The Strategic Sourceror

Let's go racing! Wait, it costs how much?

2013-05-24T17:16:00.000-04:00

Memorial Day weekend is almost here and while our nation’s focus should be remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom we enjoy in the United States, there is also the uniquely American ritual that takes place on the last Sunday of every May. The Indianapolis 500, “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing”, as it is known, brings 33 of the world’s fastest cars and drivers together for a 200 lap race on a 2.5 mile oval track with cars running at average speeds of 230...

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Microsoft Xbox One Packs Enhanced Capabilities and Added Features

2013-05-24T14:29:00.002-04:00

Eight years since the release of the original Xbox, Microsoft is coming out with a new version that boasts all kinds of bells and whistles. Set to release later this year, Xbox One was unveiled Tuesday in a fancy on-stage demo that showed off its cool features, like the Blu-ray player, built-in Wi-Fi, 8 GB of memory, and HDMI connector. The demo particularly highlighted the nifty voice and movement tracking capabilities that are enabled by Kinect, a feature incorporated into previous...

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Mobile Optimized Site vs. Mobile App...Which option is best for your business?

2013-05-24T13:29:00.000-04:00

With the increasing emphasis placed on utilizing smartphones and tablet devices as one of the main means for web searching, companies should begin exploring mobile strategies to determine which options would be best fit for the consumer base. According to Forrester, online retail sales are expected to grow at a 10% compound annual growth rate from 2010 to 2015. Marketing efforts have been focusing on increasing innovation to drive e-commerce sales. As businesses are becoming...

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Walmart Remedies Inventory Shortages

2013-05-24T11:50:00.000-04:00

Walmart, the big blue superstore chain, recently had a shakeup in getting their inventory to the shelf. This isn't a euphemism concerning supply chain troubles, they actually had serious problems getting items from their stock rooms onto the shelf. To restate the obvious for a bit of background: Walmart's business model is to sell common products at low margin but at extremely high volumes. The low prices are secured through the company's practice of supplier management, building...

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Cyberattacks should be accounted for in risk management process

2013-05-24T10:09:00.001-04:00

When companies perform qualitative risk assessments, they often fail to consider the potential disruption from a sophisticated cyberattack. The frequency and complexity of cyberattacks is increasing, and hackers are more able to breach a company's security detection system, according to a recent study from Frost & Sullivan. Next-generation intrusion prevention systems (NGIPS) are becoming more widely adopted to mitigate the risk of a cyberattack. Organizations have experienced a rise in...

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Mexican border delays costing US businesses billions

2013-05-23T18:09:00.005-04:00

Although Mexico is becoming an attractive manufacturing destination, delays at the border cost U.S. businesses $7.8 billion in 2011, Bloomberg reported. The value of logistics between the U.S. and Mexico is expected to reach $463 billion by 2020, and this could cause the total losses to grow to $14.7 billion annually. The average wait time for commercial vehicles at the Mexican border is just over an hour, though the wait is longer at peak times, according to Bloomberg. The amount of...

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Simplifying logistics helps companies grow

2013-05-23T18:09:00.003-04:00

As a company grows, so do logistics operations. However, rather than getting bigger, logistics becomes more complex, according to Forbes. Having more than one warehouse is a sign a business is growing, but it can make distribution more complicated. As a business grows, order processing in retail sourcing is one of the tasks that can become significantly more complicated, Software Thinktank stated. Depending on the number of warehouses used by a company, order processing can become more...

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Chinese environmental officials approve world's tallest dam

2013-05-23T18:09:00.001-04:00

The environment ministry of China granted permission for the world's tallest hydroelectric dam to be built on the Dadu River. Construction plans were approved despite acknowledgement of impacts to endangered plants and rare fish species during environmental risk assessment procedures, according to Reuters. The dam will measure 1,030 feet in height and will be located in the southwestern Sichuan province. When completed, the dam will generate a total installed capacity of 20...

