Category Archives: Industry News
Supplier Network Fee Modeler: A Q-and-A With the Inventor (Part 1)
Purchasing Insight’s Pete Loughlin recently published a supplier network fee modeler. We covered its launch last week on Spend Matters. Supplier network fees are an increasingly important factor in calculating the total cost of ownership with indirect supply relationships. Suppliers are beginning to find ways of pushing back on them (both overtly and more discreetly) at their customer’s expense, as we featured in a recent Spend Matters PRO report on the supplier perspective on network fees. This analysis is based on the commentary from multiple suppliers participating in a live panel on the topic earlier this year as, well as [...]
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Spas Rolling Out Private Suites, Yahoo May Acquire Tumblr for $1B, Most Expensive US Hospital
Private suites at the spa are becoming increasingly popular with those disinclined to deal with the immemorial “towel or no towel” dilemma. Yahoo may be acquiring social media platform Tumblr at a price of up to $1 billion. The most expensive hospital in the U.S. bills at a rate more than four times the national average. Ousted Groupon CEO Andrew Mason is a busy man, between plans of a new company in San Francisco and releasing a seven-song album of motivational music.
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The Public Sector and the Cost of Resisting Change
Spend Matters welcomes a guest post from Mark Digman, VP of product marketing and strategy at SciQuest. Be sure to join Spend Matters and SciQuest for a webinar on May 30 from 10-11am CDT: Good Data: Spend Analysis Tactics to Attack Supplier Performance Management. One of the things I like about the Spend Matters community is that it’s filled with procurement professionals who embrace change – people who understand that change is not only beneficial, but also necessary to any organization’s survival. Because we tend to work with – and therefore surround ourselves with – forward-thinking, solution-oriented customers, it can [...]
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Upcoming Webinars, Google Wallet, 101 Carat Perfect Diamond
Here are some upcoming (free!) webinars that you might find interesting: 5/21/13: The Great Debate: Will Supplier Networks Thrive, Implode, or Evolve? 5/30/13: Good Data: Spend Analysis Tactics to Attack Supplier Performance Management 6/5/13: Putting the Supplier at the Heart of Procurement Ever wanted to send money through Gmail? Google Wallet allows you to “attach” money to an email, just as you would a photo or document. Harry Winston has bought a 101 carat “perfect diamond” at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction. The alarming issue of factory safety is escalated as a roof collapses at a shoe factory in Cambodia, killing [...]
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Tradeshift Webinar, Wal-Mart Not Signing Safety Agreement, Record Airline Fees, Coca-Cola Recipe for Sale?
Will supplier networks thrive, implode, or evolve? Join Spend Matters and Tradeshift next Tuesday at 9am CDT for a free webinar as four experts debate the future of eProcurement, e-invoicing and business connectivity. Wal-Mart has declined to sign on to a broad safety plan that a number of European companies have joined in response to the recent Bangladesh factory fire. U.S. airlines collected a record $6 billion in baggage and reservation change fees last year. If you have $15 million and a desire to own what is purported to be a 70-year-old secret recipe for Coca-Cola, Cliff Kluge from Ringgold, [...]
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Supreme Court and Monsanto, Pressure in Bangladesh, Supply Chain Efficiency
The Supreme Court ruled that farmers can’t use Monsanto’s genetically altered soybeans to create new seeds without paying the company a fee. Western retailers hurry to improve safety and working conditions in Bangladesh during the aftermath of the massive Rana Plaza factory fire. Don’t bother tracking Apple’s supply chain build plans. KPMG says that manufacturers are “motivated” by supply chain efficiency.
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Catch Spend Matters on the Road: Conference Season Continues
It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for the US Spend Matters research and analyst team this spring conference and event season. All three members of the US coverage team attended the ISM’s Annual International Supply Management Conference in Dallas earlier in the month. And the same crew presented and led discussions at the joint Spend Matters / MetalMiner Conflict Minerals Edge event in Chicago last week. We had the chance to stop by and present at Corporate United’s Synergy event as well, only a few blocks away from our own event a day earlier. Last month, Thomas Kase attended Concur’s [...]
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Coconut Oil Prices Slide a Slippery Slope, But Will It Last?
Spend Matters welcomes another guest post from Sam Parry of Mintec. The price of coconut oil in the US is currently down 40% year-on-year. Prices declined in 2012 due to heavy competition from palm kernel oil, whose price has been low as a result of high production. Global palm kernel oil production for 2012/13 is estimated to reach 6.2 million tons, an increase of 6% year-on-year. This has been led by a rise in production from the world’s largest producer, Indonesia, where output for the 2012/13 season is expected to increase by 8% year-on-year to 3.2 million tons. Global [...]
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McDonald’s Seeks Transparency, Chinese Automakers in Detroit, Retail Sales Rose in April, Facebook Home a Flop?
