As we enter into a new year following a long global recession that appears to be ebbing, many companies are beginning to position themselves for growth through selective technology investments.
One of the biggest upticks has been creating more buyer choice by employing hosted catalogues. In past this wasn’t always the case because interfaces weren’t particularly [...]
Continue reading about Hosted Catalogue Solutions on the Uptick for 2010
European businesses have been pursuing paperless invoicing for years to increase efficiencies, reduce errors as well as the data that must be interpreted and re-keyed. And yet the growth remains somewhat constrained as countries struggle with the implementation and nuances of compliance.
There’s no question of the potential benefit of paperless invoices for business, but how [...]
Continue reading about Realizing the Full Potential of E-invoicing Means Closing the Loop
I’m sure many of you remember the old Fram oil filter commercials where the solemn mechanic would shake his head and say, “You can pay me now…or pay me later.” Of course, in the background, you see a broken down car being towed into the shop by someone who was “paying later.” It was an [...]
I was recently fortunate enough to engage one of our customers in dissecting their requisition to check pathways or channels.
What made this a very interesting process was learning how the process steps (i.e. automatic order, paper invoicing, etc.) you support can really help you understand your costs. Once you have that understanding, you can move [...]
Continue reading about Do You Know Your Pathway to Lowering Transactional Costs?
The cliché that time is money may sound trite, but when it comes to understanding your internal business processes, it makes a great deal of sense as you seek channels to make your supply chain more efficient and cost-effective.
As the world-wide economy struggles to recover, this is no time to be on the bleeding edge. [...]
In my last post, Providing Value for Your Existing Customers is the Antidote to Tough Economic Times, I pointed out that three words – Know Your Customer — were the cornerstone to effective Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
But while customer loyalty programs, rewards, surveys, differentiation and attention to detail are sound strategies for building a strong [...]
A while back I wrote about how natural evolution of Software as Service (SaaS) or cloud computing was positioned to become the savior for procurement managers in this economic downturn.
Now Mickey North Rizza, the resident supply chain guru at AMR Research has forecasted that this trend will see a significant growth rate in the coming [...]
Continue reading about From AMR: Will SaaS Be the Economic Bailout Plan for CPOs?
Know your customer.
These are three simple words that should be the mantra of every business, yet companies around the world struggle with this simple premise. The truth is when businesses get large and complex, the customer often becomes nothing more than number or a commodity.
And now as the economy continues to worsen and new business [...]
As businesses look to survive this strong economic downturn, help may indeed be in the clouds, or cloud as the case may be. So what do I mean? Well, think of it like this. The next big upgrade to your supply chain network may be something you use, but never see. And better yet, it [...]
Continue reading about This “cloud” could clear everything up for supply chain managers