Purchasing articles from March 2008

Purchasing archives from March 2008

Market volatility clouds price forecasts.(Industry overview)
March 13, 2008... By Tom Stundza Unsteady global growth in the production of stainless steel, galvanized sheet, tinplated steel and other alloyed metals will boost supply-and maybe cut prices-of nickel, zinc, tin and lead. Demand and pricing of alloying...

How+Why you should be buying Services.
March 13, 2008... By Paul E. Teague Increasingly, corporate executives are asking purchasing staffs to take over the procurement of services as well as direct materials. And the primary goal isn't always to save money. If you're looking for proof that...

'Cut those packaging costs'.(Melissa Hussenet )(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff Purchasing's smartest negotiators move from conflict to collaboration fast. Match your wits against these pros. Guess their strategy. Then, read what they really did at purchasing.com/negotiations . Possible Solutions: Find...

Electronics industry strives to get the chemistry right.
March 13, 2008... By Alan R. Earls Buyers at high-tech firms strike balance between direct chemicals sourcing and distributors' offerings. As is often the case, theory and practice can be very different. In theory, chemical distributors ought to be the...

Texas Instruments seeks optimal role for chemical distributors.(Bryan Vonfeldt)
March 13, 2008... By Staff Texas Instruments (TI) is a global semiconductor company that designs, manufactures, and sells high-tech electronics in more than 25 countries. For Bryan Vonfeldt, manager for chemicals and gas procurement for TI worldwide,...

Ethanol supply is abundant but price swings are more likely.
March 13, 2008... By Gordon Graff Although some producers of fermentation ethanol have temporarily shelved ambitious capacity expansion plans due to poor profitability, ethanol buyers need have little fear of shortages. Analysts say there is more than...

Business Intelligence.
March 13, 2008... By Staff 85.2 New high in February plastic resins price index Source: www.purchasingdata.com WHAT IT MEANS: More than 70% of buyers polled in February said plastic resin prices went up, while none said they went down. That...

Ethanol pipeline studied.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff Two U.S. oil products companies are looking into the possibility of building an ethanol pipeline that extends from the Midwest, where the majority of the ethanol is produced in the U.S., to the densely populated Northeast. ...

Caustic soda prices up on tight supply, while chlorine levels off due to slow PVC demand.
March 13, 2008... By Staff A tight supply market has driven up caustic soda prices significantly over the past six months, while prices of its chlor-alkali co-product, chlorine, have been flat to down in the same period due to the faltering U.S. economy....

How Kodak centralized contracts.(Eastman Kodak Co.)
March 13, 2008... By Maria Varmazis Missed savings opportunities were only part of the problems with the old, decentralized model. Decentralized spend. Outdated contracts. Missed savings opportunities in contracts. Fragmented company policies on...

Alcatel-Lucent targets TCO in design.(total cost of ownership)
March 13, 2008... By James Carbone Upstream involvement of purchasing in design has helped Alcatel-Lucent reduce new product costs by 50%. At Alcatel-Lucent involving purchasing in design is not an option-it is a requirement. That's because the...

Design services aren't just for new products.
March 13, 2008... By James Carbone When buyers decide which full-service distributors to use, they often review the design services the distributors have to offer. In the past, buyers would closely look at the design services that center on new product...

Pricing free-fall ends.(trends in semiconductor sector)(Industry overview)
March 13, 2008... By James Carbone Semiconductor prices will fall in 2008, but not as much as last year. "Blood, blood and more blood," is how one semiconductor industry analyst describes last year's price cutting by memory chip companies. ...

Increased material costs means higher prices for some switches.
March 13, 2008... By Gina Roos The global electromechanical switch market should remain stable over the next year, but buyers can expect some marginal price increases for some types of switches because of higher materials and transportation costs. The...

Business Intelligence.
March 13, 2008... By James Carbone 43% Electronics purchasers who say business is up Source: www.purchasingdata.com WHAT IT MEANS: Strong first quarter demand could mean business could weaken in the second quarter. 57% Buyers who say...

