Purchasing articles from February 2006

Purchasing archives from February 2006

Pricier products make buying a high-stakes game.
February 16, 2006... Gordon Graff The $109 billion specialty chemicals market in the U.S. is enjoying robust growth in many of its sectors (see table), says the American Chemistry Council. But like all chemical product categories, specialties have been...

Buyers cite domestic price, supply issues in overseas sourcing.(chemical and plastic industry outsourcing)
February 16, 2006... David Hannon Global sourcing is taking hold in all industries and chemicals and plastics is no exception. Forty percent of chemicals buyers polled by Purchasing in early 2006 say they are increasing the amount of chemicals they buy...

Nanotech proponents think big.
February 16, 2006... Paul E. Teague Chewing gum that tastes like chocolate candy. Sunscreen that doesn't show. Socks that wick up moisture and don't smell. Adhesives that turn themselves off when you want to disassemble a product. Automotive...

In other nano news...(International Plastics showcase at Chicago's McCormick Place exhibition center)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2006... Staff Chemical nanotechnology and bioplastics will highlight this year's International Plastics showcase from June 19 to 23 at Chicago's McCormick Place exhibition center. Energy efficiency and recycling also will be discussed at the...

Services need strategy too.
February 16, 2006... by John R. MacLean In the world of manufacturing, where I have my roots, commodity strategies are standard procedure. You identify the commodity, research the market, profile the suppliers, establish metrics, look for trends in the...

EMS provider leverages distributors.(electronics manufacturing services)
February 16, 2006... James Carbone It's no secret that high-volume electronics manufacturing has transitioned from North America to China and other low-cost countries. As a result, many midtier electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers find that they...

DSP prices to drop in 2006.(digital signal processor)
February 16, 2006... Staff The global digital signal processor (DSP) market will rebound in 2006 after revenue fell from $7.8 billion in 2004 to $7.2 billion in 2005. The good news for buyers is that DSP prices will decline about 4% during that time. In 2005,...

Distributors expect healthy growth in 2006.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2006... Staff Most electronic distributors are expecting high single-digit growth in 2006, although some smaller distributors may see double-digit increase in their revenue. "Everybody is saying it's going to be a good year," says Robin Gray,...

Distribution News.(Mouser Electronics expanded its distribution agreement with Ohmite Manufacturing)(Sirenza Microdevices signed distribution agreement with Digi-Key )(Nu Horizons Electronics formed a new division to service buyers )(Brief Article)
February 16, 2006... Staff Mouser expands agreement Staff Mouser Electronics has expanded its global distribution agreement with Ohmite Manufacturing. Ohmite is a manufacturer of power resistive products. Gary Nadeau, Ohmite's vice president...

Electronics industry eyes Eastern Europe.
February 16, 2006... By James Carbone Despite the lack of a viable local supply base, Eastern Europe is becoming an important source for low-cost electronics manufacturing services. One strategy: bring suppliers with you. Eastern Europe is emerging as an...

Buyers' 90-day price expectations.
February 16, 2006... Staff Commodities voted most likely to rise in price by March. ENTERING 2006 WITH A BANG Staff Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips started the new year with a bang, with prices of Double Data Rate 2 (DDR2) memory chips...

Buyers' 30-day buying plans.(Illustration)
February 16, 2006... Staff Commodities voted most likely to be bought in the next 30 days CEOs ARE BULLISH Staff U.S. chief executive officers are "cautiously optimistic" about their own company, their industry and the national economy. A survey...

Leadtimes fall back.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2006... Staff Leadtimes for 27 of 41 components tracked monthly by Purchasing magazine shrunk in January, indicating demand for electronics equipment weakened, which it usually does in the first quarter of the year. Leadtimes for flash memory...

Market balanced, but buyers wary of surcharges and consolidation.
February 16, 2006... David Hannon Capacity for less-than-truckload (ltl) service is expected to remain balanced going forward but there is increasing concern from buyers and shippers that base rates and fuel surcharges are becoming intertwined, causing an...

Steel buyers say they want more from suppliers.
February 16, 2006... By Tom Stundza Buyers and mills see cost-management as a major business challenge but have divergent views on the subject. As the products from steel mini-mills have expanded, so also have buyers' expectations about products and...

Supply is sufficient to keep leadtimes short, prices low.
February 16, 2006... Tom Stundza Steel bar prices increased on average by 8.5% in 2005 but the market prognosticators expect a 2006 retreat back to 2004 levels. As a start, merchant bar tags are seen slipping to an average $490/ton this quarter off the $510...

Metal in nanoscale opens new options.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2006... Staff Research into the way gold shines when it is reduced to nanoscale may lead to new optical chips for computers or switches and routers in fiber networks. Nanoscale is one-billionth of a meter, or about 70,000 times smaller than the...