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Hidden Travel Costs

2013-05-23T14:19:00.001-04:00

Whether for work or play, travel is a necessary evil for all of us at some point. Between travel, gifts, attire and other costs, guests are expected to spend an average of $539 per wedding this year -- up more than 50% from last year's average expected expense of $339, according to the American Express Spending and Saving Tracker's recent survey of about 1,500 adults. Almost 140 million Americans (59%) are planning a summer vacation. They expect to spend an average of $1,180 per...

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Source One To Present At Widener University

2013-05-23T10:48:00.001-04:00

Just a reminder, Source One will be heading to Widener University next month to attend the Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Conference hosted by The Association of Accountants and Financial Professionals in Business. Source One representatives, Jennifer Ulrich and David Pastore will be presenting their discussion piece titled "Collaborate with Procurement & Improve Your Bottom Line. The event starts at 7:30 am on Friday, June 7th and will continue until 4:00 pm. The...

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Source One’s Headquarters House A Center of Excellence

2013-05-23T09:35:00.001-04:00

In April, Source One quietly moved to its new corporate headquarters in Willow Grove, PA. The relocation served as an indicator of our continued growth over these past 20+ years, but also reflects our ability to stay ahead of the continuing shifts in the strategic sourcing playing field and enhance the performance and profitability of our clients. As you might have seen in the AberdeenGroup’s whitepaper titled “The CPO’s Agenda for 2012 …and Beyond”, which was circulated late...

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Impact of 3D printing for domestic manufacturing

2013-05-22T18:09:00.001-04:00

Manufacturing used to be seen as an industry that required a great deal of capital, but as 3D printing takes off, companies may be able to reduce manufacturing costs while creating innovative products because it is much easier to create prototypes. Additive manufacturing is the process of building objects by adding thin layers on top of each other based on a computerized design, MIT Technology Review stated. On a large scale, this technique is used to produce specialized medical implants and to...

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Cost Transformation & Convenience

2013-05-22T14:59:00.000-04:00

The news for Happy Family is pretty good recently, topped by a Mother's Day acquisition by French food conglomerate Danone that saw the Evian water-owner picked up 92% of stock in Happy Family. The date is doubly significant for Happy Family, as the company got its start on Mother's Day 2006, launched by a young woman upset at what was going into the processed baby food available at that time. The product was organic, nutrient-enhanced, and came in an easily carried pouch. There were two key...

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Small-business manufacturing has opportunities for innovation and growth

2013-05-22T14:09:00.001-04:00

When people think of manufacturing, they typically imagine cars, airplanes, electronics and home appliances, but many of the opportunities for production in the U.S. may be on a much smaller scale, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. Many manufacturing companies have under 500 employees, however, they still have great potential to grow. Some people believe the manufacturing renaissance is due to the reshoring movement, but small-business manufacturers will most likely be responsible for...

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Teens Falling from Facebook

2013-05-22T10:52:00.000-04:00

Facebook was once the hip and trendy social media site for teens and college age students, but just like with everything trendy there comes a time when it’s on its way out. According to a new report done by the Pew Research Center at Harvard University quantitatively social media use among the teenage community is higher than ever. However, conversely on a qualitative side teens are no longer as happy with the Facebook community as they used to be, and frankly I’m not either. “Focus group...

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Many companies are not prepared for natural disasters

2013-05-21T10:36:00.001-04:00

Businesses know they could experience operational disruptions from natural disasters, but most do not have sufficient risk mitigation plans in place, according to new research from Zurich Insurance Group. The researchers polled 170 executives of medium and large companies, and found there was a widespread perception that natural disasters were becoming more common and more severe. Respondents said a business disruption from a natural catastrophe could potentially compromise several...

