WHY National Programs:
You manage multiple commodities, countless individual suppliers, and are expected to be an expert on each. Strategic Sourcing demands efficient and effective navigation of markets . . . and now they want you to cover pallets … PALLETS???
How can corporate purchasers perform effectively without accurate product information and market knowledge in an industry known for regional fluctuations and key differences from supplier to supplier?
Effective, well-managed National Programs provide the expertise to navigate fragmented markets by establishing standard parameters that optimize design/performance/safety/cost, and documents the entire process … establishing CONTROL.
Effective, well-managed National Programs document pallet and Unit Load benchmarks, the benefits gained, and how your company then manages spend through market movements. Effective, well-managed National Programs provide an understanding of cost drivers from stump through pallet to finished goods in your warehouse.
Effective, well-managed National Programs provide you the purchaser with the ability to then focus on the other million things you’ve got on your plate.
- Control - Today’s multi-site corporations are in reality the end-product of generations of disconnected facility, equipment, or product acquisition and expansion; without consistent oversight or planning.
Different locations manufacture product using different equipment or operate under dissimilar cultures without the capacity to benchmark why decisions are made or how they have been implemented.
In order to make consistently good business decisions, today’s multi-site corporate decision-makers need consistent and timely information. Effective, well-managed National Programs provide consistent parameters to evaluate information. - Cost - Cost reduction is achieved by first identifying factors that drive cost. Custom solutions are then developed to address those factors. Consistent, company-wide management of supply chain, process, design, and sourcing then follows.
- Safety - An effective, well-managed National Program develops a standardized approach to design. A standardized approach to design provides consistent safety parameters. With a standardized approach to design, Unit Loads can then be custom-designed specifically for both product as well as the environment in which the product is handled.
- Performance - Adhering to consistent parameters of design and sourcing avoids costs of machine-malfunction, product damage, and customer-issues. Good performance equates to optimally lowered cost.
- Security - Effective, well-managed National Programs address these kinds of local/regional questions: What would you do if your pallet supplier had a catastrophic fire this morning? Do you have detailed specs to re-source? Do you know who else in the area could do similar quality work? Do you have a plan?
This is an extension of control. Effective, well-managed National programs control what might happen . . . not just what is happening . . . with consistent, documented parameters. - Management - Effective Program Management means everything else required after pricing is established . . . management of price movements through moving markets, continual evaluation of new opportunities based on new approaches that may not have existed before, as well as recurring vendor audit and continued assessment of new vendor opportunity.
- Optimization - Effective Program Management optimizes process for the entire company; it evaluates local and regional needs and considerations, but supports decision-making from a corporate point of view based on timely information and consistent parameters.