Up to £2million of goods were recently stolen in a scam by fraudsters posing as McDonalds buyers. Items including laptops, TV’s and computers were targeted with credit periods obtained between 30 and 90 days.

The goods were delivered to an address in Manchester, but were never paid for. Greater Manchester Police Authority issued warnings to businesses to stay on alert as it is thought the fraudsters are now using the same scam to obtain foods, wines and spirits.

The process automation that class-leading, on demand purchase-to-pay systems can offer, coupled with integrated supplier portals, provides a secure platform whereby buyers can effectively manage their supply-chain with the assurance of compliance and control throughout all standard processes including credit checks, finalising terms of business and other legalities.

This does not however protect the supplier, who when receiving a new buyer request from what appears to be a reputable organisation, should still develop that all important supplier/buyer relationship and carry out all their necessary checks.

The higher education sector is the latest to face government announcements of budget cuts, with Lord Mandelson recently proposing further cuts of £135 million, taking the total up to nearly £400 million during  2010-11. This has raised many concerns both inside and outside the industry as to how this will affect spending on a per student basis, capital purchases and intake numbers.

It’s fair to say reducing costs is high on the agenda for many universities and higher education organisations, although here at Wax we have already seen the shift change in traditional procurement methods and technology requirements within the HE sector..

One university ahead in terms of assessing and reducing costs across the organisation is a client we’ve been working with for some time who through the use of source-to-pay technology is reaping the benefits ahead of the proposed budget cuts.

With savings in excess of £400,000 from just two eAuction events for facilities management and uniform contracts and the technology to cement the savings generated in these and other areas such as IT and Stationery this leading UK University now have the tools, technology and know-how to deliver future significant savings and beat the budget cuts.

Find out more about how we have helped cut costs in key higher education categories through effective eSourcing.

During recent market instability it's been recognised that effective collaboration between key organisational functions - Procurement and Finance, can help mitigate risk whilst maximising opportunities throughout the source-to-pay cycle.  

By achieving clear collaborative visibility, organisations can potentially prevent high-value risks and liabilities, as well as gaining opportunities to deliver savings, achieve financial goals and benefit from process efficiencies. 

We’ve worked with numerous class-leading organisations and have seen how the gap between finance goals and procurement deliverables can be bridged with the utilisation of eProcurement technology, whilst gaining greater visibility and control; one of the issues we'll be discussing in more detail at our forthcoming Masterclass events. 

Feel free to visit the events page of our website for more information, or why not post a comment on your thoughts? We welcome comments from both sides of the procurement/finance spectrum, hearing how other organisations have faced and overcome these challenges.

Although considered the quieter period for some organisations it seems things haven’t slowed down at all for procurement professionals during August and September, or here at Wax Digital. Our blog has been somewhat neglected as a result, but with many topical issues arising from recent events such as eWorld Purchasing & Supply exhibition and with ProcureCon around the corner there will plenty to blog about in forthcoming weeks we’re sure.  

One of the clear themes running throughout eWorld was that of supply chain management, which we covered in our seminar session ‘Wag the dog – managing a long tail of suppliers’.  We have seen a clear upswing in interest around issues such as:

 »        Supplier collaboration

»        Transactional document (order and invoice) exchange

»        Pro-actively monitoring CSR    

»        Insurance verification and tracking    

»        Supplier account maintenance  

which we examined in our session; including the best approach for supplier rationalisation, establishing model trading relationships and how effective supplier empowerment and collaboration can benefit eProcurement processes and compliance right through to huge bottom-line savings. 

If you didn’t get to attend eWorld or catch our session, and this subject is at the fore in your organisation, please feel free to email gateway@waxdigital.com to request a copy or watch this space for more upcoming posts.

On the day of A-level results, news reports have announced record results have been achieved yet again, with the 27^th year-on-year increase. The scramble for university places begins, and in a few months students will be embarking on their path to graduation and future careers. 

It is interesting to see that although the pivotal role procurement plays within many organisations has clearly been recognised amid such gloomy economic times, that a procurement career is perhaps not at the forefront of many higher education students' and graduates’ minds.  

Steps to promote a career in procurement are being taken with the introduction of the Government Procurement Graduate Scheme (GPGS) and some private sector organisations are promoting relevant supply-chain graduate programmes and procurement recruitment drives, clearly marking out the path towards CIPS qualifications, which is promising to see.  

Let’s hope that graduate talent will continue to enter the procurement profession and that their career path to get there becomes a little clearer to see.

