Purchasing articles from June 2007

Purchasing archives from June 2007

'It's your problem, not ours.'.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Ultra Electronics Ocean Systems delivered a finished assembly to a customer on-time and on-budget, but the product failed the customer's tests. The customer requested repair or replacement at Ultra's cost, which the company agreed...

Purchasing's first commandment: Know thy supplier.
June 14, 2007... By James Carbone As the problem of counterfeit electronic components gets worse in the era of online and global sourcing, buyers need to be vigilant and take steps to avoid bogus parts. If there is one cardinal rule that electronics...

Plastics firm unlocks value of early supplier involvement.
June 14, 2007... By Gordon Graff Plastics processor Rowmark finds that bringing its suppliers onboard as key participants in its business decisions can give it a competitive edge. When a plastics processor rolls out a new product or alters the design...

Glycerin prices tick up in 2007 as imports slow to a trickle.
June 14, 2007... By Gordon Graff It may come as a surprise to buyers of glycerin, accustomed to a glut of the product on the market and depressed or declining prices, but that trend has suddenly reversed itself in the U.S. Prices for refined glycerin went...

Business Intelligence.(Chemtura)(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff $23.7M Chemtura's 1Q spike in materials and energy prices Source: Chemtura WHAT IT MEANS: The dramatic increase in expenses primarily in its plastics additives business is one of the reasons the company cited in...

Pricing News.(Methylene diphenyl diisocyanate prices hikes)(PolyOne Corp. pushes price hikes)(Wellman Inc. pushes price hikes)(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Dow hikes MDI North American polyurethane buyers should prepare for price hikes from Dow Chemical by 10Acents/lb for its pure and polymeric methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI). Dow has pushed back its previously announced...

Commodities forecasting: It's all in your head.
June 14, 2007... By Tom Stundza Prices of commodities can rise quickly when production falls and supply is tight; conversely, they cost less when output rises and supply surges. Trying to gauge which way the trend is going makes forecasting tricky. ...

Prices will fall for ceramic capacitors.
June 14, 2007... By Gina Roos Buyers can expect prices for commodity multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) to fall by as much as 5% for the year, although leadtimes will stretch for some high-capacitance ceramic capacitors. Prices for specialty devices will...

Business Intelligence.
June 14, 2007... By James Carbone 46% Electronics purchasers who say business is improving Source: www.purchasingdata.com WHAT IT MEANS: With end equipment demand rising, leadtimes for many components will stretch and prices will stabilize....

Independents push for quality.
June 14, 2007... By James Carbone Supply-base reduction offers challenges to most suppliers, and few feel the challenge more than independent distributors that have been fighting to reverse perceptions that their quality is not up to par. Product...

Intel, Micron ship 50nm NAND flash.(Micron Technology Inc.)(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By James Carbone Im flash technologies, a joint venture between Intel and Micron Technology, has begun shipping samples of 50 nanometer (nm) multi-level cell NAND flash memory chips. The new MLC NAND flash memory component has a die...

Nu Horizons led the pack in sales growth.(Nu Horizons Electronics Corp.)(Financial report)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
June 14, 2007... By James Carbone The top 75 electronics distributors grew sales by about 9% in 2006, but some distributors did better than others. For instance, Nu Horizons of Melville, N.Y., grew revenue 39.2% as its sales reached $554 million. Other...

Distributors see India as a growth driver.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By James Carbone While India's electronics industry is still in its infancy, some distributors see the country as the next hotbed for electronics distribution because India's OEMs have a history of using distributors rather than buying...

TTI to carry discrete chips.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By James Carbone Passives and connector distributor TTI says it will soon begin selling discrete semiconductors manufactured by Vishay Intertechnology and will add several more discrete lines in the near future. TTI carries Vishay...

No Problems with Logic.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff No price worries for buyers of standard logic. The chips will cost the same through the third quarter, and only increase marginally in the fourth quarter, according to researcher iSuppli. Logic demand isn't as strong as last year....

