Can Your Suppliers Scale?
As technology OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) continue to benefit from a healthy and growing economy, many are coming to the realization that some of their suppliers cannot scale to meet their projected growth. While these OEMs generally...
Selecting the Right Contract Manufacturer
Outsourcing is an important part of the modern manufacturing landscape. In fact, in many cases, your contract manufacturer (“CM”) represents your most important and complex supplier relationship. If you need to switch CMs, the cost, risk, and...
Over-Negotiating with Suppliers
Everybody likes to strike a good deal. But when can pushing too hard do more harm than good? We are often called in to help clients with important and/or complex negotiations. While we are motivated to get the client the best possible deal, we...
Managing Supplier Power
After a two year struggle to stabilize a product with their ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) supplier, our client was fed-up and decided to move the business. The product, a medical device which had been previously co-developed with the ODM, was...
Leverage: The Great Equalizer in Negotiations
The Greek inventor Archimedes is quoted as saying “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” Since negotiation is really a process of movement, a similar concept applies here. Instead of trying...
IT Newsletters
Selecting and Implementing an ERP Solution: Five Key Steps to Getting it Right
An ERP system is the heartbeat of key company processes and the pathway for the flow of information to the people who need it. It can be a daunting task for any company to rip out and replace this vital tool or to install one for the first time. ...
Software License Audits: Prevention and Response
In our dynamic world, it is common for companies to deploy new software solutions and enhance or upgrade their hosting equipment. In the rush to solve a problem or improve efficiencies in the environment, companies often expose themselves to risks...
Reducing IT Costs through Lean Licensing
You may have heard about the concept of Lean and how it is applied to manufacturing. The idea behind Lean manufacturing is to eliminate waste. This is achieved by approaches like just-in-time delivery, elimination of unnecessary buffers, and more...
Creating a Lean Data Center
The growth trajectory of the past seven years in high-tech, coupled with the ubiquity of creative cloud and COLO (co-location) solutions, has caused many companies to question and revisit their data center strategy. Such was the case with a client...
Leverage: The Great Equalizer in Negotiations
The Greek inventor Archimedes is quoted as saying “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” Since negotiation is really a process of movement, a similar concept applies here. Instead of trying...