Morrisons announced last month that they were opening their own “farming centre of excellence” in a bid to improve their understanding of their suppliers. By creating their own farm in East Ayrshire Morrisons hope to understand the practices, issues and day-to-day work that their large supply-chain faces in order to meet the demands of the leading supermarket.  

This sounds an excellent approach to improving supplier relations and supply chain management, however there are sure to be a few sceptics out there wondering how long it will be before Morrisons begin issuing best practice instructions or changes to current agreements - once they have gained a better working knowledge.  

Improving and maintaining supplier relations is of course essential to any supply-chain, and understanding the issues faced by your suppliers will support this; yet when a leading organisation declares they are ‘having a go’ themselves I’m sure they will be watched by their suppliers intently.

Aldi and some of the other leading discounters swept the board at this year’s annual The Grocer Gold Awards. Winning the ‘Grocer of the year’ Aldi gained the highest accolade of the evening and with the inclusion of a new ‘Discounter of the year’ award it demonstrates just how much discounters are prevailing during the recession.  

Although Aldi and their peers have slowly been gaining market share over the years, the current economic climate has led to changes in consumer spending habits, with increasing numbers of shoppers heading through their doors.

It has been commented that once the recession lifts, shoppers will not necessarily be flock straight back to the leading supermarkets. Once realising the benefit of sourcing alternatives that live up to standards and price expectations, there will be a number of shoppers who will stay loyal to Aldi and co. 

The same trend could therefore be realised within the procurement industry whereby procurement teams have currently been tasked with contract renegotiations, sourcing alternative suppliers and reducing costs. What’s to say that this practice has to end once the economy starts to lift?

According to reports from The Times and a Panorama feature earlier this year Reverse auctions are leading to the demise of health care services for the elderly. Gathering few examples, not speaking to a procurement specialist and taking the viewpoints from suppliers who lost out in the auction may have somewhat led to a one-sided view, but it does highlight a serious issue.

In our experience the quality and standards required by an organisation from their suppliers, should not and does not suffer if managed correctly during an RFI/P and auction process.  

The information gathered relating to highly sensitive issues of quality standards, minimum requirements, health & safety and legality should all be addressed before the auction even takes place, and only those suppliers who meet a highly detailed and watertight specification will then proceed onto the auction itself where yes price does become the focus.  

Working with organisations such as Network Rail and a leading healthcare organisation (who recently ran a reverse auction for care home services) where these issues are critical, means that we work with our clients to ensure their specification is accurate and meets their business requirements.  

It is not the tool that is at fault (according to the Times) but how the specifications are managed, the support and experience available and how it is communicated to those involved.

Cypress Semiconductor Corporation made an astonishing statement last month, which has had procurement professionals and commentators debating and scratching their heads about it ever since. Here’s a sample of their press release:

“The Company will not participate in any reverse auctions, including sealed-bid or iterative-bid varieties. Furthermore, the policy precludes participation in procurement programs or tactics that eliminate straightforward negotiations. The reverse-auction process has numerous drawbacks. It does not allow bidders to realise the full value of their solutions, instead focusing solely on the lowest price as a differentiator”.

There are some that will agree with Cypress and undoubtedly such a global statement causes concerns that if other suppliers follow suit this will throw a shadow of doubt across the eauction process.

Cypress has however come under fire at their alleged “short-sightedness”” and that they may live to regret issuing such a hard-hitting statement. After all price is not the only element to reverse auctions, and the lowest bid doesn’t of course always win. It comes down to having clear business specifications including a variety of elements such as quality, delivery and terms which can be established in the RFI/RFP stages; and then weighing this up against best value. 

Eauctions form part of an overall sourcing strategy, and when planned and implemented correctly, provide opportunities and prove effective on both sides of the fence. Let’s just see whether anyone else echoes Cypress’s opinion before any real industry concerns can be founded, or if indeed they contradict their own statement in the future!

High-street retailers are realising the effects of the recession with damaging levels of consumer spending, and spend-savvy consumers choosing online shopping to save time and hunt out a bargain. With online spending forecasted to rise by 13.3% during 2009* to a substantial £20.9 billion, consumer choice and in turn competition between online retailers is increasing.  

Online spending is also predicted to reach £31.2 billion by 2013* accounting for 10% of all retail spend, which means more and more leading high-street retailers are turning their attention online. The competition is hotting up with free delivery and keen pricing at the fore to attract and retain those savvy shoppers.  

With this e-retailers are facing tough competition from the high street’s purchasing power and leading brands, making those investments into efficient purchasing all the more crucial. 

*according to the Verdict research UK e-Retail 2009 report