Rubber Inflates Tires.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Natural rubber costs more these days because of concerns that Southeast Asian inclement weather will just get worse and reduce the harvest. So, some tire makers are pushing up their prices for commercial truck tires. Michelin...

Electricity will Sizzle.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff wholesale electricity prices are likely to be higher this summer in all regions because of an expected increase in natural gas costs. "Markets are signaling double-digit electricity price increases this summer over last, with...

Platinum may Hit $1,400.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Platinum prices are 17% higher than at the beginning of the year. Last year, platinum averaged about $1,150/troy ounce. Spot prices have been averaging $1,250 so far this year-and could reach $1,400 over the next six months, says...

Office Rents Up 5%.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Office markets are tight even though job growth is slowing. Nationally, rent hikes will average 5% growth this year, according to real-estate researchers, down slightly from last year's 5.7% advance. Warehouse rents nationally are...

PPI Keeps Increasing.(Producer Price Index)(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Finished goods prices rose sharply in April for the third consecutive month-due to large price increases among energy products. Excluding food and energy pricing, Producer Price Index (PPI) prices for finished goods have been...

Electronic Powders Rise.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Fabrication prices are up 9% for precious metal and base metal powders and flakes sold globally by Ferro's Electronic Material Systems due to increased raw material, energy and conversion costs. These products are used for solar...

Kraft Papers are Pushed.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff A $40-50/ton price hike for Kraft paper grades has been sticking in the northern U.S. because of tight domestic supply and rising prices for imports. But the increase has been more of a battle for mills in the southern U.S....

Gasoline Flows Upward.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Gasoline will average $2.95/gallon this summer, up from an average of $2.84 last summer, predicts the Energy Information Administration. The projection reflects a drop-off in refinery activity-partly because of scheduled...

Hynix Yearns for Chip Hike.(Hynix Semiconductor Inc.)(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff The dram price decline isn't over, but O.C. Kwon, Hynix Semiconductor's senior vice president of strategic planning expects DRAM supply and demand dynamics will change soon. "Supply growth will slow down in the second half....

Ocean Rates may Surge.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Two of Japan's biggest ocean container shipping firms expect freight rates to increase this year. Nippon Yusen and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha said increased demand from China will outweigh competition and keep global ocean rates...

Acetic Acid Bubbled.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Spot prices for acetic acid jumped 2Acents/lb last month when the nation's largest producer, Celanese, declared a force majeure at its Clear Lake plant in Texas. A quarter-inch hole in the reactor shut the 1.2 million metric-ton...

SBR has Risen 22%.(styrene butadiene rubber )(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Prices for styrene butadiene rubber are 84Acents/lb these days, compared with 69Acents at this time last year. The reason: Tight supply caused by production problems has run up against rising demand from makers of replacement...

Prices.(Statistical table)(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Buyers believe that energy prices will continue to inflate their costs (Buyers' 90-day price expectations) -------------------------------------------- UP DOWN SAME INDEX Energy ...

Durables Barely Improved.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Durable goods orders grew 0.6% in April, much slower than analysts had forecast. Moody's Economy.com says weakness in high-tech orders held back overall capital goods orders. Buying was especially weak for motor vehicles,...

JV Plans New Nor Chips.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Intel and stmicroelectronics are combining their troubled memory businesses into an independent company producing new-generation NOR flash-memory chips for cellular telephones, MP3 portable music players, digital cameras and...

Steel Smelting Soars.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff World crude steel production was 109.3 million metric tons in April, a 7.6% increase from last year's tonnage. International Iron and Steel Institute data shows rate of growth the strongest in China at 16.5% and Brazil (12.1%),...

Olin Absorbs Pioneer.(Olin Chlor Alkali Products)(Pioneer Companies Inc.)(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff The $416 million marriage of chemicals firms Olin with Pioneer Companies will create the third-largest producer of chlor-alkali in North America. Olin CEO Joseph Rupp says the deal also creates the largest industrial bleach...

Rubber Use to Stretch.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Annual demand for natural rubber is going to outpace the supply by as much as 1.4 million tons in the next 13 years, says the International Rubber Study Group. With worldwide demand reaching 13.8 million tons and supply only...

