Purchasing articles from January 2004

Purchasing archives from January 2004

On great publishing leadership ...(letter from the publisher)
January 15, 2004... Jack O'Connor often said that the most important job of a leader is the care and feeding of stars. As a result, PURCHASING magazine thrived under Jack's leadership with one of the most talented publishing staffs in the world of...

Tracking the economy.(Economy: how supply managers see business)
January 15, 2004... Tracking the economy LATEST PREVIOUS YEAR % CHG VS. INDICATOR PERIOD PERIOD PERIOD AGO YEAR AGO Industrial production ('97=100) Nov 112.9 ...

Purchasing's Leadtime Index (1992=100) leapt nearly 36 points between November and December.(Economy: how supply managers see business)
January 15, 2004... * Purchasing's Leadtime Index (1992 = 100) leapt nearly 36 points between November and December. The increase was widespread, reflecting gains across nearly 90% of the commodity categories tracked monthly by purchasing-data.com. The trend bodes...

Forecasters have three key reasons for feeling sanguine about capital spending growth this year.(Economy: how supply managers see business)
January 15, 2004... * Forecasters have three key reasons for feeling sanguine about capital spending growth this year. First, corporate profits continue to rally strongly. Second, the cost of capital is low and likely to remain so for some time. Third, as economic...

Employment growth continues to underperform forecasts, but small wonder.(Economy: how supply managers see business)
January 15, 2004... * Employment growth continues to underperform forecasts, but small wonder considering that nonfarm productivity advanced at an annualized rate of +9.4% in Q3 up from an already-strong 7% growth rate in Q2. Unit labor costs fell at a 5.8% rate....

Worst fears of auto industry analysts appear to be coming true.(Economy: how supply managers see business)
January 15, 2004... * Worst fears of auto industry analysts appear to be coming true. When car companies cut back on sales incentives in October, annualized sales dropped to 15.5 million units. When they reintroduced the incentives in November, the sales rate shot...

Price expectations, 90-days.(Prices: factors affecting product cost)
January 15, 2004... Price expectations, 90-days COMMODITY DIFFUSION CATEGORY PERIOD UP DOWN SAME INDEX Transportation services Dec 53% 6% 41% 73.2 Energy ...

Chicago Board of Trade and the Dalian Commodity Exchange will share commodities market information.(Prices: factors affecting product cost)
January 15, 2004... * Chicago Board of Trade and the Dalian Commodity Exchange will share commodities market information that eventually could steer the Chinese into U.S. futures hedging. China is becoming a huge consumer of raw materials, reflecting its fast...

Supplies of glycerin are ample.(Prices: factors affecting product cost)
January 15, 2004... * "Supplies of glycerin are ample, so pricing will be at or near the bottom of the cycle through mid-2004," according to Jon Stevens of Cognis Corp. Demand for glycerin in the U.S. remains strong, he says, but increased European crude glycerin...

Citing increased demand from communications chip buyers.(Prices: factors affecting product cost)
January 15, 2004... * Citing increased demand from communications chip buyers, executives at Chartered Semiconductor are projecting 3% increases in 2004 average selling prices (ASPs). Reason: "We are seeing healthy demand growth from our market sectors," says CFO...

Natural gas supplies are still tight.(Prices: factors affecting product cost)
January 15, 2004... * Natural gas supplies are still tight, pushing January spot deliveries above $7 per thousand cubic feet (equal to a million British thermal units). Natgas supply will remain tight until liquefied natural gas capacity comes on in 2007 or so,...

Slippage in prices of notebook personal computers is expected soon.(Prices: factors affecting product cost)
January 15, 2004... * Slippage in prices of notebook personal computers is expected soon due to a growing supply of components used in flat panel monitors and dropping prices in storage devices. The thin film transistor monitor, which accounts for almost 40% of...

Prices of pulp and paper rose in 2003.(Prices: factors affecting product cost)
January 15, 2004... * Prices of pulp and paper rose in 2003 and economist Earl Sweet at BMO Financial Group sees a continued rise in prices through 2004. "Price advances are likely to come from pulp and paper as world economic growth boosts paper consumption." He...

