Buyer Analytics

Toyota appeared to begin a new chapter on Thursday when it said it had established an "Emergency Profit Improvement Committee", to be chaired by Katsuaki Watanabe, its president. Margin management is the next frontier for procurement professionals to add value.

Vendor Management: If you want your suppliers to produce more innovation, create an environment where that can happen: Provide certainty of tenure, share the benefits, award additional categories or commodities to your most innovative suppliers, and spend enough time with them to allow you to understand their business and your suppliers to understand yours.

Tight credit markets are causing some companies to look more closely at how the use of purchasing cards (p-cards) can enforce spending limits. Great way to improve cash flow and track spend compliance.

Four automotive glass companies have been fined by the European Commission for allegedly conspiring to fix prices for their products sold to the automotive industry. Will they ever learn?

Supply chain risk has rarely been higher on the agenda and, as the crunch continues to bite, concern appears to be spreading. Check you supplier’s date when key financing comes due.

The efforts of the Chinese government could push China's demand for commodities up in 2009 more than expected, says an economist at mining giant Rio Tinto. Long term commodity pressure may come back.