartProcurement hosted its 2nd annual SmartSourcing Conference on the 7th and 8th of October 2008 at the Irene Country Lodge in Centurion, Pretoria. This two-day event, sponsored by Purchasing Index, Tech-Pro Personnel, Commerce Edge Procurement Training, Volition, IPSA, BEESA Boxsmart and EES-Siyakha, attracted more than 100 local and international delegates from all corners of Procurement and Supply Chain Management (SCM) in both the private and public sectors.
Posted by Editor at 3:03 PM
Taming Project Procurement: Better the Devil you Know than the One you Don't...
In South Africa large amounts of money are presently being spent through the public sector, especially on commodities such as infrastructure. “Procurement for these projects is a key function, the integrity of which can mean the difference between millions saved or wasted, time commitments met or missed, and social development requirement compliance or non-compliance. Traditionally, these projects are handled inefficiently since procurement usually buys commodities based on price, therefore removing all advantage by buying too much ‘just-in-case’ and ignoring the value of the integration of activities”, Rob Stuart, a Procurement Specialist at Volition Consulting Services, told SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 11:43 AM
'The China Game' and the Value of Scenario Planning In Turbulent Economic Times
SmartProcurement recently hosted its 2nd annual SmartSourcing Conference on the topic of ‘Strategic Cost Management in Turbulent Economic Times’ at the Irene Country Lodge in Centurion, Pretoria. The conference’s first day’s keynote address was presented by internationally acclaimed scenario planner and popular motivational speaker, Clem Sunter, on the topic of “The China Game”.
Posted by Editor at 10:52 AM
Rigorous Process Focus Required for Effective Strategic Sourcing
Many procurement organisations have embarked on Strategic Sourcing in recent years, with mixed successes. "A lack of focus on the integration of the overall value chain has allowed sceptics to minimise the value of new generation procurement approaches. Cobus Rossouw, Managing Director of Volition Consulting Services, told SmartProcurement."The way forward requires appropriate focus... Posted by Editor at 11:00 AM
Using a third party specialists to source hard to find 'widgets'
The item on the left seems like a pretty straightforward thing to source but the challenge in getting it 100% correct from a specification and quality perspective plus getting it on time led a Pharmaceutical company to use a procurement specialist service to source the medicine bottle-caps shown here. These services are proving ever more useful in sourcing "hard to find items" in a short space of time.Posted by Editor at 2:45 PM
Pan African Procurement - A view from the Flight Tower
"Many large companies consider the continent of Africa (excluding South Africa) as an enigma. Historically, these organisations have resigned to the fact that operating in Africa will be relatively inefficient in terms of their procurement, and sometimes other activities." Greg Buckley of Volition tells Smart Procurement that "The justification for this has traditionally been the combination of small market share, challenging logistics, uncertain politics, inconsistent trade protocol, fragile currencies and unsophisticated administration."Posted by StaffWriter at 2:25 PM
New Web technology speeds up and simplifies sourcing of MRO requirements
RS Components South Africa, a well-known global distributor of industrial products have successfully undertaken the task of upgrading their e-Procurement website to streamline the sourcing process for more than 300 000 MRO items. New technological advancements enable users to quickly find the product searched for and take advantage of price competitive product promotions.Posted by StaffWriter at 7:44 AM
Global Network provides over 200,000 low value MRO industrial items within 24 hours via e-Procurement
Local purchasing departments now have countrywide access to a highly sophisticated global supply chain with over 200, 000 electronic, electrical, mechanical and industrial products, available within 24 hours for local stock and a maximum of 4-6 working days for international stock.
Posted by Bernie at 5:39 PM
Does aggregation really lead to lower prices?
The idea that greater purchasing power delivers lower prices may be accepted wisdom in procurement circles, but it doesn’t always add up writes Alan Low, MD of Purchasing Index. The simple fact is that the “Viking” (volume is king) model, applied ad infinitum to B2B and B2G Purchasing, has not delivered consistently better prices than those being achieved by less volume-intensive purchasing organisations.
Posted by StaffWriter at 8:44 AM
Rising prices to drive Low Cost Country Sourcing
"As the following graph shows, prices for goods (and PPI) continue to increase... It illustrates rate of increase of a large basket of goods (including strategic and consumable items) compared to PPI and the movement in the Rand’s value against major Western currencies," Alan Low MD of Purchasing Index tells SmartProcurement. "The graph highlights not only the increase in many commodities including steel, chemicals, wood, etc, but also points towards the lack of competition in many areas of local supply."
Posted by StaffWriter at 7:35 AM
Taming travel expenses? Boost your compliance!
Although travel expenses account for a significant - and rising - portion of a business’ s operating expenses, it remains one of the most difficult to manage or control.
This results in unnecessary costs, says Warren Tanner-Ellis, general manager, Travel Management Solutions at MWEB CommerceZone, a provider of hosted e-Procurement solutions and services. "These costs can amount to as much as 8% to 10% of total overhead expenses according to recent research undertaken by the Aberdeen Group*"
Posted by Bernie at 10:29 AM
True cost of Staff Recruitment exposed
If you asked your Human Resources Department how much staff recruitment really costs your organisation the real cost can be much higher than imagined. Elaine Porteous, an Independent Procurement Consultant tells Smart Procurement that there are many costly “hassle factors” both internally and externally that are usually not accounted for.
Posted by Bernie at 11:50 AM