Oracle Buys Agile.(Agile Software Corp.)(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Oracle announced it will buy Agile software, a provider of product lifecycle management software, for $495 million. Agile, which will continue to operate independently, says its software will allow Oracle users to better...

Alcoa Eyes Greenland.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Aluminum giant Alcoa and the government of Greenland are studying the feasibility of a 340,000 metric ton/year aluminum smelter in Greenland. The goal is to start building a hydroelectric power system in 2010 and a smelter in...

Home Sales Jump in April.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff New-home sales saw an unexpected surge in April to 92,000 units from 81,000 in March caused by a big one-month drop in housing prices. According to Commerce Department data, the average price of a home in April decreased to...

Drywall is Crumbling.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Wallboard demand has fallen by 10% this year as new-home construction has tanked. Wallboard's average first-quarter selling price-$164.12/1,000 square feet-was 9% below its average price for all of 2006. Soft wallboard sales and...

Flying Soon on Bio Fuel.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Virgin Atlantic airways will test bio-fuels next year in an effort to reduce carbon emissions and increase efficiency of its Boeing jetliners. Parent company Virgin Group is planning to move away from carbon-based fuels for its...

Aluminum Buys Expanding.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Global aluminum demand will grow by 9.4% this year, the equivalent of 3.2 million metric tons of primary ingot, forecasts CRU Group analyst Paul Robinson. World aluminum purchasing expanded by 8% in 2006; prices are up but it's...

Air Taxis Take Off.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Watch for new air taxi services to debut this summer for business travelers going a few hundred miles, letting them avoid daylong drives. Analysts think the small and relatively cheap planes make it possible for air-taxi costs...

Arnold Vetoes LNG Plant.(Arnold Schwarzenegger)(BHP Billiton)(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger rejected BHP Billiton's liquefied natural gas facility proposed for 14 miles off the coast of Malibu because it might harm the environment. He echoed comments made by the State Lands...

IBM Launches Power6 Chip.(International Business Machines Corp.)(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff IBM's new Power6 microprocessor is on sale this month, a chip operating at 4.7 gigahertz and cycling at a speed 25 million times as fast as the flap of hummingbird wings. This is designed to consolidate servers and handle...

Economy + Supply.(Statistical table)(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Buyers plan to spend more on plastic parts (Buyers' near-term buying plans) -------------------------------------------- UP DOWN SAME INDEX Steel 35% 14% 51% 60.8...

How to: Identify Available Suppliers.
June 14, 2007... By Staff This is the third installment in our series on how purchasing staffs at a variety of companies organize their strategic-sourcing activities. Other installments in the series ran in the March 1 and May 3 issues of the magazine, and...

Leadtime Report.
June 14, 2007... By Staff Slowest Deliveries (Weeks) ------------------------------------ 1 Polyester, thermoplastic 21.9 2 Acetal 21.8 3 Elastomers 20.2 4 Dioctyle pthalate 20.2 5...

Lean takes off at Cessna.(Cessna Aircraft Co.)(Company overview)
June 14, 2007... By Susan Avery As sales fatten, Cessna's Lean initiatives become more important. Key to the efforts: closer relationships with suppliers. Facing a $9 billion backlog, Cessna Aircraft Co. is turning to its supply chain for help filling...

Choose wisely: Not all third-party logistics providers are the same.(Aristeo Construction)
June 14, 2007... By David Hannon It will come as no surprise to supply chain professionals that no two logistics shipments are quite the same. But for a project-intensive construction services firm like Aristeo Rigging and Erectors, not only are no two...

Business Intelligence.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff 74% Buyers reporting transportation price hikes in May Source: www.purchasingdata.com WHAT IT MEANS: That's up from 68% in April and 54% in March, indicating transportation costs are rising in 2007. Buyers need to...

Railroads sued for price-fixing.(Dust Pro Inc. )(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Dust Pro Inc. may be the shipper's David to take on the railroad's Goliath. The small privately-owned Phoenix-based manufacturer of soil stabilizers has filed a federal lawsuit in New Jersey seeking class action status,...