Declining demand means SRAM prices will continue to slide.
March 13, 2008... By John Day The good old days for SRAMs appear to be over. About eight years ago, demand for SRAMs was strong as cell phones gobbled up 4 megabit (Mb) and 8Mb devices. Today phones need a lot more memory, but cost is more of a concern...

Electronics Briefs.(Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc. is acquiring Hitachi Semiconductor Singapore)(Arrow Electronics is acquiring ACI Electronics)(Mouser Electronics Inc. has signed distribution agreement with 3M Touch Systems )(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By James Carbone Chartered Semiconductor to acquire Hitachi fab Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing says it will buy Hitachi Semiconductor Singapore for about $244 million in cash. The semiconductor foundry says it has entered...

NAND memory prices to fall as demand weakens.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By James Carbone The global NAND flash market will grow 9% or less in 2008 because of order reductions and weakness in consumer spending, according to researcher iSuppli. The researcher had earlier forecast that NAND revenue would grow...

Toshiba to build two new fabs.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By James Carbone Toshiba says it will build two new production fabs in Japan, including one for NAND flash memory. The new fabs will be built on the site of Iwate Toshiba Electronics Co., a Toshiba consolidated subsidiary, and adjacent...

Prices.(metals)(Statistical table)(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff Buyers say steel, fabricated metals prices will keep rising (national, buyers' 90-day price expectations) -------------------------------------------- UP DOWN SAME INDEX Steel ...

Iron-Ore Hike Hits Steel.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff With Brazilian Iron-Ore mining firm Vale agreeing to a 65% increase in iron-ore prices with Asian steelmakers, market experts say steel prices in Asia-and the U.S.-will see a major increase later this year. Analyst Michelle...

Novelis Hikes Aluminum.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff Aluminum producer Novelis is seeking fabrication price increases of between 1Acents and 5Acents/lb, depending on the alloy, for aluminum sheet products sold in North America. The move is an attempt to defray rising costs of alloys...

Intel has Low-End Chip.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff Intel is developing a smaller microprocessor for use in the low-end computer market ($250 range). The Diamondville chip will have about half the power of a Celeron processor, but provide enough power to run most programs. With it,...

SRAM Prices Slip Slide.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff Look for SRAM prices to keep falling. Prices are dropping because SRAM demand keeps fading as cell phone manufacturers equip handsets with low-cost DRAM instead of SRAM. As a result, the SRAM market will decline through 2011 and...

LCD Monitor Panel Tags Drop.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) monitor prices fell between 3-5% in February, according to researcher WitsView in Taiwan. For instance, the average price of a 17-inch monitor dropped from about $128 in January to $123 in February...

Economy + Supply.
March 13, 2008... By Staff Overall buying plans are down from the prev- ious month (national, buying plans, 30-day- s) -------------------------------------------- UP DOWN SAME INDEX Fabricated metals...

CEOs See Sluggish Growth.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff Eighty-one percent of CEOs polled expect sluggish U.S. economic growth of 2% or less. And according to a survey conducted by the Business Council, almost two-thirds of the 83 U.S. CEOs surveyed said conditions in their businesses...

Fed Cuts Growth Forecast.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff The Federal Reserve Bank cut its 2008 economic growth forecast range from the 1.8-2.5% it forecasted in October to 1.3-2.0% in February. "The possibility that house prices could decline more steeply than anticipated, further...

Caustic Soda Supply Tightens.(Chlor Alkali Supplier Olin Corp)(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff Chlor Alkali Supplier Olin Corp. in February declared force majeure on caustic soda and expects to supply its customers with approximately 70% of their typical contract volumes. The caustic soda market is extremely tight due to a...

Codelco to Expand Capacity.(Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile)(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff Chilean Copper Miner Codelco plans to increase capital spending in 2008 to $2 billion, up from $1.69 billion last year. Of that, $241 million will go to its new mine in Gaby. It's due to start production in March, pumping out...

