According to The Consumerist, the worst company in America is … to be decided on Wednesday. But given the recent market turmoil, I’m wondering if it’s truly possible to pick just one! What do you think?
Daily Archives: May 4, 2009
New and Upcoming Events from the #1 Supply Chain Resource Site
The Sourcing Innovation Resource Site, always immediately accessible from the link under the “Free Resources” section of the sidebar, continues to add new content on a weekly, and often daily, basis. In fact, the total number of unique, active resources now exceeds the 2,600 mark! Unlike many “resource”, “best of”, or “portal sites” that are abandoned almost as quickly as they are thrown together, the resource site is actively maintained (and dead links are removed on a regular, usually weekly, basis).
The following is a short selection of new and upcoming events:
Conferences
| Dates | Conference | Sponsor |
| The Responsible Business Summit London, England, UK (Europe) |
Ethical Corp | |
| 6th Trade & Supply Chain Finance Solutions Conference Munich, Germany (Europe) |
Exporta Publishing & Events | |
| Global Sourcing after the Meltdown: In Search of Sustainability New York, New York, USA (North-America) |
Global Sourcing Council | |
| 5th Annual Innovations in Trade Finance Solutions New York, New York, UNited States (North-America) |
Exporta Publishing & Events | |
| The Global Corporate Responsibility Summit Brussels, Belgium, USA (Europe) |
Ethical Corp | |
| Ontario Institute of the Purchasing Management Association of Canada Annual Conference Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (North-America) |
OIPMAC |
Webinars
| Date & Time | Webcast |
| Supply Chain Talent – Where Next? Sponsor: SCC |
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| Managing Cash and Cost Using SCOR Metrics Sponsor: SCC |
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| How do you select a software solution? Sponsor: Vormittag Associates Inc |
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| Successful Supply Chain Risk Management Sponsor: QAD |
which are all readily searchable from the comprehensive Site-Search page. So don’t forget to review the resource site on a weekly basis. You just might find what you didn’t even know you were looking for!
And continue to keep a sharp eye out for new content and even more new content categories which will be coming on-line in the near future!
Competitive Advantages of Contract Management Solutions
A recent article in Material Handling Management provided a good overview of why contract management is a critical competitive advantage for today’s supply chain centric organizations. When you consider that a typical fortune 1000 company cannot locate over 10% of its 20,000 to 40,000 active contracts at any given time, the importance of a good contract management application should be immediately clear. But just in case it’s not, here are seven more reasons a contract management solution is important, as covered in detail in the article:
- Standard Contract Templates
This can help to insure consistent contract creation across departments using standard templates with standard terms and conditions sanctioned by the organization’s legal department. - Organization-Wide Visibility
This allows all departments easy access to contracts created by other departments. Sourcing can immediately query existing logistics contracts, R&D can review existing sourcing agreements, etc. - Status & Metric Tracking
Certain conditions, such as automatic renewal dates, spend tolerances, limit quantities, and pricing need to be tracked and monitored for compliance. In addition, certificates of insurance, price adjustments, and escalator clauses need to be monitored. - Maverick Spend Control
With a contract management system that maintains a centralized contract repository, it’s easy to determine if a contract exists for a given good or service, who the suppliers are, what the prices are, and what any associated conditions are. There’s no excuse for off-contract buying. - Compliance
All your contracts in one place make it much easier to comply with operational policies, regulatory requirements, and corporate performance requirements. - Internal Controls (SOX)
SOX requires that signing officers are personally responsible for establishing and maintaining internal controls designed to ensure material financial information is known to those officers. Contract Management helps a company meet that requirement. - Competitive Advantage
For each dollar earned, as much as eighty percent is lost to procurement costs. As most of these costs are external expenditures, the strategic importance of good contract creation, execution, and monitoring cannot be underestimated. A good contract management system will reduce costs, improve compliance, and rope in maverick spend … giving you an edge over your competition.