Purchasing back issues from January 1999:
Canon holds forums to add digital products to line.
Jan 14, 1999; ... In a series of Digital Solution Forums taking place across the country, Canon U.S.A. is unveiling 10 new digital products. Canon has taken traditional rivals head-on, and we now provide our current and potential customers with the widest array of choices possible in product, ...
Toshiba unveils digital copiers with connectivity.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Toshiba has introduced a new 24 ppm digital copier designed for small to mid-size workgroups. With its optional SC-1 controller, the DP2460 can be networked, enabling workgroups to perform such multifunction tasks as copying, printing, and faxing. Toshiba is investing heavily in ...
Are 4PLs for real?
Jan 14, 1999; ... Not so long ago the new kids on the transportation block were the third-party logistics providers, or 3PLs, the organizations that provide a range of services to coordinate the process of getting goods from one place to another. Now the latest talk between sessions at conferences is about ...
Chip Hoffa the old block.
Jan 14, 1999; ... The Teamsters, in a spirit of déjà vu, elected James P. Jimmy Hoffa president by a margin of 14 points in their recent election, replacing Ron Carey and defeating challenger Tom Leedham. He has announced a policy of reform, vowing to eliminate corruption from the union ....
Emergency response shipping hits the Net.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Emery Expedite!, an affiliate of Emery Worldwide that specializes in the most urgent shipping situations, has now added a Web site (www.emeryexpedite.com) that provides an Internet pickup request function, so shippers can choose from surface, air, or charter to and from any North American ...
Air freight to gain market share.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Air freight will gain market share in the $65-billion time-definite transportation market this year, according to a study by The Colography Group of Marietta, Ga. The gain will represent losses for parcel and less-than-truckload carriers. The study, called Expedited Cargo Market ...
Use of Internet for MRO buying to grow.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Eighty-five percent of respondents to Grainger's survey now ordering MRO supplies on the Internet plan to significantly increase use of the Web to do so in the future. When asked for reasons to purchase MRO materials via the Internet, two of three (64%) respondents cite speed ...
Distributor educates buyers on cost-cutting techniques.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Each month, Consumers Interstate offers buyers opportunity to attend a seminar on Cutting MRO Buying Costs by 25% at its educational center located at its headquarters in Norwich, Conn. What's more, the seminar now is approved by the National Association of Purchasing Management ...
DaimlerChrysler uses one global supply strategy.
Jan 14, 1999; ... When DaimlerChrysler opened its doors in mid-November for the first day of business as a single company, most departments retained separate pre-merger identities. Chrysler's line of products would continue with the same branding and marketing as before, and so would Daimler's. Only a ...
Demand slows for automotive electronics, gears.
Jan 14, 1999; ... The demand for gears in the U.S. is projected to rise by only 4.3% annually between now and 2002, according to The Freedonia Group (Cleveland, Ohio). This represents a slowing in the rate of growth, which was at 5.3% from 1987-97. Growth in global sales of automotive electronics is ...
Auto suppliers must improve planning, forum says.
Jan 14, 1999 ... The global economic crisis is creating new challenges for automotive suppliers, and many need to improve their planning process to avoid future financial problems, according to participants in a recent forum of auto suppliers and manufacturers. The integrated strategic planning ...
Dana to buy bearings company from Federal-Mogul.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Dana Corp. is the winning bidder for certain bearings manufacturing operations being sold by Federal-Mogul Corp. Dana will pay $430 million for the Glacier Vandervell Bearings Group and other engine assets that were part of T&N PLC, which was acquired recently by Federal-Mogul. ...
Why buyers outsource.
Jan 14, 1999; ... Intense competition in chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing, combined with increasing importance of speed in getting a product to market demand that purchasing keep fine-tuning supply strategies to get maximum value from the supply base. Unique procurement challenges faced in these ...
Tips from Dow on choosing a contract chemical manufacturer.
Jan 14, 1999 ... The process of selecting a custom or toll chemical manufacturer is complex, time-consuming, and fraught with risk. Purchasers must be technically competent, possess good people skills, have a good working knowledge of contract law, and understand fully the importance of confidentiality. ...
Compaq will provide products and services to customers the way they want.
Jan 14, 1999; ... But we are doing more than embracing the direct model, Eckhard Pfeiffer, president and CEO, Compaq, told attendees at his keynote address during Comdex. We are extending beyond it--with a business model focused on customer choice. That means Compaq will provide products and services ...
Portable computers are now used as the primary PC by 75% of those who buy portables.
Jan 14, 1999; ... Also from Comdex: Portable computers are now used as the primary PC by 75% of those who buy portables, says Gerry Purdy, president, Mobile Insights, a market research firm in Mountain View, Calif. Purdy was chairman of a panel session ...