High-tech indicators look strong.(Supply: what's happening in markets)
January 15, 2004... High-tech indicators look strong Electronics-consuming companies Up Down Same Index * Trend Business Activity Index 53% 15% 32% 68.8 [down ...

New York Fed economists not too long ago devised a tech-growth measurement tool.(Supply: what's happening in markets)
January 15, 2004... * New York Fed economists not too long ago devised a tech-growth measurement tool called the Tech Pulse Index; now, they report that this measure jumped by an annualized 35.9% in November. The index, which takes into account supply, demand,...

Market analysts believe the U.S. high-tech upturn has a firm foundation.(Supply: what's happening in markets)
January 15, 2004... * Market analysts believe the U.S. high-tech upturn has a firm foundation. Examples: UBS and A.G. Edwards both see above-average 2004 U.S. sales growth for sales of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, adding that overall U.S. chip sales...

About 12% of the nation's high-tech jobs have evaporated.(Supply: what's happening in markets)
January 15, 2004... * About 12% of the nation's high-tech jobs have evaporated during the past two years. AeA, a trade group formerly known as the American Electronics Association, says the high-tech industry ended the year with 5.73 million workers, down from 6.5...

Projecting a 2004 recovery in business spending on personal computer equipment.(Supply: what's happening in markets)
January 15, 2004... * Projecting a 2004 recovery in business spending on personal computer equipment, market research firm IDC forecasts worldwide shipments of desktops, notebooks and servers at 168.2 million units, a growth rate of 10.2%.

Evidence is increasing that corporate travel departments are loosening the reins.(Supply: what's happening in markets)
January 15, 2004... * Evidence is increasing that corporate travel departments are loosening the reins on business travel, says analyst Jeffrey Kauffman at Fulcrum Global Partners. He points to surveys by Marriott International and other hotel chains, which...

Railroad carloads ran well ahead of forecasts in the fourth quarter.(Supply: what's happening in markets)
January 15, 2004... * Railroad carloads ran well ahead of forecasts in the fourth quarter. Analyst John Barnes at Deutsche Bank says rail traffic has been rising steadily since September, with grain and coal both showing big gains. "We believe this reflects the...

Semiconductors sales are expected to increase 19.4% in 2004.(Supply: what's happening in markets)
January 15, 2004... * Semiconductors sales are expected to increase 19.4% in 2004 to $194.6 billion, forecasts the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) trade group. In the volatile DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chip mart, the SIA is forecasting sales...

The market for 50- to 100-seat jet aircraft has peaked.(Supply: what's happening in markets)
January 15, 2004... The market for 50- to 100-seat jet aircraft has peaked, says analyst Cameron Doerksen of the Dlouhy Merchant brokerage in Montreal. As the air market picks up, mainline airlines will reduce the need to downsize to smaller regional jets.

2003 salary survey.(web events)
January 15, 2004... After a year in which salaries barely kept pace with earnings of the year before, purchasing professionals received a much-needed pay hike. The complete report will be available at www.purchasing.com/bookstore

MRO symposium.(web events)
January 15, 2004... PURCHASING magazine presents a virtual conference speaking to the world on the best-in-class MRO procurement practices. For more information please visit http://www.mro.purchasing.com. See this issue's MRO News section on page 46.

Get involved in your community.(inside purchasing)
January 15, 2004... "Hey, do you have a Bunsen burner to spare?" So starts another supplier call by Laura Dornbusch, the owner and president of Expo Chemical in Houston, Texas and the 2003 recipient of the Chemical Educational Foundation's Vanguard Award. The...

Auto company centralizes spending, saves $5 million.(Sourcing Strategy)
January 15, 2004... Three years ago, JM Family Enterprises Inc., a diversified automotive company best known as the exclusive distributor of Toyota automobiles in the Southeastern U.S., didn't have a corporate procurement operation. Each of the company's core...

Owens Corning plans to go 80% paperless by end-2004.(E-Procurement)
January 15, 2004... Owens Corning was ahead of the game when it started with hosted e-auctions in 1999 from Free-Markets and later moved to a self-serve tool from what is now Perfect Commerce. But the speed and cost benefits realized with shorter transaction cycle...

