Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Sometimes, Less Really Is More!

Regular readers will probably have noticed that SI has decreased its post rate in 2012 by 30% to 40% while some blogs in the space have increased their post rate by up to 100%. Why did it do that? The same reason Salon cut its post count by a third. By moving from a model where they published multiple posts, where most were only summaries of a major news events covered by someone else, to a model where they published fewer, but more in-depth, stories, they increased traffic by 40%.

And even though, the main reason SI moved to less was because it feels you, dear reader, are just being over-whelmed, similar logic applies. You’re already overworked, so why do you need to read the same thing three times, and, more importantly, read three stories where none of them tell you what you really need to know or give you a good picture of the situation. Plus, as we explained on Monday, Work is Murder, so we’re going to make sure everything you read has some meaning and completeness behind it. Plus, we want to make sure you have time to read the in-depth papers that SI comes out with from time to time, including the recently released free e-book on Spend Analysis which really does constitute the definitive guide and the forthcoming white-paper on Taking The First Steps on Your Next Level Supply Management Journey.

And to prepare yourself for this upcoming question, the doctor would like you to ask this question and try to answer it. How do you imagine your Supply Management future? (If you don’t have a good answer, he would recommend picking up one or more of Dominick & Lunney’s Procurement Game Plan, which was reviewed this week, Payne & Dorn’s Managing Indirect Spend, which was reviewed in late January, or Rudzki and Trent’s Next Level Supply Management Excellence, which was reviewed late last summer. They’re all great starting points to try and answer this question. If you can’t imagine your future, you’re going to have a hard time getting there.)

Is Your Desk Job Killing You?


Today’s guest post is from Joe Nguyen and originally appeared on “Online University” (Is Your Job Killing You?).

The past 40 years have seen a lot of changes to the American lifestyle, including the way we work. People are sitting more, getting less exercise, engaging with computers on a daily basis, and finding new ways to get stressed out. So how has this shift in the way we work affected Americans? A lack of exercise coupled with sitting down for eight or more hours at a time have contributed to a variety of health issues in America, not the least of these being the obesity epidemic. People sitting at a computer all day are at a heightened risk for packing on pounds, developing heart disease, and dying young — and yet over 80% of Americans report to a desk job every morning. In a nation that extolls working hard and working often, many may be displeased to find that at the end of the day, all that work just might be killing you.

And that’s why you should do your own supplier visits!

Thanks, Joe.

Today Is A Historic Day For Extra-Planetary Supply Management

One year ago today, the Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103) made its final landing after 39 flights. Discovery, which flew the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit, performed both research and International Space Station assembly missions.

It was the first operational shuttle to be retired and its decommissioning was a historic event. It’s good that it will soon be on display at the Smithsonian Institution‘s National Air and Space Museum at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia (even though it will replace Enterprise which, hopefully, won’t be lost in the archives) as it’s an important piece of scientific history and supply management history. The official welcoming ceremony will take place next month on April 19th and it will be on public display soon after.

With the creation of the International Space Station, Supply Management, for the first time, became an extra-planetary concern in November of 2000 when the first resident crew, Expedition 1, arrived. Since then, the five cooperating space agencies (NASA, RKA, JAXA, ESA, and CSA) have had to insure not only the capability to continuously supply the crew with the supplies they needed, but have had to insure that the materials necessary for the station’s maintenance and continued instruction arrive in a timely fashion. Discovery was a key component in the station’s maintenance, having delivered modules and supplies over the last twelve years.

The twenty-first century introduced us to the beginnings of Solar Supply Management, and if Space Adventures has its way, the ISS and the Supply Management challenges it created are just the beginning. Space Adventures is proposing a Lunar Mission and the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG) is proposing a Lunar Ark. If either of these projects, or a replacement project, come to fruition, we may soon be managing orbital supply chains. It could be a very interesting century for Supply Management indeed!

No Service, No Tax: Haligonians Demand Your Money Back!

My apologies to my global readers, but this is a local issue that is growing more pressing by the day and I feel the need to get the message out any way I can.

HRM residents pay 0.156% of the value of their property on their
property tax bill each year in the form of an area tax for Metro
Transit. Last year, the HRM collected 34 Million dollars to fund Metro
Transit, and this year the HRM expects to collect over 35 Million
dollars for the same purpose. In other words, we are paying almost 3
Million dollars per month for a service we are not getting.

We, the residents of HRM, demand that one twelfth of the are tax be
credited back to us for each month that Metro Transit is not running.

There is no reason that the strike should be prolonged unnecessarily.
We should not be responsible for the failings of management. Almost
100,000 people are affected by the lack of service, and their voice is
not being heard. Students are being forced to drop out of school and
people are losing their jobs. We feel that the only way our collective
voices will be heard is if we unite and demand our money back.
Furthermore, we are tired of all of the in-camera sessions and secret
negotiations. It’s our money, and our service, and we want some
transparency and accountability.

No Service, No Tax, One Voice!

If you agree, please sign our petition at Petition Online Canada.

Spend Visibility: An Implementation Guide – The Definitive Book on Next Level Performance

Don’t forget to take advantage of this great offer and Download Sourcing Innovation’s “Spend Visibility: An Implementation Guide” – The Definitive Book on Next Level Performance for FREE! No Registration Required!

But don’t take Sourcing Innovation’s Word For It! Listen to these reviews from leading bloggers in Supply Management:

A Rare Medium Well-Done

Vinnie Mirchandani, Deal Architect (January 18, 2012)

This book gets to the science of spend analysis vs. treating it as an art.

Jason Busch, Spend Matters (December 8, 2011)

The guide is well thought-out, practical, and well-written.

Stephen Guth, Vendor Management Office (February 4, 2012)

This guide is very comprehensive and will provide valuable information to both procurement functional and IT implementation focused readers.

Bob Ferrari, Supply Chain Matters (January 17, 2012)

It is, in fact, one of the most comprehensive step-by-step resource guides I have seen for this industry.

William Dorn, The Strategic Sourceror (January 17, 2012)