WMS market mature, but growing.(warehouse management systems)(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff The market for warehouse management (WMS) systems is maturing, but will see nearly 5% growth over the next five years, according to a recent report from ARC Advisory Group. ARC analyst Steve Banker points out that "the average...

The bulls are still running.
June 14, 2007... By Tom Stundza Prices for most industrial metals are well above historical levels for the second straight year. Analysts now believe supply tightness will keep prices higher for the rest of the year. Base metals cost more than ever...

Heavy steel market is busy; buyers balk at higher prices.
June 14, 2007... By Tom Stundza Steel buyers and mills continue to battle over prices for steel plate and heavy structurals with neither group comfortable as they await static-free market trends. Chaparral Steel, for example, claims that "robust global...

Limited water sources in Chile could lead to higher costs of production.
June 14, 2007... By Tom Stundza Chilean copper-mining companies likely will face significant environmental, political and regulatory hurdles in securing future rights for water-intensive copper-processing operations. And that could boost future production...

Demand rose 4%in first quarter.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Tom Stundza Demand for gold rose 4% to 831.7 metric tons in the first quarter of 2007, compared with the year-ago period, according to the World Gold Council's latest Gold Demand Trends report. Global use of gold for jewelry was...

No consensus yet on pricing.
June 14, 2007... By Tom Stundza World copper prices have spiked by 30% since the end of last year, causing analysts and economists to adjust full-year forecasts. Wachovia Bank is at the high end of the range with a $3.29/lb forecast. J.P. Morgan & Co....

Alcoa vs. Alcan: A takeover battle that won't be resolved anytime soon.
June 14, 2007... By Tom Stundza Consolidation has been brewing in the aluminum industry since early this year. But it wasn't mining companies BHP Billiton, Xstrata or Rio Tinto going after Alcoa of the U.S.; instead, Alcoa made an unsolicited $28 billion...

Researcher sees strong demand for years to come.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Tom Stundza Continued growth by the industrializing nations and the so-called 'extreme economies' over the next decade should maintain demand strength for zinc. Zinc consumption could grow by between 5.6 million metric tons and 7.9...

Business Intelligence.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Tom Stundza $905,000 Cost of newest gold coin Source: Royal Canadian Mint WHAT IT MEANS: A 99.999% pure Gold Maple Leaf bullion coin has begun trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Each coin weighs 100 kilograms....

Mittal Steel enters export market.
June 14, 2007... By Tom Stundza Mittal Steel USA has begun the sale of steel for export that will continue on an ongoing basis, says Michael G. Rippey, president and chief executive officer of the Chicago-based subsidiary of Arcelor Mittal. The export...

Idaho plant scheduled for '08.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Tom Stundza Formation Capital plans to start producing cobalt cathode in the U.S. in late 2008, according to J. Scott Bending, president of the Vancouver firm. The plant in east central Idaho is expected to produce 1,625 metric tons of...

Suppliers hope automakers will boost use in future models.
June 14, 2007... By Tom Stundza Aluminum use in the average automobile could jump from 327 lbs nowadays to as much as 807 over the next decade as traditional mild steel is replaced in several applications by other materials. Misha Riveros-Jacobson,...

Chips.(Heidtman Steel Products Inc. plans to build a facility)(Marmon/Keystone Corp. is opening a warehouse)(Edgen Murray acquires PetroSteel )
June 14, 2007... By Tom Stundza Sheet steel processor Heidtman Steel is finalizing plans to build a 500,000 ton/year mill capable of cold-rolling mill, continuous annealing, pickling and slitting somewhere in Ohio, Michigan or Indiana. Once the site for...

China may try to bypass exchanges and source materials directly.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Tom Stundza China is roaming the world to source metals directly from Africa and elsewhere in order to cut out such middleman as the London Metal Exchange (LME), says Martyn Davies, director at the Centre of Chinese Studies at...

Analyst: Market is weaker than the mills suggest.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Tom Stundza 'The steel company leaders that we have been seeing at various meetings have been much more optimistic than their customers,' says Charles Bradford, the principal analyst at Bradford Research of New York, adding that data...

