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* SSMR supplier management tip of the month: Using distributors for materials. "Our suppliers could not get us the material we needed, so we shifted our sourcing to a distributor," a purchasing manager at a small maker of filtration media explains. "The distributor has the material and is able to deliver within 24 hours. Now we can keep our inventory low because the 24-hour delivery is standard," she offers. "I now enter my order on-line and don't have to worry about it."
* i4cast launches cost management suite. The i4cast Total Cost Management Suite (i4cast, LLC, Houston; www.i4cast.com) is comprised of three complimentary solutions. iCost is a web-based central management console for all direct and indirect costs, with comprehensive product costing, financial modeling, forward costing and target costing capabilities. xCost is a web-based eManufacturing collaboration application designed for BOM collaboration and co-sourcing visibility to clients' outsourced manufacturing environments. iCM is a web-based contract and commodity cost management application providing contract compliance, commodity cost forecasting and buyer performance. Also includes "what if' modeling, variance reporting and impact analysis capabilities.
* The case for fostering strong collaborative supplier relationships. "One practice we have found very useful is having proactive monitoring of our suppliers," Richard St. Peter, senior support program manager, Raytheon Technical Services, shared at Interlog 2003 Winter (Worldwide Business Research, Inc., New York, www.wbresearch.com). At the beginning of each year they meet with their suppliers who provide advance notification of product changes. "They advise us when advancements in hardware are planned to be released, and when they are changing an operating system and how it's going to impact," he relates. "The suppliers provide this...