It seems while America is happy to write so-called “protectionist” policies into its own procurement law to bolster domestic trade, it doesn’t like being on the other side of limited market participation.
“Business might be bad but this is no reason to turn your chief buyer into a Rottweiler.”
So writes John Timpson, chief executive of the high street cobbler and key-cutter Timpson and a speaker at this year’s CIPS annual conference.
It might seem kind of childish, but when it comes to contracting it seems you must have the last word in negotiations.
In the latest law update, legal expert Alan Ma points out that in British legislation on whose terms a contract is made largely depends on: “Who fires the last shot.”
You’re trapped in a cave with a group of strangers and water is coming in. There isn’t time to get everyone out: three people will die. Who do you think should survive?
Buyers are always looking for ways to cut costs. Here’s a radical one: don’t employ people.
Picture workers in your supply chain being mistreated: beaten, discriminated, humiliated and even scared. Now imagine those people working down the road.
The risks associated with not having enough stock are not being able to fulfil customer orders, poor customer satisfaction and having to implement costly emergency replenishment procedures. On the other hand, the costs of holding large amounts of stock to meet demand fluctuations can have a serious impact on cash flow.
It wasn’t that long ago that Toyota overtook GM to become the world’s largest car manufacturer with a brand associated with quality and impeccable green credentials. But no more. So what went wrong, and could supplier relationship management (SRM) have saved the company?
It’s all about the lights this week – mainly about turning them off as councils scrabble for ways to save money.
After 25 years in the profession I can find a huge number of procurement issues about which to comment, advise or moan. But I have found recently that, probably because of the forthcoming election, the UK public sector has been a very fruitful source of blog topics.
