Pricing for most resins appears to have bottomed out in April. A variety of factors are driving commodity resin prices up in North America, including improving demand and rising feedstock costs, as well as idled production for PE. There are still opportunities for plastics manufacturers to lock in historically low resin pricing, but it’s not…
Some buyers just have a knack for getting suppliers to do what they want them to do, especially when it comes to providing cost transparency. Suppliers agree to provide buyers cost breakdowns, back-up data and even access to financial information.
North American resin prices continue to be extremely dynamic, offering manufacturers of plastics products a unique opportunity to lock in long-term agreements with favorable pricing. Demand for resins will begin to rebound as key industries scale back up, and historically low oil prices are already beginning to trend upwards. Most North American resins saw price…
Plastics manufacturers are being hit by the simultaneous forces of supply interruptions, vastly changing demand, and volatile petroleum prices. So far, commodity polymer prices have slid slightly, but there are numerous opportunities to negotiate larger price reductions from resins suppliers if you know where to look. The key factors that determine if the specific resins…
I was the Chief Purchasing Officer of a company when the economy tanked, and the CEO told his senior staff of the requirement to cut headcount by a significant amount. Inside my head, I rejected the directive: How could my team manage the supply chain disruption of a major recession, deliver our strategic plan, and reduce our headcount? Outwardly, I raised no objections because those who did were facing…
This blog is the third of a three-part blog series designed as follows: How cost models help companies succeed The types of cost models buyers of manufactured products use How buyers can use cost models effectively Earlier this year, we surveyed over 30 sales and marketing professionals and CEOs at automotive suppliers to understand which…
This blog is the second of a three-part blog series designed as follows: How cost models help companies succeed The types of cost models buyers of manufactured products use How buyers can use cost models effectively We see four types of cost models being used by buyers today: Open book cost modeling Knowledge-based modeling Hyper-optimized…
This blog is the first of a three-part blog series which will discuss: How cost models help companies succeed What types of cost models do buyers of manufactured products use How buyers can use cost models effectively Cost models provide buyers with valuable benchmarks to validate supplier pricing. Used effectively, they help drive optimal design,…
100% of the CEO’s we surveyed want purchasing to deliver value, only 58% think value is being delivered. When we look at the metrics used to measure performance we often find: Purchasing is measured on price reductions alone, not on value provided Purchasing alone has ownership of the cost/value goal Metrics are short term/current year…
When writing about cost breakdowns, famed negotiation trainer Chester Karrass opined “Buyers should always ask for detailed cost breakdowns and suppliers should always refuse to provide them”. Buyers often win this first battle of the cost breakdown war through the use of carrots and sticks; carrots being incentives like new business awards or preferred supplier status and sticks being punishment that your quotation will not…