New alloy means faster jet fighters.(Pratt and Whitney plans to developed Joint Strike Fighter aircrafts)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2006... Staff A new high-strength aluminum alloy being developed by government researchers could make jet aircraft fly farther and faster, say researchers at Ames Laboratory's Materials Preparation Center in Iowa. The new alloy is being developed...

Thanks to China, markets are at a crossroads in 2006.
February 16, 2006... Staff World steel market competition stemming from "excessive output" by Chinese manufacturers will likely intensify in 2006, says an analysis by research consortium Best Independent Research (BIR) of Chicago. The researchers believe "the...

New multinational emerges with offices in Southwest U.S.(Ternium)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2006... Staff Ternium is a new steel company based in Luxembourg with its U.S. trading and distribution operations headquartered in Houston. The firm is the consolidation of Techint Group's investments in flat-rolled and long-product steel...

World output sets a record because of Chinese overproduction.(steel industry production data)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2006... Staff World crude steel rose by 5.9% in 2005, to reach a total of 1.129 billion metric tons, a record, according to new tabulations by the International Iron and Steel Institute in Brussels. China accounted for most of the increase as...

Metals Chips.(ThyssenKrupp Materials North America Inc. acquired Hearn Group)(Aleris International acquired Alumitech)(Scaw Metals purchased AltaSteel from Stelco Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2006... Staff Metals distribution giant ThyssenKrupp Materials North America of Southfield, Mich., has expanded into third-party logistics, supply chain management and quality control systems with the purchase of Hearn Group, headquartered in...

What's behind storeroom wars.(maintenance, repair and operations issues and barriers)
February 16, 2006... Staff This is the second in a series of stories that looks at ways to cut costs surrounding the purchase of maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) goods and services. Last month's story presented an argument for eliminating the MRO...

Get rid of the waste.(Bob Cane director of supply chain management at General Dynamics Corp.)
February 16, 2006... Paul Teague, Editor in Chief Everyone--politicians, the press and the public alike--is fond of pointing to government bureaucracies as models of waste in action. It takes too long to get things done there, and often the results are less...

How to master the medical buy.(Welch Allyn Inc. )
February 16, 2006... By Karen Prema At Welch Allyn, strategic sourcing is involved in product development early on in the R&D phase. When a patient's life depends on the best and safest medical equipment, it is critical for the manufacturer's purchasing...

Eight helpful hints for buying office supplies.(Buyers Guide)
February 16, 2006... Karen Prema Looking to better leverage your office supplies spend? Here's what some buyers say about getting the best buy in office supplies. Bigger spend = better leverage If business requirements in different locations are...

The battle rages over use of PVC clamshells.
February 16, 2006... Staff The marketplace wars persist over health risks--real or perceived--from plastic packaging made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resins. But this much is true: Microsoft just stopped using PVC clamshell packs to protect new copies of its...

Commodity experts take center stage.(Cabot Microelectronics Corp.)(Company Profile)
February 16, 2006... David Hannon One of the major challenges for young and growing companies is transitioning away from an R&D-led procurement model to a centralized strategic sourcing organization without stifling development and innovation. Just ask Tim...

Purchasing as consultant has Novartis listening.(Novartis Consumer Health UK Ltd.)
February 16, 2006... Susan Avery At novartis consumer health, the indirect sourcing group serves as a consultant to the company's businesses for many of its services buys. As consultant, indirect sourcing develops buying tools for use by the businesses,...

Strategic sourcing defeats an old enemy.(outsourcing operations of Woodward Governor Co.)
February 16, 2006... By Susan Avery Variation in parts quality used to be an irritant at Woodward. No more. Now, the sourcing operation helps suppliers leverage their own capabilities--and consistent high quality is the result. Purchasing professionals...

Despite bigger challenges, buyers show more job satisfaction.
February 16, 2006... David Hannon Members of the purchasing profession are seeing a lot of changes and challenges these days. There's the technology curve to progress, industry consolidations, higher material costs and the lack of resources available in many...

Software News.(SciQuest released its Contract Manager module)(SRM software released its supplier management software ' Frictionless Commerce ')(Ariba plans to a new delivery strategy )(Brief Article)
February 16, 2006... Staff SciQuest recently released its Contract Manager module, which provides contract visibility, tracking and analysis features. Contract Manager enables organizations to track contract deliverables such as spending milestones, effective...

The 10 best e-procurement users.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2006... Staff Aberdeen research recently named 10 companies it views as best practice leaders in e-procurement. The companies were evaluated on benefits they gained, percentage of total enterprise spend that flows through their e-procurement...

Diebold creates new supply chain organization.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2006... Staff Security systems developer Diebold unveiled a new company structure under which it has combined its procurement, manufacturing engineering and manufacturing groups into a single organization focused on driving improvements in its...

Trade wars hammer lumber market.(Letter to the Editor)
February 16, 2006... Staff Lumber prices It was frustrating reading the article "U. S. to cut Canadian lumber duties" (November 28 issue of Purchasing's Price Alert newsletter). I guess the main inaccuracy was the final sentence stating the author's...