Today in the US, it’s National Drink Coffee Day. Now I don’t know if that’s an official holiday of any kind or just another internet meme, similar to Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19th). But the ‘holiday’ reminded me of a recent discussion thread on Ariba Exchange about sourcing coffee, which dug into strategy [...]

[Read more →]

When I asked the Strategic Sourcing & Procurement LinkedIn group members to suggest topics for upcoming calls, there were a lot of requests pertaining to indirect spend. So, this Friday, the group’s July member conference call will be an open discussion on indirect categories (marketing and consulting will definitely be covered - if you have [...]

[Read more →]

The ISM NMI (Non-Manufacturing Index) came in at 53.8, which is down from 55.4 in May. The Business Activity Index was 58.1, down from 61.1 in May, and New Orders was 54.4, down from 57.1 in May. The employment index came in at 49.7, slightly below the growth threshold of 50. Here are some bullet points about [...]

[Read more →]

Following hot on heels of a great April group member call on Commodities (replay available here), our Strategic Sourcing & Procurement discussion this month will be led by Murillo Xavier. Murillo is a Supply Chain Project Manager at Nestle Waters North America as well as the author of ‘Strategic Sourcing - Suppliers Are From Mars, [...]

[Read more →]

Lead Category Manager Mike Petro explains how non-price factors indicate a shift from buyer’s to seller’s market conditions.

This segment is a clip from the LinkedIn Strategic Sourcing & Procurement group member conference call on commodities. You can stream the full replay here (embedded player top center). Request to join the group here.
Justin Fogarty is Managing [...]

[Read more →]