Spending on hardware and personnel will outpace software over the next few years.
Jan 14, 1999; ... Spending on hardware and personnel will outpace software over the next few years, says Tracy Corbo, senior analyst, Cahners In-Stat Group, Newton, Mass. Software is the third-largest IT expenditure and accounts for about 20% of the total IT budget. Finance, transportation, communications, ...
Dell Computer has cut prices by up to 11% on its Optiplex desktop PC line.
Jan 14, 1999; ... Dell Computer has cut prices by up to 11% on its Optiplex desktop PC line. The reductions, the company says, are a result of component cost reductions and direct model efficiencies ...
Performance standards help to assure quality.
Jan 14, 1999 ... To raise the quality bar in office equipment, corporate buyers must set performance benchmarks for suppliers, says Jeffrey A. Smith, director of consumer services at Buyers Laboratory, Inc. (BLI), Hackensack, N.J. At BLI, Smith works with corporate buyers to develop strategies ...
Xerox will come out with 20 major business-oriented solutions in 1999.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Look for Xerox to come out with 20 major business-oriented solutions in 1999, Rick Thoman, president and CEO, told attendees at a keynote address held during Comdex ...
Staples has launched Staples.com.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Staples has launched Staples.com, an online office supplies superstore that gives business customers another way to purchase products. The site offers Online Office Manager for automating ...
Boise Cascade Office Products has added 200 new mid-size delivery trucks.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Boise Cascade Office Products has added 200 new mid-size delivery trucks to its fleet. We want our customers to feel as though the products and supplies they order from us are there so fast, it's as if they've walked down the hall and opened the cabinet, says Christopher C ....
Imaging Supplies Coalition.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Expect to hear more this year from the Imaging Supplies Coalition, the non-profit association of imaging supplies OEMs that works to combat fraud and counterfeiting in the industry. At its annual conference held recently in Lexington, Ky., outgoing president Bill Duffy outlined the ...
The Buying Process Evolves.
Jan 14, 1999; ... Informex® is the only chemical trade show planned and operated by the industry for the industry. Over and over, socma members who attend or exhibit at informex® tell us that their participation has resulted in new business for their companies and the show continues to top ...
Distributors are cautiously optimistic about 1999.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Buyers can expect more consolidation in electronics distribution in 1999. Distributors also will become more global as many of their OEM and contract-manufacturing customers insist on overseas support. Increased electronic-commerce capability is also a priority with many distributors in ...
Ford achieves 'green' rating.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Ford will meet the environmental goals of the International Standards Organization in all 140 plants worldwide by year-end, becoming the first automaker to meet ISO 14001 standards. The standards define factory performance targets in areas such as energy use, waste disposal, water ...
Recycled board mill scheduled.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Republic Paperboard Co. is building a new 100% recycled paperboard mill in Lawton, Okla., which will have an annual capacity exceeding 220,000 tons. The new mill will make gypsum paperboard that will be 20%-30% lighter than the ...
Sediment will help plug old mines.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Consolidated Technologies Inc. of Norristown, Pa., has landed a $20 million contract to simultaneously dredge harbors in New York and New Jersey and reclaim old coal mines in Pennsylvania. Starting next spring, CTI will mix dredged sediment with other recyclable material, and then ...
Transaction Prices.
Jan 14, 1999 ... <Pre> 1997 1998 1999 2000 Quarterly averages3Q4Q1Q2Q3Q4Q1Q2Q3Q4Q 1Q2Q3Q4Q FORECAST STEEL (dollars/ton) Hot-rolled sheet 338 313 320 330 302 270 281 289 292 307 316 319 319 318 Cold-rolled ...
AGENTics buying system manages supplier catalogs.
Jan 14, 1999; ... AGENTics has introduced SupplyChannel, a purchasing system that provides buyers with a virtual catalog of supplier product information gathered in real time from a number of disparate, online catalogs. By streamlining the buying process with a Web-based enterprise-wide ...
More professionals actively seek purchasing as a career.
Jan 14, 1999; ... Hiring will continue at a brisk level during the first quarter of 1999, according to hiring professionals. I expect the hiring level to stay strong. It might slow down from our heyday of the past couple of years, but it will still be steady,says Cindy Hicks, director of purchasing ...
BUYING PLANS/PRICE EXPECTATIONS.
Jan 14, 1999 ... <Pre> CATEGORY UP DOWN SAMEINDEX* BUYING: CURRENT MONTH Steel18 40 42 39.0 Nonferrous metals 16 37 47 39.5 Fabricated metals 13 31 56 41.0 Mechanical/electrical 12 36 52 38.0 Materials handling ...
Leadtimes.