Outokumpu: Steel Prices Rise.(Outokumpu Oyj)(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff The CEO of Finnish stainless steel company Outokumpu said in February he expects stainless steel prices to continue rising. Outokumpu stuck to its earlier forecasts that stainless steel prices will edge up as much as $185/metric...

Copper Forecast Revised.
March 13, 2008... By Staff Credit Suisse analysts have revised their forecast for increased copper output to 1.9% in 2008, down from a previous forecast of 2.3%. Growth in 2009 may be 3.3%, down from 3.6% projected earlier. "If copper can hold firm and...

Freight "Scraping Bottom".(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff Douglas Stotlar, CEO of less-than-truckload carrier Con-way, said in February that freight demand is "scraping bottom" and he's "not expecting (demand) to get better, but we're not seeing it get worse, either." Speaking at the...

Steel Output Could be Short.
March 13, 2008... By Staff Global steel output may fall short of demand this year by 55 million tons as China reduces exports, Credit Suisse Group estimated in a Feb. 11 report. "Any further structural positives in China's supply and demand balance could...

Posco Puts Off India Plant.(Pohang Iron and Steel Company Ltd.)(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff Korean Steelmaker Posco said it will raise steel prices in light of new iron contracts and has postponed plans to open its 12 million metric ton steel plant in India in April after locals protested the plant's construction. In a...

Gerdau Expands Steel Supply.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff Brazilian Steel Giant Gerdau said it will spend $6.4 billion to expand steel production by 14% to 28.3 million metric tons by 2010. Gerdau also plans to use its 1.8 billion tons of iron-ore reserves to produce enough iron ore to...

U.S., EU Snag Fake Chips.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff A combined crackdown in late 2007 by U.S. and EU officials seized more than 360,000 counterfeit computer chips. Bloomberg reports that a five-country probe found fake integrated circuits mostly from China tagged with trademarks of...

Hynix to Cut Capex.(Hynix Semiconductor Inc.)(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff In an effort to reduce the supply glut and bring prices back down, Hynix Semiconductor will cut spending on equipment and plants by 25% in 2008 after a glut caused the company to report its first quarterly loss in four years.

Japanese Steel Using U.S. Coal.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff Japanese steelmakers are buying coking coal from the U.S. because floods in Australia have halted mining and cut supplies. Upshot: Low-sulfur coal in the U.S. has risen to a range of $67-$70/ton from Appalachian mines, the Energy...

Sanmina-SCI Sells PC Business.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff Electronics Manufacturing services provider Sanmina-SCI says it will sell some of its personal computing business assets to Foxteq Holdings for between $80-90 million. The company says it will sell the assets and associated...

More Corn to Go to Ethanol.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff More than 33% of all corn grown in the U.S. will go toward use in ethanol in the next decade, up threefold from 11% in the last decade.

Buyers See Resin Price Hikes.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff According to Purchasingdata.com's February business survey, 70% of buyers polled reported seeing plastic resin price increases in February, while 30% saw resin prices stay flat. Not a single buyer said resin prices were down from...

China Ramps-up Ethylene.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff China plans to more than double its ethylene production capacity to 18.13 million tons by 2010 says a government forecast. China's biggest refiner, Sinopec, increased its ethylene capacity in January to more than 85,000 metric...

OLED Demand to Rise.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff Expect liquid crystal display suppliers to be more willing to reduce prices over the next several years. Frost & Sullivan says LCD suppliers will receive more competition from organic light emitting diode suppliers. OLEDs are...

Chip Prices Plunged in '07.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff In case there was any doubt, the Semiconductor Industry Association estimated that the global selling price of the main type of memory chip, DRAM, dropped more than 39% for the year, while total production nearly doubled. And NAND...

Fortis: Copper Prices to Ease.(Fortis Bank N.V./S.A.)(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff Robin Baskin of Fortis Bank forecasts copper prices will be between $4,500-$6,500/metric ton between now and 2012. "With the U.S. going into a recession, there will be a slowdown in demand from the housing, construction and...

