Author Archives: Ashley Sieb
Procurement professionals like you have indicated two main roadblocks hindering them from becoming a best in class procurement organization include: 41% a lack of culture that accepts procurement as strategic 38% a lack of technology to automate the strategic sourcing process Join us for a Webcast on May 2 at 11 AM EST, “10 Ways to Drive Procurement Influence Using Advanced Technology.” Jason Busch from Spend Matters and Joanna Martinez from Cushman & Wakefield will discuss tips on how you can … More
Yesterday was Day 2 of reSource ’12: Empower Sourcing Excellence in Las Vegas. Click here to read a review of Day 1. After breakfast, reSource ’12 attendees attended workshop sessions and private meetings with Iasta. Many reSource ’12 attendees enjoyed the roundtable discussions, which covered topics such as: KPIs and adoption strategies Benefits and challenges of procurement outsourcing Analyzing data and creating a pipeline eSourcing program rollout & re-deployment Challenges of managing contracts Increasing team performance and efficiency Adopting SmartSource technology for the … More
reSource ’12: Empower Sourcing Excellence is Iasta’s largest user group conference yet. A diverse range of companies and attendees with various backgrounds are connecting during targeted workshop sessions, roundtable discussions and networking opportunities. reSource ’12 is taking place at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. David Bush, CEO of Iasta, launched the reSource ’12 events yesterday morning with his Keynote Kickoff presentation. During his keynote presentation, David Bush also announced Iasta’s 2011 revenue growth and new leadership appointments. For fiscal year 2011, Iasta’s Software as a Service (SaaS) … More
In a recent Iasta Insights poll, 36% of respondents said the biggest team resolution for 2012 is improving cross-functional collaboration. Nearly 28% of respondents said enhancing stakeholder relationships and alignment was the top initiative for 2012. Does your 2012 sourcing resolution list include similar goals? If so, register for Procurement Leader’s Webcast with featuring Matt McCarrick of Iasta and Stijn van Els of Royal Dutch Shell, “Achieving Greater Value through Better Alignment with the Business” on February 28, 2012 at … More
Procurement transformation is often the greatest single driver of sustainable and implementable savings for companies. Yet these programs, by their very nature, often can disrupt aspects of business activity while changing procurement’s overall role and structure under the broader functional and enterprise umbrella. No company should enter a procurement transformation without realizing that such programs will nearly always result in: material turnover of key staff potential turf battles with line of business holders ongoing technology and process change the potential … More
As the year comes to an end, we crunched the numbers to see which blog posts were the most popular. We’ll use the data to continue providing content that is relevant and useful. We thought you might be interested in knowing too so here they are. In ranked order, the top 5 blog posts on eSourcing Forum were: 1. Three Lessons Sourcing Can Learn from Firework Shopping 2. Procurement Fraud: A Costly White Collar Crime on the Rise 3. What Procurement Can Learn … More
In the past decade, manufacturing and service firms, to name two examples, have become increasingly aware of the importance of supplier performance and its impact on their own performance and market competitiveness. A number of factors have converged to create the perfect storm in these sectors: • Increased outsourcing and reliance on suppliers for both goods and services • Globalization of business and supply chains • Increasing complexity in managing suppliers • Increasing supply risks • The view of suppliers not just as a cost, … More
Before an organization can go green, it has to want to go green. So, why should an organization want to be green? Below are five benefits of becoming a green procurement organization: Brand Image: An organization that has gone green is seen as a good corporate citizen. This increases its image in the eyes of the public. Customer Satisfaction: An organization that goes green in response to customer concerns increases its levels of customer satisfaction, a key point in customer … More
On Friday, McDonalds announced the company dropped its egg supplier after learning about reports of animal cruelty. From a recent article, “A three-month investigation conducted by ABC News and Mercy for Animals, a non-profit organization devoted to animal welfare, produced a video alleging abuses at farms run by McDonald’s egg supplier Sparboe in Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado. The video, first shown on “Good Morning America,” shows hens packed into industrial cages too small for them to spread their wings. It … More
Iasta’s annual user group conference, reSource ’12, will take place on March 12-13, 2012 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. reSource ’12 is designed for Iasta customers and prospects who are responsible for procurement within their organization, especially super users, decision makers and new users. Click here for more information about Iasta’s reSource ’12 event. “We are very excited to host our annual user group conference in Las Vegas this year,” said Melissa Beuc, senior director of product marketing of Iasta … More
While reading through the Procurement Professionals group posts in LinkedIn, I came across this discussion post: “hi guys, explain why companies are turning toward having a few preferred suppliers rather than selecting on price alone (the traditional method of supplier selection).” Immediately, this question entered my mind: Is price alone truly the traditional method of supplier selection? By selecting a supplier based solely on price, buyers may be failing to gather critical supplier information such as quality, service, dependability, and … More
Today, many children will roam the streets trick-or-treating, and people of all ages will attend costume parties and decorate their homes with all things “scary.” This spooky holiday got us thinking about what fears keep procurement professionals restless and awake all night. Below are three of the scary situations we came up with for procurement: 1. Supplier risk – Risk should always be taken into account as part of good supply chain governance. Without having a process in place to track and … More
A recent post on SupplyChainDigest featured new findings from CAPS Research, which affiliated with the Institute of Supply Management. The article included 12 key factors for successful Supplier Relationship Management (SRM). The 12 Keys to SRM Success from CAPS Research 1. A consistent approach that encompasses all of the work streams identified above in an integrated way. There is no silver bullet. 2. While SRM can be approached as an initiative with a beginning and an end, the greatest success … More
