Finding capable suppliers is always a challenge, whether you are focusing on local, regional, or low-cost country suppliers. In addition to reliable supply and competitive pricing, you have to do your homework to vet potential supplier attributes such as: Do they have the right manufacturing processes and experience with the materials you require? Are their…
According to the World Economic Forum, “Many global manufacturing OEMs have been struggling to find alternative solutions, like shifting orders to secondary suppliers to make up the missed deliveries”, the U.S. in particular sees Mexico as the perfect location for opening more and more production facilities with shorter delivery routes. In the pursue of finding…
Have you experienced unprecedented upward pricing pressure over the past 3 years? Purchasing leaders are telling us that they are under increasing pressure to increase cost savings efforts and results. This has been a challenge to say the least, with unrelenting price increases for the last 3 years. When working with clients on engagements, we are finding that a commodity-by-commodity…
Cost negotiation becomes a very hot topic when commodity prices fluctuate greatly. In the last few years sales organizations led the negotiation charge as they sought price increases to offset steep increases in raw materials, labor, and indirect costs. Now, buyers are starting to initiate the negotiations as some commodity prices have fallen off their…
There’s never been a better time to “kick the tires” on your corrugated packaging spend. Prices are dropping for the first time in two years as global box demand finally weakens after the severe post-pandemic run-up. Corrugated packaging buyers that don’t have index-based pricing agreements with supplier have two options: hope their box suppliers provide…
Currently in China, “Zero COVID” policies continue to be implemented that imply extensive confinements. According to The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), there are estimates that suggest around 79% of US manufacturing companies in China have already started or have plans to relocate part of their operations to North America and Mexico. A big wave of…
It appears we are finally transitioning from a prolonged period of supply constraints and rapidly rising prices to a more “normal” state. Supply-demand dynamics will vary by commodity, and the possibility of a global recession still looms, but after several years of chasing parts and battling price increases, purchasing teams are poised to return to…
Every resin grade has its own price movements. Feedstock costs, supply availability, and demand drivers are unique to each material. That being said, the general trend is that prices for most resins are starting to soften – but are still well above pre-covid levels. The graphic below illustrates the 3-year price increases for 8 resin…
During the past 3 years purchasing teams have been consumed with Urgent firefighting tasks requiring immediate attention. At the same time, we changed how we work going from in-the-office to work-from-home and then back to the office or a hybrid of the two. These factors have taken the focus away from Important activities like employee…
Cost models provide companies valuable benchmarks to validate supplier pricing. Used effectively, they help drive optimal design, reduce the time required to bring products to market, and help companies succeed. Coupled with advanced analytics they can be used to predict supplier pricing. Jeoff Burris started Advanced Purchasing Dynamics in 2004 to help companies with collaborative,…