NAND Prices to Drop in '08.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff Electronics buyers should keep a close eye on their NAND flash suppliers. According to a recent report from analyst firm iSuppli, a "perfect storm" is brewing that could put NAND suppliers in the red this year. As demand drops and...

Potash to Stay High.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff With increased crop demand both in the U.S. and in Asia, potash and fertilizer products makers are predicting high demand and prices. "Prices for virtually all major row crops are at record-high levels, providing growers with a...

Micron "OK" with Price War.(Micron Technology Inc.)(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff Micron Technology CEO Steve Appleton said in a recent Bloomberg report that he is "OK" with the memory supply glut and price slide that has taken place in 2007 and early 2008. Why? It means many of Micron's smaller rivals will...

Tire Makers Push Prices.
March 13, 2008... By Staff After watching rubber prices spiral upward in the second half of 2007, in addition to oil and carbon black increases, tire makers are targeting price hikes in 2008 to offset costs. Bridgestone said in February it will raise tire...

Logistics software streamlines global sourcing efforts.
March 13, 2008... By David Hannon The global sourcing boom would not be possible without the continued evolution of the logistics organization. And one of the major drivers of that evolution has been the shipment visibility and planning garnered through...

Business Intelligence.(briefs)(Survey)(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By David Hannon 73% Buyers reporting transportation price hikes in February Source: www.purchasingdata.com WHAT IT MEANS: That's a slight decrease from the month before, but transportation remains one of the priciest spend...

Logistics firms scale back capacity on continuing demand slump.
March 13, 2008... By David Hannon The continuing economic slowdown in the U.S. is impacting more logistics companies, often on the leading edge of economic trends. Trucking giant YRC Worldwide (parent of Yellow and Roadway) said it plans to close 27...

Rail Rates will Remain High in 2008.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By David Hannon While other logistics modes continue to report slumping volumes and rates, a recent report from analysts at Bear Stearns says that railroads will continue to see better-than-historical pricing as a result of increased...

Logistics Merger Volume Hits 20-Year High.
March 13, 2008... By David Hannon According to statistics released from analyst firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the volume of mergers and acquisitions in the global transportation and logistics industry hit a 20-year high in 2007, with a stunning 1,291 deals....

First, know the market.(management of industrial suppliers)
March 13, 2008... By Colin Lee-Warden Of all the tips for buying steel-or any other commodity-the most important one to remember is to know your own needs and know the market environment, including the suppliers. That knowledge, or lack of it, will affect...

Prices unsettled; buyers reluctant to commit to big-tonnage buys.
March 13, 2008... By Tom Stundza Specialty steel producers have been expecting buyers to re-enter the market for stainless steels in early 2008, but buying continues on an as-needed basis. The stainless-using manufacturing sector has been contracting so...

Business Intelligence.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Tom Stundza $80/ton Steel-plate price hike sought Source: ArcelorMittal WHAT IT MEANS: The carbon steel plate list price increase for April sought by ArcelorMittal USA has gained momentum with Nucor, Ipsco and Claymont...

Nucor to pay $1.44 billion to buy scrap-metal giant.(Nucor Corp. acquiring David J. Joseph Co.)
March 13, 2008... By Tom Stundza Steelmaker nucor is spending $1.44 billion to buy scrap-metal broker and processor David J. Joseph Co.-one of the biggest metals recycling companies in the U.S. -in an attempt to shield itself from volatile iron-unit prices....

Automated rating system helps manage supplier performance.
March 13, 2008... By Susan Avery The technical purchasing operation at the BMW Manufacturing Co. plant in Spartanburg, S.C., has developed an automated supplier rating system that tracks performance of maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) suppliers. It...

Business Intelligence.(briefs)(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Susan Avery 183,000 MRO products in Grainger's 2008 catalog Source: Grainger WHAT IT MEANS: The industrial distributor added 44,000 new SKUs (stock keeping units) to its line in such categories as power transmission, raw...