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Logistics executives call for legislative assistance

2013-05-20T18:09:00.001-04:00

Trucking executives believe Congress needs to do more to address the needs of the freight transportation industry, according to American Trucking Associations. The industry believed there was a need for legislative action to improve logistics efficiency and productivity. "Trucks move 68 percent of our nation's freight tonnage and move $8.3 trillion worth of freight every year, nearly 60 percent of the U.S. economy," said Derek Leathers, president of Werner Enterprises. "The...

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Planning Around Disaster

2013-05-20T17:12:00.004-04:00

With the recent tornado strikes, and the ruination left behind, in Granbury, TX and throughout Oklahoma, there are hundreds left picking up the pieces and, tragically, several casualties. If there is anything that can be taken away from these events, it's how businesses can be affected by not only the storm's damage itself but by the resulting impact to the surrounding infrastructure. History, it seems, is full of these disaster-related shortages, from Asian flooding limiting computer component...

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Factory output decreased in April

2013-05-17T18:08:00.001-04:00

Economists predicted industrial production would increase in April, but it dropped by 0.4 percent, CNBC reported. The decline was the third in four months and the largest since October, resulting from lower production of durable goods and utilities output. Production of utilities dropped 3.7 percent as heating needs returned to a usual seasonal level after a colder-than-average spring. Industry capacity utilization, a measurement of the extent firms are deploying resources, sank sharply to 77.8...

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Capitalize On The New Industrial Revolution

2013-05-17T11:19:00.000-04:00

In a special study posted late last month, The Economist suggested that we are on the verge of a third industrial revolution. The first, the development of the urban mill in late 18th Century England, and the second, the development of the assembly line in early 20th Century Detroit, both served to centralize production facilities and enable the production of a single type of good in mass quantities. This third industrial revolution, the study notes, dissolves the need for centralized...

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Logistics industry focusing on productivity

2013-05-16T11:08:00.001-04:00

Maximizing trucking productivity is the top concern for 44 percent of fleet managers, a recent study from GE Capital Fleet Services revealed. Logistics managers are placing an increased focus on maintaining operating costs and meeting cost savings goals. One of the biggest challenges to improving productivity was specifying the right truck for the delivery. Twenty-two percent of respondents said specifying the most efficient unit was the most important service their fleet management...

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US oil boom impacts OPEC demand growth

2013-05-16T10:08:00.001-04:00

Increased production of shale oil in the U.S. will meet most of global demand in the next five years without commodity price increases, Reuters reported. U.S. oil production has risen to such a degree that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cannot boost output without risking lower prices. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimated global demand for oil will rise 8 percent by 2018 to reach 96.7 million barrels per day based on predictions of the level of economic...

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Should We Say Goodbye To Coke Bottles?

2013-05-15T16:18:00.000-04:00

On the heels of home soda-maker purveyor SodaStream getting strong reviews from analysts and experiencing a healthy stock bump, prompting CEO Daniel Birnbaum to express his hopes of being a $1 Billion company by 2016, it's time to take a look at the existing soda business. Specifically: given the boom that home soda making has experienced over the past two years, and the fact that Coca-Cola is technically already in the business of producing syrups (for most of its key products, the company...

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Procurement Survey Results

2013-05-15T14:27:00.003-04:00

For those of you that have not subscribed to our monthly newsletter, you may have missed the series of free whitepapers that Source One has been releasing these last few month. Based on the results of a comprehensive survey and interview of hundreds of procurement professionals (conducted by Source One, ThomasNet and Next Level Purchasing), Source One has been compiling data and releasing monthly reports discussing the state of the procurement and sourcing functions. Currently, you...

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Rising raw material costs impact prices for logistics industry

2013-05-15T10:08:00.001-04:00

The raw material costs for tire manufacturing has increased consistently over the past decade, raising prices for the logistics industry, according to Heavy Duty Trucking magazine. Natural rubber costs have risen about $150 per pound since 2004. The trucking industry has found ways to adapt to rises in raw material costs. "In a normal year, raw materials make up about 50 percent of the cost of the commercial tire," Rick Phillips, director of commercial sales at Yokohama...

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