Finding suppliers that check all of the boxes on paper is imperative, but that's only the first step in establishing strategic supplier relationships. These are the types of partnerships that will align with your company's supplier improvement strategies. However, they only develop if you take the time to make sure they function for all parties involved.
This is why managing supplier relationships is a gradual process of nuanced relationship development and maintenance.
When conditioned air (hot or cold) leaks from a building, the energy it took to condition that air is wasted, creating an energy loss. Leaks are only one of the sources for wasted energy; motors, pumps, and electrical boxes will generate heat and lose energy efficiency as they begin to fail. Thermal imagers can be used by creating pictures of measured infrared energy or heat and assigning colors based on the differences of temperature.
Expert category management requires a unique combination of procurement disciplines and skills. This is even truer today, as our ever-evolving global economy continues to create the types of spend management challenges that take teams of individuals with specific skill-sets to overcome.
Procurement is being tasked with achieving a greater ROI despite a smaller headcount. This challenge is further compounded by the fact that many companies are not entirely clear on how to attack their spend cube to achieve greater spend under management or compliance goals, particularly in decentralized environments.
Dustin Cochran is the Director of Member Development for OMNIA Partners and was recently named a 2017 Pro to Know by Supply & Demand Chain Executive for his extensive procurement expertise and work in helping organizations achieve best-in-class spend management programs.
Unrealistic expectations and disappointment often go hand in hand. When evaluating logistics companies and assessing their service proposals, asking questions helps ensure that your expectations are in line with 3PL providers and their capabilities. Asking potential 3PL providers these eight questions can potentially help you avoid costly surprises down the road, such as being locked into long-term contracts with 3PL companies providing poor customer service.
With your year-end tax reporting completed (or close to it, hopefully) now’s the time to start planning for a pain-free 2019.