MRO Briefs.(distribution agreement between Graybar and JVC Professional Products Co.)(U.S. Bank Corporate Payment Systems introducing new product called U.S. Bank Access Online Payment Plus)(Grainger introduced Tough Guy, a private label professional cleaning supplies )(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Susan Avery Graybar is working with JVC Professional Products Co. of Wayne, N.J., to distribute its surveillance and security technologies. The distributor carries JVC Internet protocol (IP) cameras, analog cameras, and IT recording...

MRO buying gets strategic.(maintenance, repair and operations)
March 13, 2008... By Susan Avery Purchasing pros look ahead, and see more outsourcing, long-term planning, global buying and supplier alliances. There's no longer any question-the MRO buy is strategic. Purchasing got an overwhelming response from...

Procurement takes on the services spend.(outsourcing of advertising services)
March 13, 2008... By Paul Teague, Editor in Chief As one CFO reportedly told a group of his peers, "human resources expenses are too important to be left exclusively to the HR department." Presumably, he felt the same about legal services, marketing,...

Cox uses e-procurement to keep service levels above water.(Cox Enterprises Inc.)
March 13, 2008... By Maria Varmazis When Bob Pelon, came on board at Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises in 2001, his business card said director of procurement but he says his position then would more accurately be labeled "jellyfish herder." "Basically, I...

Business Intelligence.(briefs)(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Maria Varmazis $3.7B Bid by Staples for Corporate Express Source: Staples WHAT IT MEANS: The U.S. company's unsolicited bid for its Dutch office supply rival Corporate Express was rejected, but Staples has not ruled out...

Corporate Express rejects Staples bid.(Office supplier Staples bidding to acquire Corporate Express Ltd. rejected)(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Maria Varmazis After several days of speculation that Framingham, Mass.-based office supplier Staples was interested in acquiring Corporate Express, the company made a formal offer of $3.67 billion for its Dutch rival. Corporate Express...

Small EMS provider faces sourcing challenges.(EasTek Corp.)
March 13, 2008... By James Carbone * Eastek Location: Chicago * Size: $35 million revenue in 2007 * Business: Contract manufacturer offering injection molding, magnetics, metal stampings, printed circuit-board assembly, box build and engineering...

Seven questions to ask before running your next reverse auction.(Column)
March 13, 2008... By Lee S. Crane Electronic reverse auctions (eRAs) appear to be an effective and efficient method of gathering pricing information. But have we as a profession over-utilized this tool, damaging our relationships with our strategic partners...

For purchasing, the next opportunity in travel is meetings management.
March 13, 2008... By Susan Avery At Genzyme Corp., Ray Mazzoleni counts corporate travel as one of his purchasing responsibilities. Under that umbrella falls meeting planning. For this spend category, Mazzoleni's role as corporate purchasing manager for...

Business Intelligence.(briefs)(Survey)(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Staff 34% Buyers planning to decrease computer buying Source: www.purchasingdata.com WHAT IT MEANS: While buying plans were down for all but one of the 17 spend areas tracked monthly (fabricated metals was the only one...

Center-led collaboration powers Harris' sourcing initiatives.
March 13, 2008... By Wayne Forrest Like many companies, communications firm Harris Corp. has various business divisions focused on building their own products. But having buyers and procurement professionals spread across those divisions doesn't mean they...

Timken executes indirect procurement mega-project.
March 13, 2008... By William Atkinson Creating a centralized indirect procurement department in a Fortune 500 manufacturing company is no small task. Neither is creating a global commodity management initiative at a globally expanding firm. Even more...

Paradigm goes global to go Green.
March 13, 2008... By William Atkinson Harry brix thinks Green is a very "in" color. "More and more companies are taking steps to become Green," says Brix, director of procurement for Paradigm Group in Syosset, N.Y. Paradigm is a developer and distributor of...

Got a procurement job interview? Here's what Not to do.
March 13, 2008... By Staff Job interviews are never easy for either the interviewer or the interviewee. But here are a few tips from procurement and recruiting professionals on what not to do during a job interview. Joanna Martinez, CPO at Alliance...