Speak Up: A Guide to Talking to Leadership About Indirect Procurement Solutions
The best way to improve indirect spend management is to go to leadership not only with concerns but also with proposed solutions. Category managers spend their days in a whirlwind […]
Pest Control RFP Season is Here—5 Keys to Remember
You know the drill—every few years you review a specific category, dig into pricing, reach out to stakeholders concerning service levels, and dust off an old Excel template in preparation […]
“Market Wages” and How They Affect Your Manned Security Program
You have a contract security program for a reason. You have products, facilities, processes, and people that you need to protect. If your contract security provider is struggling to find […]
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Whitepaper: Navigating the Complexities of Facilities Management
Facilities management is one of the most complex categories for procurement to manage. It’s a high-visibility, high-stakes category in which governance and compliance pressures continue to mount, and risk management […]
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 […]
Three Hurdles Category Management Teams Must Overcome for Sustainable Results
Given my experience on both the client and service provider side of the fence, I know a thing or two about category management—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Having […]
The Great ‘Return to Office’ & Its Real Impact on Facilities Costs
Workplace experience has historically been considered a function of the Human Resources department—until now. More and more, Facilities Management (FM) departments are not just getting pulled into workplace experience discussions, but actually owning the function. Return-to-office (RTO) initiatives have also accelerated this transition as building owners have launched amenities programs [...]
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 […]
Why Fine Tune is replacing the word ‘savings’ with ‘spend reduction’
I graduated from college and embarked on my career thinking I knew what the word savings meant. Mine was the common-sense definition that “John and Jane Q. Public” use every […]
Sustainability vs. Sustainable: Is your energy management strategy truly efficient?
At its core, the word “sustainability” is defined simply as the ability to continue at a certain level—no explicit consideration for whether something is “green,” renewable, or recyclable, and no defined parameters around carbon footprint. Simply: “able to continue." This naturally begs the question: is your energy management strategy sustainable? [...]
Is Your Procurement Department Burning Out?
“Everyone in Procurement is talking about burnout,” says Tom Mills, Head of Procurement & Properties at Bibby Financial Services, in his recent LinkedIn post. And he’s not wrong. Procurement burnout […]