Jan 14, 1999 ... <Pre> <1 1-5 6-10 11-20 21-30 30+ Avg. Mo. Yr. wk. wk. wk. wk. wk. wk. wk. ago ago STEEL HR sheet & strip 54 33 13 0 0 0 2.4 2.9 2.2 CR sheet & strip 48 34 18 0 0 0 2.9 3.0 3.4 Stainless sheet & strip 40 48 10 2 0 0 3.0 3.1 ...
Weather whacks output.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Factory output fell 0.3% in November after gaining 0.2% in October. However, much of the loss was due to warm weather as utility output fell 3.4%. Manufacturing was flat as non-durable gains offset declines in some durable-goods sectors. Among durables, November shows weakness in metals, ...
CU falls below 80%.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Manufacturing capacity use dropped 0.4 points in November to 79.8%, nearly three points below its year-earlier level. Low for the 1990-91 recession was 76.6%. Industries operating below their 1990-91 lows include: textiles, apparel, chemicals, and leather. Paper and products industry ...
Manufacturing loses jobs.
Jan 14, 1999 ... The November jobs report shows the economy added a surprising 267K new jobs, reflecting a 270K gain in service-producing jobs versus a 47K loss in factory jobs. Anecdotal evidence from Purchasing's new Grassroots Business Survey brings harbingers of future weakness in manufacturing ...
Pigment costs go way down.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Buyers of inorganic pigments may find they have a little extra negotiation leverage these days thanks to falling industry costs. According to analysis from Thinking Cap Solutions (TCS), the U.S. inorganic pigments (SIC 2816) industry saw its direct manufacturing costs fall 2.3% in the ...
What gets measured, gets done.
Jan 14, 1999; ... Total quality management may not be as sexy as it was a few years ago, but consistent quality still remains an elusive goal for many firms. A lot of purchasing groups are discovering that continuous quality improvement simply cannot be achieved without consistent and accurate quality ...
Buyers' business optimism rests on fragile foundation.
Jan 14, 1999 ... With the exception of major manufacturing commodities--such as metals and semiconductors--the general economy can only be described as buoyant, according to Purchasing Magazine's new monthly grassroots business and supply conditions survey. While 23% of buyers nationwide say ...
Alcoa predicts 2% aluminum plate shipments gain.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Domestic aluminum plate shipments will grow 2% this year to 490 million lb, forecasts John Campbell, VP/mill products for Alcoa. Annual shipments have advanced roughly 100 million lb in the past four years. Key drivers for the plate market, according to Campbell, have ...
Suppliers explore niches.
Jan 14, 1999; ... Globalization of the surfactants industry is continuing at a rapid pace, and it brings with it more than just geographical change. As producers move to fill customers' global needs, specialty surfactants are playing a key role. And suppliers are turning more toward providing complete ...
Falling prices will soon flatten.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Prices for synthetic methanol continue to soften, but will begin to flatten by the end of the second quarter, 1999. Despite the downward spiral of contract and spot prices seen in the past two years, rising natural gas and crude oil costs, healthy demand, and decreasing supplies and ...
Buyers' prices will stay low in '99.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Purchasing's index of industrial chemical prices slipped again, down 1.10 last month, after rising in November. Buyers say they are still able to find chemicals with low price tags, and some, such as chlorine, have dipped sharply over the past few months. Continued economic stagnation in ...
Prices to rise slightly in 1999, but supplies will be available.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Buyers expect prices for oleochemicals to rise slightly in 1999, but availability should remain good throughout the year. Oleochemicals are fat-based chemicals, and include such materials as fatty acids, glycerine, fatty alcohols, and fat-based surfactants. They are used in a ...
Prices are ready to rise.
Jan 14, 1999 ... PRICES: Flat, will rise Over the past two years, oversupply caused hydrogen peroxide contract and spot prices to drop. During most of 1998, supply and demand began gradually to come in line, and according to data for the month of December from Purchasing's CPI chemical ...
Buyer optimism resurges, but prices start to grow.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Buyers have a better outlook. For the first time in five months we've seen a marked improvement in buyers' expectations for the future. Nearly half of buyers surveyed say they expect business to be better in six months. That's an eleven-point boost over last month, and more than double the ...
Biggest buying problems.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Delivery problems plagued the holidays, according to buyers. Not only do many say they're facing increasing freight rates, but they add that service by rail and truck is not as good as it needs to be. Other ...
Polyvinyl chloride tags continue to slide despite recent attempts by some producers to boost selling prices 2/lb.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Polyvinyl chloride tags continue to slide despite recent attempts by some producers to boost selling prices 2/lb. PVC prices have fallen 6/lb in the past year to a recent spot level of 26. The mavens point to ...
Purchasing's Grassroots Business Survey.