Consolidation heats up but impact on buying community is unclear.
June 14, 2007... By Tom Stundza Another powerful consolidation wave is engulfing the steel industry. So far, though, service center executives and buyers have been uncharacteristically quiet in voicing opinions, probably because the jury still is out on...

Sara Lee centralizes MRO buy, gets suppliers more involved.(maintenance, repair and operations)
June 14, 2007... By Susan Avery Procurement at Sara Lee is taking a new approach to its MRO buy that's right in line with other big changes occurring at the company. David Cotteleer, vice president of procurement and co-pack/co-manufactured, is...

More buyers go online to do business with distributors.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Susan Avery Purchasing professionals use the Internet to do business with industrial distributors more today than they did two years ago. Mainly, buyers are using the Web to find new suppliers and conduct transactions. Seventy-six...

Dolphin Software launches product for MRO buyers.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Susan Avery Dolphin Software, a provider of chemical management and compliance software in Lake Oswego, Ore., has introduced its Green Product Selector software. The software provides purchasers with visibility into their chemical...

When forecasting, go with your instincts.(Editorial)
June 14, 2007... By Paul Teague, Editor in Chief Everyone wants to accurately predict the future, especially in business. That's why executives invest so much time in pouring over revenue and expense budgets. But sometimes, the crystal-ball gazing can get...

Consolidate the office equipment buy: fewer suppliers, machines.(Survey)
June 14, 2007... By Maria Varmazis In a recent Purchasing magazine survey about buyers' procurement tactics, all respondents who identified one of their main buying responsibilities as office supplies and equipment also replied that they were actively...

Business Intelligence.
June 14, 2007... By Staff 11.3% Growth in the global production workflow software market until 2011 Source: InfoTrends WHAT IT MEANS: Their is increasing recognition of the need for more efficiency in workflow processes. 80% New...

Don Linn, director of purchasing, Vanguard Car Rental Group.(Vanguard Car Rental USA Inc.)(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By David Hannon "What keeps me awake at night is the need to continually generate savings and its impact on our supplier selection." PLAYER: Don Linn, director of purchasing, Vanguard Car Rental Group BACKGROUND: Early in his...

United Pet Group thinks globally, acts locally in managing suppliers.
June 14, 2007... By David Hannon There are benefits to being in a procurement organization at a subsidiary company. There's often more of an entrepreneurial spirit at an acquired division, without the lack of resources typically associated with a small...

Motorola creates integrated supply chain with clear focus, fast results.(Company overview)
June 14, 2007... By William Atkinson Being big has its advantages. One of these is being able to create significant leverage within the supply chain. Being big can also have its disadvantages. One of these is being so far-flung and separate that you fail...

Business Intelligence.(Brief article)
June 14, 2007... By Staff 60% Buyers reporting commodity price increases in May Source: www.purchasingdata.com WHAT IT MEANS: The pricing trend is definitely up approaching the midyear point. In January, only 40% of buyers were reporting...

AT&T provides nine metrics no procurement group can live without.(Company overview)
June 14, 2007... By William Atkinson One might think that a procurement department at a company the size of AT&T would only be interested in high-level metrics, such as internal client satisfaction, to assess its overall performance. But the procurement...

Reed purchases BuyerZone.
June 14, 2007... By Staff Reed Business Information (RBI), parent company of Purchasing , has acquired BuyerZone.com Inc., an online lead generation business. BuyerZone links prospective buyers to qualified suppliers of more than 125 business product...

Software releases aim to improve purchasing staffs' efficiency.
June 14, 2007... By Paul Teague Reflecting the growing responsibility and strategic reach of buyers, developers of purchasing software are enhancing their products to make buyers more efficient. In the arenas of spend analysis and procure-to-pay alone,...

Tech talk success story.(Letter to the editor)
June 14, 2007... By Staff Engineers as Buyers Regarding "Tech talk: a buyer's guide to working with engineers (Purchasing , April 19, 2007, p. 33): I find it hard to believe that other companies are not making this happen from a higher level of...