Metrics drive success for major outsourcing project.(Performance Measurement)
January 15, 2004... Two years ago, Stratex Networks made a major outsourcing decision. The San lose, Calif.-based company, which develops, makes, and markets microwave radio products, had outsourced some of its manufacturing activities in the past, but realized it...

DaimlerChrysler.(Who's News)
January 15, 2004... DaimlerChrysler announced that Robert J. Schott has been named vice president-worldwide procurement and supply commodity strategy and Scott R. Garberding has been appointed vice president-worldwide supplier quality and product teams, effective...

Connell Purchasing Services.(Who's News)
January 15, 2004... Connell Purchasing Services, Naperville, Ill., has announced the expansion of its strategic purchasing services team. Steve Heinz has joined the company as vice president, strategic sourcing. He spent 20 years in purchasing at Quaker Oats and...

O'Connor's best lines: through his career, Jack O'Connor, recently retired publishing director of Purchasing magazine, always called it exactly like he saw it.(buylines)
January 15, 2004... 1970 "There was a day--not too long ago--when a career in purchasing was a nice, sane, sedentary way to make the mortgage payments. It isn't anymore, nor is it likely to be ever again." 1982 "Until very recently if the raw truth...

Christine S. Breves.(professional profile)
January 15, 2004... Title: Vice President, Procurement, Alcoa Global Business Services, Pittsburgh, Pa. Responsibilities/background: Breves leads the global procurement organization, covering over 350 manufacturing locations in 41 countries. "One of the...

Surging ferrous scrap prices support rise in rod, bar tags.(Mini-Mill Steels)
January 15, 2004... Abnormally high scrap steel prices are pushing prices up on such key mini-mill products as wire rod, concrete reinforcing bar (rebar), hot-rolled merchant bar and light structural shapes. So, even though buyers aren't buying many so-called long...

Steel-state legislators launch attempt to revive 201 tariffs.(Trade Wars)
January 15, 2004... Lawmakers from steel-producing West Virginia and Indiana aren't accepting President Bush's decision to roll back tariffs on imported steel without a fight. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., and Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., have introduced bills...

Tech eye for the stone age buy: metals buyers have been moving into the Internet Age at a neolithic pace--until now. New Purchasing research shows that e-sourcing is ready to explode.(metals buying)
January 15, 2004... Metals purchasing has been in a slump for almost three years now because manufacturing has been in a rut. So, short term, old-line industrial companies have been reducing warehoused inventories, eliminating materials waste in manufacturing, and...

Demand staggers toward recovery.(Office Paper)
January 15, 2004... DICEY What's happening: Sluggish demand has continued to beleaguer this market since purchasing last peaked in 2000. Office copy paper demand crested at 4.6 million tons in 1999, collapsed in 2000, and has yet to fully recover. Sales...

Manufacturing rally will boost buys.(Corrugated)
January 15, 2004... EASY STREET What's happening: Corrugated box makers saw an increase in fourth quarter demand, but admit 2003 shipments of 382 billion square feet were down for a third consecutive year. Sales tags for 42-lb unbleached kraft linerboard in...

Mavens see return of biz demand.(Computers)
January 15, 2004... EASY STREET What's happening: U.S. purchasing of personal computers grew more than 7% in 2003 to 56 million units. Large corporate buys of desktops and notebooks were tame, though, so consumer demand, funded by temporary tax rebates, drove...

Expect gradual firming in machinery prices.(Industrial Machinery)
January 15, 2004... EASY STREET What's happening: Manufacturing will expand capital spending this year. The latest poll by purchasingdata.com shows more buyers (21%) planning to boost purchases of industrial machinery than anytime in the past several months....

High, stable prices projected for 2004.(Energy)
January 15, 2004... OH-NOOO! What's happening: U.S. petroleum demand rose only 1.2% in 2003. While use of distillate fuel oil grew substantially, demand for gasoline barely increased over 2002. With no energy bill from Congress, supply has been uncertain and...

