Evocurement

The term ‘material handling equipment’ is relatively familiar with people working in warehouse areas. It encompasses a diverse range of vehicles, tools and storage equipments. Typically, a warehouse is used to store items, and then move them to where they are needed. The easier it is to move items, the more efficient your warehouse can be. To increase efficiency, you need to have the right tools for the job – it will make your employee’s lives easier, and cut down…

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If you ever work in a warehouse, definitely you have been familiar with U-flow or through-flow layout. These two layouts may sound different, but they are designed based on one assumption: The traditional arrangement of racks (where racks must be parallel with each other, and if possible, the cross aisle should cut the aisles between racks at right angle) is the most effective. Figure 1: The traditional layout (Source: Kevin Gue’s blog)By common sense, some people might think that this…

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Having positive relationships with stakeholders is just a beginning. The real objective here is getting work done by facilitating the information flow between stakeholders and procurement. The information is exchanged voluntarily, even when an organisation forces its people to dutifully exchange the information with other co-workers, some can still withhold for their own sake. Good relationships with stakeholders will reduce the motivation for withholding the information and increase the collaboration. Still, the procurement professional should know how to communicate effectively…

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Managing stakeholders is an important part of procurement. Though the role is sometimes called buyer, a procurement professional rarely use company budget to buy for procurement own needs, but for the needs of other departments. Having good relationships with other stakeholders will facilitate the communications between procurement and user departments, thus accelerate the workflow and help the organisation achieve its objectives. Relationship building process is sometimes complex as different persons prefer different approaches. If you are starting new role as…

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Quick question: What is the difference between cost modelling and cost analysis? I guess some of you would say they are similar. But in fact, there is a clear boundary between them. In this post, I will tell you what a real cost model looks like. Cost modelling is often an overlooked procurement skill since it is really hard to master. However, when a robust cost model are successfully developed, it can support strategic and tactical activities in procurement such…

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If you are in business environment or enroll in professional programmes such as MBA or CIPS Diploma, probably you have heard the words such as joint venture, vertical integration and horizontal integration. These are strategies in business management and supply chain management. These terms may closely related but differentiate from each other. Knowing these terms may help you make a strategic plan for your company in the next 5 years, or just helps you to pass the upcoming CIPS exams….

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Supply chain is becoming more and more complicated, some businesses have more than 150,000 suppliers. With such huge supply base, managing the relationship is more important than ever. The first step of successful relationship management is deciding which type of relationship should be applied. Partnership is not an ordinary business relationship. It requires investment from both parties. In this post, we will guide you to decide whether you should form partnership with the suppliers by assessing the drivers and facilitators of…

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Prepare for it right from the very beginning Most legal systems respect the right to engage in and withdraw from contractual relationships of contracting parties. Therefore, regarding contract termination, the express terms agreed by the parties take precedence over implied terms. The implied terms created by statutes and case laws only apply in the absence of express terms. It would be a good choice if you had a termination clause in place. The termination clause should have the following contents:…

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Identifying all relevant stakeholders involved in procurement and supply process is very important. Procurement professionals need to define and profile them so that they know more about how each stakeholder affects to the business or be affected by the business. The fact that different stakeholders have different priorities often leads to conflict. For instance, the organisation wants to maximise their profit by spontaneously increasing the revenue and reducing the total costs. However, the community adjacent to the organisation concerns about…

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A successful negotiation requires a lot from the participants, from the agenda to personnel, from questions to be asked to techniques to be used, etc. Framing is among the most commonly used techniques that may increase the chance of closing the deal. Unfortunately, some professional buyers underuse this technique. Now it’s time to re-learn the technique. In negotiation, framing is the way in which you describe your offer. For example, before offering a longer contract duration and simultaneously requesting a…

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