Don’t Let the Clock Kill Your Negotiating Power in 2026
When leadership is asking for real results (not theoretical “savings”), your leverage with suppliers becomes your most valuable asset. The problem is that leverage disappears fast when contracts are left to age out [...]
How to Reduce Spend & Improve Sustainability in 5 Key Indirect Categories
See how Fine Tune customers are lowering costs and boosting sustainability across five key indirect spend categories. [...]
Industry Alert: Waste Broker M&A Activity Threatens Customers’ Bottom Lines
Have you noticed the increased merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the waste broker market? As a broker customer, are you aware of the threat this activity poses to your […]
A “Three-Legged Stool” Approach to Optimizing Indirect Spend
As any procurement professional who’s managed indirect categories will tell you, the relative spend is not equal to the relative headaches. To optimally manage the most burdensome indirect categories—e.g., uniform rental, waste & recycling, pest control, security & guard services, and energy & utilities—an equally complex approach is required. [...]
Industry Alert: As Waste Brokers Consolidate, Your Spend Skyrockets
If your organization is using a waste broker, its already missing out on managed costs, transparency, and advocacy—and thus, optimal bottom-line impact. But with rapid, real-time industry consolidation within the […]
Who’s Managing These Tail Spend Expenses, Anyway?
We’ve frequently discussed in recent years how leaned out procurement departments are increasingly vulnerable to attack by their indirect suppliers, on a range of fronts. Perhaps the most acute vulnerability facing these departments in 2023 is the inability to engage in any sort of actual expense management whatsoever, especially [...]
Inflation or padded profits? As suppliers levy excessive price increases, defend your bottom line
It is unmistakably correct that indirect suppliers are viewing real inflation as a margin-grabbing opportunity. What, then, can vulnerable buyers do to defend their bottom lines in these times? [...]
The Emergence of Hostile Supplier Behaviors & What to Do About It
Growing imbalance in the supplier / customer relationship is creating critical vulnerabilities for procurement organizations [...]
Waste & Recycling Industry Alert: How a Waste Route Driver Can Impact Your P&L
You, the Category Manager responsible for your organization’s waste & recycling spend, are revisiting the program because contract expiration is approaching and it’s time to negotiate a new deal. Your […]
IPCC’s Latest Warning Drives an Urgent Climate Call-to-Action—Join Us in Answering the Call
On August 5, 2021, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its 6th Assessment Report on Climate Change. There’s a good chance the report crossed your radar like […]