Daily news and the daily blog will return on 5 January 2009. Share this postClose Bookmark and Share This Page Save to Browser Favorites / BookmarksAskbackflipblinklistBlogBookmarkBloglinesBlogMarksBlogsvineBuddyMarksBUMPzee!CiteULikeco.mmentsConnoteadel.icio.usDiggdiigoDotNetKicksDropJackdzoneFacebookFarkFavesFeed Me LinksFriendsitefolkd.comFurlGoogleHuggJamespotJeqqKaboodlekirtsylinkaGoGoLinkedInLinksMarkerMa.gnoliaMister WongMixxMySpaceMyWebNetvouzNewsvineoneviewOnlyWirePlugIMPropellerRedditRojoSegnaloShoutwireSimpySlashdotSphereSphinnSpurlSquidooStumbleUponTechnoratiThisNextTwitterWebrideWindows LiveWorlds MoviesYahoo!Email This to a FriendCopy HTML:  If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.Powered by Bookmarkify™ More »Powered by Bookmarkify™

Filed under:
*Purchasing by Steve Bagshaw

By Jake KanterAccording to this story in the Guardian today, new figures suggest that government buildings in the UK emit more carbon dioxide than all of Kenya. An energy efficiency audit has so far reviewed 9,000 of the 18,000 public sector properties, including police stations and museums. It revealed that these 9,000 buildings produced 5.6 [...]

Filed under:
*Purchasing by Steve Bagshaw

By Rebecca Ellinor Having strong relationships with your key suppliers is increasingly recognised as vital. It can help assure supply in troubled times, means your vendors can work with you to innovate and enables both to understand each other’s businesses. But recognising it is one thing, doing it is quite another. One reader has asked [...]

Filed under:
*Purchasing by Steve Bagshaw

Some more light-hearted agendas have gripped the SM office today, amid the festive cheer. Paul, Steve and I have turned our thoughts to pioneers in the procurement profession and a few names have sprung to mind. Take the late Gene Richter, former head of purchasing at IBM, Black & Decker and HP, who is heralded [...]

Filed under:
Careers, Purchasing by Jake Kanter

By Steve Bagshaw One CIPS member has written to me with a decidedly non-festive tale. For reasons you’ll understand he wishes to remain anonymous. But his case gives a good insight into conditions for some suppliers and their staff. “I’m a permanent employee required to work a four-day week in December and probably January too,” [...]

Filed under:
*Purchasing by Steve Bagshaw

By Jake KanterOver the course of the year SM has encountered some brilliant and baffling names for procurement projects. There is a superb example in Paul's web story today, where the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority labelled its purchasing process for an exam-marking contractor "Project Tornado". There are others as well. The US Department of Defense [...]

Filed under:
*Purchasing by Steve Bagshaw

By Jake Kanter This story in the Financial Times suggests even the most sought after brands are feeling the bite of the credit crunch this year. Robin Ellis Construction (REC), known as "London's poshest builder", has entered administration after a "cut off" in payments made by customers and subcontractors refusing to extend credit. REC, whose [...]

Filed under:
*Purchasing by Steve Bagshaw

By Rebecca Ellinor Ways to raise the profile of procurement is a tricky conundrum. How to you get people inside your own organisation to understand what you do and how you can help them? How do you go about persuading them that you don’t just plan to police their spend and interfere with their supplier [...]

Filed under:
*Purchasing by Steve Bagshaw

By Jake Kanter In my web story today I report that the shrinking availability of raw materials will have a "profound impact" on supply chain risks going into next year. The study by consultancy Control Risks found that supplies of food, minerals and energy are being tested to the limit, sparking social unrest and political [...]

Filed under:
*Purchasing by Steve Bagshaw

In this week's soapbox, Paul Vincent, procurement director of recruitment and professional services at BT says he has encouraged his team to act as business people, rather than guardians of the procurement process. He explains that instead of being subservient, buyers can interact with internal customers on a more equal footing offering important "business insight" [...]

Filed under:
*Purchasing by Steve Bagshaw