Think of commodity managers as the quarterbacks of the supply chain team. They need to collect a lot of supplier information, be quick decision-makers, and negotiate details but yet, see the big picture. The most successful commodity professionals constantly monitor market conditions to purchase when prices are ideal. They analyze risk, develop forecasts, study trends …
Hundreds of Tier 1, 2, & 3 CNC machine shops will need to pivot to more efficient sourcing strategies for purchasing bar stock in 2023. Automating purchasing to keep their supply stocked will be key for smooth and efficient operations going forward. The Current Situation ThomasNet has a list of 542 Steel bar stock …
How CNC Machine Shops Can Reduce Time Spent Sourcing Bar Stock Read More »
Successful sourcing professionals consistently analyze and adjust their sourcing strategy. Now, more than ever, the key to crafting a successful risk mitigation plan for a global supply base is having detailed information for hundreds of suppliers across regions & capabilities readily available to support agile decision-making. Having this information in one online, centralized database improves …
How to Engage with Suppliers and Build a Robust Supply Chain Read More »
by Sahil Shah Die casters typically purchase several grades of aluminum from 3-5 sources. They also purchase a few different grades of lubricants, coolants, and perishable tooling daily. Additionally, they purchase hundreds of different maintenance components and factory operational items from tens of different sources and include small items such as fasteners, gaskets, fittings, …
Advances in Foundry Purchasing & Supplier Management Tools Read More »
by Sahil Shah When automotive foundries are awarded projects, they start with Design for Manufacturing (DFM) activities. It’s followed by the kickoff of tooling and patterns. As the project moves forward through tooling fabrication, suppliers normally have various team members in process engineering, tooling engineering, sales, project management, quality engineering, and supply chain. These different …
Thirty months since our team members first learned about Coronavirus (remember calling it that!) there is a lot we have learned. It is sobering to think about over half a billion people around the world have contracted Covid and we have over 6.35 million recorded deaths (excluding China, which has stopped publishing its counts). According …
The History of CRM The term “CRM” customer relationship management is now a commonly used term, and the emergence of companies like Salesforce CRM offerings have contributed both to its growth and popularity. The origin of CRM dates to the 1980s; however it wasn’t even called a CRM. It was called a CMS, a contact …
RFQ (request for quote) is a business process in which a company or public entity requests a quote from a supplier for the purchase of specific products or services. RFQ generally means the same thing as Call for bids (CfB) and Invitation for bid (IfB). Up until the 1990s, these kinds of requests were issued …
Are your suppliers’ certifications compliant? Are you buyers being productive? Do you have visibility to your teams sourcing activity? How do you manage all your supplier relationships? If you are a manufacturer, these are all probably common questions that you ask. In most cases, all this relevant data is scattered across different systems & platforms …
Many of the progressive industrial companies in the world have successfully digitized their CRM processes using software like Salesforce and others. But their Sourcing and Supply chain teams still use archaic excel, email, and PDF tools to engage in communications with their suppliers, conduct commercial exchanges, and manage contracts & certifications through the full life …
