Tag: supply chain

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Procurement 101 – Introducing Concepts

The Source Blog presents the “Procurement 101” series. These videos are intended to introduce basic concepts of procurement for people in and out of the industry.

Procurement goes by many names – supply chain, buying, sourcing, purchasing (the list goes on). Whatever you call it, the function of the organization is to reduce cost and risk.

As the series progresses, more complicated concepts will be introduced as well as basic guidelines and strategies.

This first video sets the table on what global procurement actually does and covers material and indirect supply chain.

Script/Notes for this video (click here)

Photo by Jon Cellier on Unsplash

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News You Can Use: 5/20/2020


Photo by Luca Florio on Unsplash

  • Tech Workers Consider Escaping Silicon Valley’s Sky-High Rents

    Christy Lake, chief people officer at San Francisco-based Twilio Inc., says several employees have already approached their managers and HR representatives to discuss plans to relocate. The cloud communications company expects more than 20% of its office-based employees will transition to working remotely in the long term. “It’s percolating big-time,” Lake says. She expects the company will have to come up with formal policies and maybe offer a relocation bonus to employees who decide to make the jump.

    But the trend raises complicated questions. If employees move to a less expensive location, should Twilio adjust their salaries accordingly? “It’s probably not great business practice to pay Bay Area comps in Michigan,” Lake says. And when it comes time to promote, would those employees have the same opportunity to advance as everybody else? “We need to think proactively,” she says.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-14/tech-workers-consider-escaping-silicon-valley-s-sky-high-rents

  • Why beef is the worst food for the climate

    My family’s trade is butchering and I have been paying attention to the meat global supply chain (it is weird when my job in supply chain and butchering connects in some way, but I always jump at the chance to make the connections). With the meat shortages, there is talk that the beef trade shouldn’t come back in the same way.
  • Hiring and Firing: How to Know When You Need to Let Someone Go

    There are two different spectrums on which people can perform their jobs — willing and able.

    When someone is able to do their job, it means they have the necessary skills, competence and expertise to perform their responsibilities.

    When someone is willing to do their job, it means that they are aligned with the company’s mission and values, and are enthusiastic about their role.

    People will fall into one of the following four categories, and if you can pinpoint where they are, you can figure out whether to let them go or give them the opportunity to improve.

    If an employee doesn’t have the skills to do the job well and they aren’t willing to get better, it’s time to let them go.

    https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/343684

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News You Can Use: 5/6/2020

  • Managers turn to surveillance software, always-on webcams to ensure employees are (really) working from home

    In the weeks since social distancing lockdowns abruptly scattered the American workforce, businesses across the country have scrambled to find ways to keep their employees in line, packing their social calendars and tracking their productivity to ensure they’re telling the truth about working from home.

    Thousands of companies now use monitoring software to record employees’ Web browsing and active work hours, dispatching the kinds of tools built for corporate offices into workers’ phones, computers and homes. But they have also sought to watch over the workers themselves, mandating always-on webcam rules, scheduling thrice-daily check-ins and inundating workers with not-so-optional company happy hours, game nights and lunchtime chats.

    Company leaders say the systems are built to boost productivity and make the quiet isolation of remote work more chipper, connected and fun. But some workers said all of this new corporate surveillance has further blurred the lines between their work and personal lives, amping up their stress and exhaustion at a time when few feel they have the standing to push back.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/04/30/work-from-home-surveillance/

  • Coronavirus Ravages the Food Supply Chain
  • Nursing home design is deadly. Here’s how to change it

    Nursing homes have long been seen as grim and sterile, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ve also been fatal—1.3 million individuals living in nursing homes around the world have died from the virus. While elderly people and those with preexisting conditions are high-risk populations, the infection’s rapid rate of spread is also due to the way nursing homes are designed. Most rooms have two or four beds that are placed in close proximity; sinks and windows can be hard to access; and dated systems require surfaces to be frequently touched. In the face of coronavirus, it’s time to rethink how nursing homes are designed.

    Also…

    Reducing these clusters to 12 people maximum, each with their own room, would help limit virus transmission while allowing for more targeted and intimate care. “Within that cluster, they have their rooms but [there’s a] living room, dining room, [and a] nurse station [with] administrative support,” according to Bryan Langlands, a principal at NBBJ who focuses on the design of healthcare spaces. “The easiest way to help mitigate prevention and spread of COVID-19 is certainly to no longer build any double-bedded, semi-private rooms.”

    https://www.fastcompany.com/90484506/nursing-home-design-is-deadly-heres-how-to-change-it

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News You Can Use: 4/1/2020


Photo by 🇨🇭 Claudio Schwarz | @purzlbaum on Unsplash

  • Two Best Friends and the Global Treasure Hunt for Coronavirus Supplies

    The Department of Health and Human Services estimated earlier this year that the U.S. could need more than 3.5 billion face masks if a pandemic took hold domestically, which it did with a vengeance this month.

    The problem is compounded by the decentralized nature of the U.S. health-care system. Whereas hard-hit nations like Italy and China can buy equipment for their whole country at once, U.S. hospitals less frequently band together.

    Prices for the coveted N95 mask, preferred for its ability to block out viral particles, have shot up this month from around $1 apiece to $5 or more, depending on the supplier, buyers said. A single hospital may burn through tens of thousands a day.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/two-best-friends-and-the-global-treasure-hunt-for-coronavirus-supplies-11585410259

  • 3M Making More Masks
  • How Decades of Offshoring Led to a Mask Shortage in a Pandemic

    The emergence of Covid-19 in China made the risks of concentrating production of US health workers’ protective gear in one country painfully clear. The initial outbreak in Hubei province caused a surge in demand for masks inside China, and cut supplies when authorities shuttered factories to halt the virus’ spread. Production of masks has now resumed and companies are expanding capacity, but not much of it has shown up outside China.

    One ripple effect has been ringing phones at Monadnock Nonwovens. The company has been swamped with inquiries including from manufacturers in the US, but mostly from elsewhere, such as Asia and South America, who are trying to expand their mask output, and sometimes scrambling to replace materials previously sourced from China.

    Hayward says he’s hired more workers and adapted some equipment to produce face mask material, rather than other products, around the clock. The material is made from fine strands of plastic on a machine about 40 feet long and 20 feet high that operates something like a paper mill, churning out nonwoven fabric with tight pores on giant rolls. So far, supplies of the raw plastic have held up.

    https://www.wired.com/story/decades-offshoring-led-mask-shortage-pandemic/

  • Instructional video for sewing the Olson mask
  • If you’re working from home, chances are you’ll save money

    There may be a clear silver lining to remote work: It often saves workers money by cutting expenses such as commuting costs, say remote workers and experts in the field. But you’ll likely face some tradeoffs, such as paying for more bandwidth to handle videoconferencing and office supplies – the type of “expenses that are normally provided within a traditional office setting,” says Amelia Green-Vamos, a Glassdoor career trends expert. Some employers say they plan to reimburse workers for those extra costs.

    Remote workers typically save about $4,000 a year by working from home, according to a study from FlexJobs, an online job service that specializes in flexible jobs. That comes from saving on commuting costs as well as paring spending on coffee, lunches and a professional wardrobe.

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/03/22/working-home-likely-save-you-money/5024967002/