Author Archives: Michael Lamoureux
In our last post, I reminded you about Strategic Service Management and the complexities thereof, as well as about Strategic Service Parts Management and Strategic Workforce Management in my efforts to give you an answer to when do I source that?. Now that you know when you should be considering strategic services management and when it enters into your sourcing projects, let’s move on to the question that first comes to mind, how do I source that?. The first thing … More
You’ve probably been following my posts over on Sourcing Innovation on Strategic Service Management and the complexities thereof, as well as my pieces on Strategic Service Parts Management and Strategic Workforce Management and, by now, you’re probably wondering, how do I source that? Well, that’s a good question, but I think the first question you need to ask is, when do I source that? To answer the when question, you start by looking at the products you are sourcing and … More
In 1995, Barings Bank, the oldest merchant bank in London (at a ripe old age of 233 years), collapsed as the result of the actions of one man. Nick Leeson, a rogue trader, single-handedly brought down the bank when he amassed what was then a record 1.8 Billion in losses, which he had hidden in an obscure account (Error Account 88888) which went to different managers than the standard trading house accounts. And that was the end of the story. … More
A recent article in Global Logistics & Supply Chain Strategies, as reprinted in Supply Chain Brain, on Emerging Economies: Cheaper Production — and More Headaches described the hidden price tag of low-cost labor. Although many of these have been covered here in this blog and over on Sourcing Innovation over the last two years, they’re worth a recap. Longer Lead Times Let’s face it. You can’t source products from China next-day, even if you are able to air-freight. With all … More
Recently, a press release hit the news wire from Kroll that summarized some of the results of their Global Fraud Report which found that supply chain fraud risks are increasing due to global growth and outsourcing. According to Kroll, large companies have increasingly become “extended enterprises” as they have globalized, outsourced, re-engineered their business processes, brought business partners and vendors closer and specialised their functions. The result makes them more complex and leaves them vulnerable to an array of frauds … More
A recent article in Supply Chain Digest sung one of my favorite tunes – talent. The latest publication to note that there is a current shortage of talent and that it’s only going to get worse, it also noted that only a few companies have disciplined and sustained programs for supply chain talent development. Furthermore, most of these companies are using approaches that have worked in the past, which may not be suited to the unpredictable global environment of the … More
As proved time and time again, that’s what the majority of you – who still aren’t using optimization – are doing each and every time you execute an e-Sourcing project of even minimal complexity without using optimization. At reSource, Iasta provided five case studies of recent projects that it executed in conjunction with its clients that ranged in value from 2.8M to 110M. Savings on these projects ranged from 5.5% to 40%, and even the most complex project was completed … More
I enjoyed the recent article over on Global Services by the title of Wrecking Ball that noted that implementation of new operating models requires the corporate equivalent of wrecking an old building in order to build anew, yet few corporate managers are trained to swing the wrecking ball carefully, communicate in the most effective way to employees, and prepare for the fallout. As the author notes, for many corporate change managers, preparing to communicate with employees is the last tick … More
Another good article in the recent edition of CPO Agenda is Collection Action by Nick Martindale. (It should be no surprise that I’d pick up on this one, as I’ve been known to preach the “Collaborate, Collaborate, Collaborate, Collaborate” mantra – see parts I, II, III, IV, and V, for example.) The article starts off by noting that collaborative buying has yet to recover from the hefty blow that it was delivered in the nineties, after a number of GPOs … More
The Supply Chain Management Review recently ran an article on Maximizing e-Sourcing through a Center of Excellence where they noted that software alone is not sufficient — organizations must have the knowledge and policies in place to support these tools. The article then says that, because of this, leaders today are establishing Centers of Excellence (CoE) to fully capture the value and savings from e-Sourcing technologies. As per the article, a Center of Excellence is a small center-led group of … More
It’s hard to come up with a good definition for supplier enablement. Depending on who you ask, it is either supplier networks, catalog management and / or ((c)XML-based) punchouts, e-Document Management, a Supplier Portal that enables e-Procurement and / or e-Sourcing, or some (often proprietary) combination thereof. The common thread between most of the definitions that one encounters is a greater utilization of technology solutions to streamline procurement and / or sourcing processes by seamlessly connecting the buyer to its … More
A generally accepted (and obvious) “best practice” is to procure services via a robust competitive methodology. In general, this is achieved by issuing a comprehensive request for proposal (RFP) to each of the potential vendors for that service. The practice has now become so common that many organizations have developed a standardized template (or templates) and are able to rapidly churn out RFPs to meet the demands of its business unit customers. This semi-automated approach accelerates the overall procurement timeframe … More
First of all, the doctor would like to point out that he’s thrilled with the level of supply chain coverage that Industry Week has had of late. the doctor realizes that it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the focus they put on manufacturing overall, but it’s better than no drop in the bucket at all. Late last year they published an article that asked What are the Critical Skills of Supply Chain Leaders that the doctor had to … More
What is Corporate Social Irresponsibility? Simply put, it’s the practice of not being socially responsible as a corporation. What is social responsibility? Although heavily debated, it’s something that 71% of adults in the US believe corporations are not doing, or at least not doing well, according to a recent study by Harris Interactive. Why is it important? If it leads to even a one point change on Fortune Magazine’s “Americas Most Admired Companies”, it can translate into 107M of additional … More
Industry week recently ran a good article by Chris Ferrell of Tompkins Associates on Best Practices in Freight Bidding that had a number of good suggesstions. The article offered up the following 12 best practices: Obtain commitment from executive management. This is always a good idea, no matter what project you are undertaking. Benchmark current freight costs. Also, separate out fuel surcharges from basic freight spend. This is critical. After all, how can you do better if you don’t even … More