McDonald’s is recruiting “Quality Scouts” to investigate its supply chain and put together a report to be published later this year. Chinese automakers are opening offices in Detroit and gradually moving into the U.S. car market by selling batteries and auto parts. Despite being called “the next version of Facebook,” the Facebook Home app has had a lukewarm welcome, with downloads yet to reach 1 million. Retail sales unexpectedly rose 0.1 percent in April, following a 0.5-percent drop the month before.
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New Webinar! Will Supplier Networks Thrive, Implode, or Evolve?
Supplier networks are a topic of hot debate these days. If you’re an AP, treasury, procurement or supply chain manager, you should be thinking about the future of eProcurement, e-invoicing and business connectivity. So join Spend Matters and Tradeshift on Tuesday, May 21 from 9 to 10 AM CDT for a free webinar featuring a live panel discussion that, as always, will incorporate audience questions and commentary in real time. What we’re doing a bit differently this time is that there will be four industry experts sharing their individual views on the future of supplier enablement & connectivity. Four perspectives, [...]
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Pegatron Denies Falling iPad Mini Demand, Mother’s Day Spending Soars, 1 WTC Spire Installed
Apple supplier Pegatron refutes reports claiming that falling iPad mini demand is to blame for the tech company’s expected 25 to 30 percent decline in second quarter revenue. This year Mother’s Day spending is expected to reach $18.6 billion with the estimated average at $171, up 5% from last year. The U.S. Postal Service announced a $1.9 billion loss over the second quarter. Installation of the silver spire atop New York City’s One World Trade Center was completed Friday morning, bringing the building to its full height of 1,776 feet.
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UK Gov’t to Prioritize Cloud, Medicare Data, Consumer Spending Up 10%, Universities Sign Sustainability Pact
The U.K. Cabinet Office has issued a mandate to its government workers to prioritize cloud-based IT solutions. New government data shows that Medicare bills can vary widely among hospitals in the same state, in some cases as much as $50K. American consumers are spending nearly 10% more than they did in 2009. Harvard and M.I.T. have signed a sustainability pact with Cambridge, Mass. to collaborate on creating long-term strategies for coping with climate change and developing green technologies.
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US Skim Milk Powder Prices Poised to Rise
Spend Matters welcomes another guest post from Mark Kozlowski of Mintec. Skim milk powder (SMP) prices have recently surged in New Zealand in response to poor domestic milk production and firm demand for SMP from emerging markets such as China. US SMP prices, which historically have closely mimicked New Zealand prices, have not yet reacted to this supply/demand situation, but could they also be heading in the same direction? SMP is the world’s fourth most produced dairy product after cheese, butter and whole milk powder. It is a key ingredient in baby formula, chocolate, bakery products, animal feed and many [...]
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Poultry Trade May be Spreading H7N9, Pfizer to Sell Viagra Online, BMW Recall, Celebrity Wineries
A virologist with the World Trade Organization blames the poultry trade for spreading the H7N9 virus. Pfizer plans to start selling Viagra online in order to combat the sale of counterfeit versions. BMW joins five other automakers in recalling a total thus far of 3 million vehicles for their faulty airbags, which may spray shrapnel in a crash. For celebrities, the latest status symbol is running your own winery.
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Syria Purchases Dell Equipment, Rat Sold As Lamb in China, Dow Reaches 15,000, YouTube Displacing TV?
Despite strict trade sanctions, the Syrian government has purchased large amounts of Dell computer equipment through a Dubai-based distributor. Police in China uncover a crime ring that has sold $1.6 million worth of rat, fox and mink meat disguised as lamb over the past four years in the Shanghai area. A new report showing an increasing employment rate has led stocks to reach new highs, with the Dow climbing above 15,000 early Friday morning. Will YouTube displace broadcast television? According to the CEO of the video hosting service, it already has.
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Factories in Bangladesh Improving, Air India and Boeing, Her Majesty’s Royal Kitchen
After the deadly fire at Rana Plaza, arguments for improved safety standards and working conditions outweigh abandoning manufacturing in the region altogether. Air India seeks compensation from Boeing due to losses incurred by the grounding of the Dreamliner fleet. What does it take to be head chef in the Royal Kitchen? (It sounds a lot like Downton Abby…) Uber is tossed out of NYC…again.
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- US and Chinese Comparative PVC Price : Jake said: I can also see this trend continuing, and i also think the west as a whole will struggle t... more
- SAP Sapphire: Moving to Frictionless AND Sticky Commerce : Jason Busch said: Pierre, Great stuff ... I personally think the proprietary network / apps approach t... more
- Three Lessons from LeBron James for Procurement Organizations : bitter and twisted said: I despise these sporting analogies.... more
- Procurement Inertia: When Did You Last Run Through the Seven Steps? : US Army M1A2 SEP - Voyager PE35557 US Army said: [...] Procurement Inertia: When Did You Last Run Through the Seven Steps? (spendmatters.co... more
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