Jan 14, 1999 ... <Pre> total Northeast Mid-Atlantic South Midwest West/PNW Business this month (diffusion index, % reporting same or increasing) 56.7 53.7 58.3 54.2 53.8 74.1 Business this year (diffusion index, % reporting same or increasing) 60.6 55.8 54.2 ...
Check out the results of Purchasing's.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Check out the results of Purchasing's new grassroots business survey, which makes its debut on page 22 of this issue. Monthly survey of purchasing professionals will provide national and regional reports on current and future business conditions, current inventory levels, items in short ...
Is your MRO buying strategic--or do you just wing it?
Jan 14, 1999 ... Is your MRO buying strategic--or do you just wing it? Unfortunately, many buyers do just that and are literally costing their companies millions. If you're in that category, you need our book, MRO Buying Strategies. It looks at MRO planning and buying through the eyes of some of the best ...
Expect high-tech suppliers to react to customers' desires for slower technology migration.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Expect high-tech suppliers to react to customers' desires for slower technology migration. New forecast by International Data Corp. shows that large corporate buyers want technology changes to be slower than in the past, ...
Watch for MRO buying on the Internet to explode.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Watch for MRO buying on the Internet to explode over next couple of years. Recent survey by MRO distributor giant Grainger shows that nearly all buyers currently ...
'High-tech' firms lead revolution in steel supply.
Jan 14, 1999; ... A huge industrial complex is expanding along the Cooper River in South Carolina. A few puffs of steam drift into the sky, but there's little other evidence that this is the newest, and largest, of Nucor's steel works. When all the manufacturing systems are up in coming months, the Berkeley ...
Still no end for low prices and good availability.
Jan 14, 1999 ... There has been a slight decline in the number of metals buyers seeing lower prices this month, but the figures are still impressive. Thirty-eight percent of buyers say steel mill prices are lower than last month, with 32% of aluminum buyers and 20% of copper and brass buyers saying the ...
Asian woes dampen world steel outlook*.
Jan 14, 1999 ... The Asian financial crisis cut 1998 world steel consumption by 1.2% to 690 million metric tons, says Lenhard Holschuh, secretary general of the International Iron and Steel Institute. A year ago, Holschuh had predicted 1998 demand in excess of 700 million tonnes. For 1999, he thinks ...
Quality systems integrate with other functions.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Purchasing and logistics managers who deal with carriers worry constantly about the quality of the services they are buying: Will the shipment be on time? Will everything arrive safely? What happens when things go wrong? In fact, both shippers and carriers want to keep close ...
Training methods vary widely.
Jan 14, 1999; ... Training in total-quality theory and practice is a company-wide necessity. The importance of quality products is not debatable; poor quality can lead to serious problems, including high rework and scrap costs, long leadtimes, production shutdowns, and unhappy customers. The ...
Two CMs merge.
Jan 14, 1999 ... RSP Manufacturing Corp. and Electronic Manufacturing Systems have announced that they have merged. The two companies offer a variety of manufacturing and value-added services. The ...
Memory ICs have best quality.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Drams, flash memory, and other memory chips have the highest quality, according to the results of a recent Purchasing Magazine survey of electronics buyers. Purchasers also gave high ratings to linear ICs and batteries. Asked to rate a variety of components on a 1-to-4 scale ...
Get ready for the 25-gig drive.
Jan 14, 1999 ... IBM will soon begin shipping the world's highest capacity drives. Beginning early next year, IBM will begin shipping the Deskstar 25GP 25-gigabyte (GB) drive. The 5,400 RPM 25-GB drive is designed for the consumer or 'pleasure' PC user that wants very high capacity with good ...
Electronic Buying Conditions.
Jan 14, 1999 ... From a buying perspective, 1998 ended the way it began: a buyer's market, according to Purchasing Magazine's monthly survey of electronics buying conditions for December. There were few items in short supply, prices were falling or steady, and buyers were either maintaining their inventory ...
Electronic Buying Conditions.
Jan 14, 1999 ... The miscellaneous electronic components industry (SIC 3679) contains a hodgepodge of parts, everything from microwave components to static power supplies. Overall, the industry has seen average product prices rise a meager 0.1% in the 12-month period ending Oct. '98. According to Thinking ...
Buyers are happy, will spend more with contract manufacturers.
Jan 14, 1999 ... Electronics purchasers are generally satisfied with the performance of contract manufacturers and will place more business with them in 1999, according to a new Purchasing Magazine survey. Seventy-seven percent of buyers rate the overall performance of contract manufacturers ...
The worst of the decline in stainless steel flat-rolled prices may be past.
Jan 14, 1999 ... The worst of the decline in stainless steel flat-rolled prices may be past, suggests Allegheny Teledyne CEO Richard Simmons. The metals exec is cautiously optimistic that pending duties on foreign ...