China boom creates pricing strike.(Transportation Services)
January 15, 2004... OH-NOOO! What's happening: A massive demand spike in service to/from China has been pushing up international air and ocean rates; in fact, the expansion of the Chinese economy has stretched deep-sea shipping capacity to its limit. For...

Prices will drift up on improved use.(Aluminum)
January 15, 2004... DICEY What's happening: U.S. aluminum purchasing slipped last year, confounding market insiders who had expected a second year of consumption growth. But, relatively low manufacturing rates, the drive for better workplace productivity, and...

Suppliers see high demand, prices.(Copper & Brass)
January 15, 2004... OH-NOOO! What's happening: World copper cathode consumption rose 2% last year, but U.S. use dropped 6%,with purchases of brass mill products down 8%. Regional demand was dull from key end-use markets, such as construction, machinery and...

Buyers will restart orders.(Fabricated Metals)
January 15, 2004... What's happening: Manufacturing's move offshore has reduced demand for metals processed domestically. Purchasing of fabricated metals has dropped for three straight years--in fact, it has collapsed 13% since 2000. This has offset minimal growth...

Mills are taking too much, too soon.(Steel)
January 15, 2004... What's happening: With increased metalworking improving demand for primary products, steelmakers are raising prices helter-skelter. Shutdowns and consolidations have reduced competitors and there are fewer imports, so the mills are seeking to...

Supply to tighten, tags to rise.(Semiconductors)
January 15, 2004... What's happening: Semiconductor demand increased sharply in the second half of 2003. Inventory in the supply pipeline has been worked off and prices have started to firm for many grades of chips. Demand is strong for a variety of semiconductors...

Firm prices, longer leadtimes.(Passives)
January 15, 2004... What's happening: Passive prices have taken a beating during the last three years because of high inventory levels and stiff competition for emerging Asian suppliers. Although prices fell, suppliers saw double-digit increases in unit shipments....

It's survival time for basic resins producers.(Plastic Resins)
January 15, 2004... What's happening: Resin markets have been a roller-coaster nightmare in 2003. There remains significant oversupply and weak demand. Producers have aggressively sought price increases, however, because of increased hydrocarbon costs. The impact...

Develop strategic relationships with key molders.(Molded Plastics)
January 15, 2004... What's happening: Plastics processors are being whipsawed by large plastics companies and end customers with growing leverage and buying power. Major molders such as Nypro and Erie Plastics say customers are demanding retroactive price rebates,...

Natural gas still the deciding factor.(Organic Chemicals)
January 15, 2004... What's happening: Natural gas and feedstock prices during the Iraq war pushed chemical tags up in early and mid-2003, but only some increases stuck while others came down by the end of the year, despite a reported uptick in business activity...

Consumer products drive demand in 2004.(Inorganic Chemicals)
January 15, 2004... What's happening: Price increases for inorganics peaked in the early second quarter of 2003 and have backed down in the months since. Producers of caustic soda and soda ash tried three times this year to impose hikes and failed. Huge amount of...

Need tools? Can you speak Chinese?(Toolmaking)
January 15, 2004... What's happening: The American toolmaking industry is in a crisis. The National Tooling and Machining Association estimates that 30% of U.S. toolmakers went out of business in the past three years. Orders for machine tools dropped 70% in the...

Tide starts to turn for electronics: supply will tighten and leadtimes will stretch for many components in 2004, but there will be few shortages. Expect small prices declines for passives and connectors, while semiconductor prices will be mostly steady with a few exceptions.(components outlook)
January 15, 2004... It won't exactly be a buyers' market for electronics in 2004 as demand increases, supply tightens and leadtimes stretch. However, it won't be a sellers' market either as prices for many components will fall modestly. Supply conditions will...

Is India the next China? Some OEMs and electronics contract manufacturers are looking to diversify their low-cost manufacturing base and are taking a look at India.(electronics outsourcing)
January 15, 2004... The promise of low labor rates and access to a potential huge market has lured scores of OEMs and electronics manufacturing services (EMS) to China. By most accounts, electronics companies are satisfied with the cost savings they have achieved...

