Tis the season for inflation. That’s the song according to the 23rd annual PNC Christmas Price Index, which tracks the costs of the goods and services referenced in the holiday classic, The 12 Days of Christmas.
According to PNC Wealth Management, which compiles the Index, the cost for the 364 items referenced in the song — [more]

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Last weekend, I supported a Toys-for-Tots drive at my alma mater, Boston College. The organizers needed extra hands this year to inspect toys made in China to ensure they weren’t tainted with lead or other hazardous substances.
With precautions like this, you’d expect that manufacturers and importers would be stepping up their diligence and auditing of [more]

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As the brouhaha surrounding the reverse auction posts on these pages rages on, I thought I would add some fuel to the fire by sharing more early findings from the Center for Advance Purchasing Studies (CAPS) ongoing investigation into this area.
As noted here last week, CAPS is conducting a review of enterprise procurement technology strategies, [more]

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Tis the season for good cheer. Unless, of course, you’re discussing reverse auction technologies.
Last week’s post previewing early findings from the latest Center for Advanced Purchasing Studies (CAPS) investigation into reverse auction usage rekindled the ongoing debate of the value of such negotiation approaches.
Consider this comment from one supply manager: “I have conducted two reverse [more]

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Reverse auctions gained popularity during the halcyon buyer’s market days of the late 1990s. Today, e-sourcing is standard operating procedure for nearly all large companies, as well as many mid-size firms. And reverse auctions are becoming as common as Abercrombie and Fitch T-shirts in your local high school.
Yet, despite their growing, reverse auction technologies [more]

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