Buyers: keep it simple when tracking savings.(Value Add)
January 15, 2004... MRO buyers can have a big impact on their companies' bottom lines--if they measure and document savings resulting from suppliers' value added services. Most purchasing operations--and MRO suppliers--routinely track such metrics as price,...

MFP demand strengthens; HP enters crowded market.(Copiers)
January 15, 2004... Holding off on buying new copiers for about a year, corporate purchasers began placing more orders with suppliers in the last few months of 2003. In fact, copier manufacturers expect this growth in demand to continue into 2004. ...

Securing the supply chain: what you need to know today.(Logistics Security)
January 15, 2004... The long-lasting impact of Sept. 11, 2001 has made security a top priority for logistics and supply chain professionals. Even if security was not already a top priority for most shippers, new regulations from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol...

Tool helps Motorola with compliance to contracts.(Buying Software)(Company Profile)
January 15, 2004... Motorola's indirect procurement team has analyzed the company's spending on a host of goods and services. But for some services, such as software licensing and maintenance, consulting and outsourcing, "we need more visibility so we can do a...

Stock power transmission components Q460.(literature marketplace)
January 15, 2004... Catalog Q460 features Econobelt timing belts and pulleys in 11 different profiles: MXL, XL, L, HTD3, HTD5, HTD8, T2.5, T5, T10, AT5 and AT10. The belts are made from fiberglass-reinforced neoprene and the pulleys are made from steel, aluminum...

Marmon/Keystone stock list.(literature marketplace)
January 15, 2004... Marmon/Keystone Corporation is a worldwide distributor of pipe, tubing, and specialty bar products. Marmon/Keystone inventories more than 15,000 sizes and grades of carbon, alloy, stainless, aluminum, and chrome-plated tubular and bar products....

Wiha bits--insert & power bits, bit sets.(literature marketplace)
January 15, 2004... Looking for production quality bits? Wiha Tools carries varieties of Insert and Power bits including; Pozidriv, Square, Torq Set, Tri Wing, Spanner and MagicRing Screwholding Hex Bits. Along with Slotted, Phillips, Torx, TorxPlus, Tamper...

Uncover the hidden costs of offshore die castings.(literature marketplace)
January 15, 2004... Is buying die cast components from overseas a good idea? This guidebook from the North American Die Casting Association includes case studies from U.S. OEMs and a checklist that can protect you from the "hidden costs" of offshore components....

Key supplier web-site locator.
January 15, 2004... ACCELEROMETERS--LOW MASS LABORATORY Omega Engineering, Inc. www.omega.com One Omega Drive, Stamford, CT 06907 Phone: 800-826-6342 Fax: 302-359-7700 info@omega.com OMEGA's model ACC104A laboratory accelerometer is...

Leads confirm memory rebound.(leadtime report)
January 15, 2004... TIGHTENING Leadtimes for SRAMs, which are used in cell phones and networking equipment, are now stretching. The glut of SRAMs and other semiconductors that plagued the industry for two years has now been worked off. When inventory levels...

PE markets tighten.(leadtime report)
January 15, 2004... TIGHTENING Over the past two years, national average delivery speeds for polyethylene (PE) resins have progressed gradually from a range of 5-15 days to a range of 10-20 days. Coincidentally, PE prices have risen in the vicinity of 25...

Watch flat-rolled leads.(leadtime report)
January 15, 2004... TIGHTENING There's an important trend shift in flat-rolled steel supply. While national average leadtimes remain considerably shorter than in 2002 (see chart), the latest report from purchasingdata.com shows flat-rolled leadtimes creeping...

Biggest gains (12-month rate of change).(leadtime report)
January 15, 2004... Biggest gains (12-month rate of change) 1. Seals & gaskets 50.8% 2. Polyols 49.4% 3. Acetic acid 46.0% 4. LDPE 45.6% 5. HDPE...

Biggest drops (12-month rate of change).(leadtime report)
January 15, 2004... Biggest drops (12-month rate of change) 1. Hot-dipped galvanized -17.1% 2. Electrogalvanized -15.8% 3. CR sheet & strip -11.1% 4. Aluminum sheet & strip -10.8% 5. Special fasteners...