Purchasing - April 22, 1999
Features
Xerox leads non-production buying down new path
Before the use of a new ERP system and network-enabled communication, pink slips of paper were flying all over the place whenever someone wanted to order a non-production item at Xerox Corporation.
- BUYLINES
- WHO'S NEWS
- Y2K problems in chemicals more likely in smaller firms
- Attention purchasing Web designers!
- DoD suspends advantagefor minority prime bids
- WHO'S NEWS
- BENCHMARKING
- What's Nelson up to now?
- MURRAY'S LAW
- The brave new world of electronic commerce
- PURCHASING SURVEY
- Middle managers see looser job market in '99
- REGULATION WATCH
- Ergonomics, S&H rules on OSHA's front burner
- WASHINGTON PERSPECTIVE
- Gov't uses industry methods to change weapons buy
- WELCOME BOOKLET CONTEST
- Purchasing kicks off tenth Welcome Booklet contest!
- CAREER DEVELOPMENT
- COVER STORY
- INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & SUPPLY MANAGEMENT
- How tools unlock supply value
- Information Technology & Supply Management
- IBM uses the Web to transform production purchasing
- Computers, Peripherals, & Software
- Purchasing can customizesoftware to requirements
- BRIEFS
- Compaq enters palm-size personal computer market
- LEADING THE BUY TEAM
- Team approach to buying improves process efficiency
- PURCHASING NOTES
- Mita has formed a new marketing organization, the Printing & Reprographics Products Division, which will be responsible for sales and distribution via the computer reseller channel
- Hewlett-Packard has expanded its printer product line-up in the HP Shopping Village, the company's online store to include the HP 2000C and HP 2500C professional series color printers for business users
- The 17th annual pc expo
- Ford Motor Company has selected Dell Computer to provide its operations internationally
- Dell Computer has slashed prices of its workstations up to 9.5%
- Elcom International has launched a Web site through which corporate buyers may purchase PCs
- SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
- IBM to distributors: Realvalue add is information
- Electronics Purchasing
- Most OEMs build to order
- ELECTRONICS PRICES
- Cap tags drop
- Little growth for SRAMs
- Connectors: Prices will continue to drop
- Database market grew 15%
- Contract manufacturing
- SCI: A builder behind build-to-order
- Distribution Watch
- Internet to play bigger role in distribution
- ELECTRONIC BUYING CONDITIONS
- Prices stay stable as orders will increase
- ELECTRONICS BRIEFS
- Intel unveils 500-MHz Pentium III
- News
- Networking stays hot
- INSIDE PURCHASING
- INTERNET REPORT
- E-COMMERCE
- Buyers prepare for brave new world of e-commerce
- E-Commerce
- Use of online tools helps to leverage buying power
- THE Web site for purchasing professionals
- Buyers try out e-commerce with catalog distributors
- Online ordering lets buyers focus on strategy
- INTERNET PROFILE
- Independent distributors' Web business grows
- Purchasing Online: National Award Finalist
- Internet data file
- INTERNET PROFILE
- A tale of two commodities: Metals, chemicals buyers eye e-commerce
- Transportation and the Net: What's hot, what's not
- Ten tips for Web site success
- MRO/DISTRIBUTION
- News
- Affiliated Distributors has added several new suppliers to its industrial PVF division:
- MasterCard forms partnership to develop online buy system
- Cameron & Barkley expands through two acquisitions
- wesco International has acquired Industrial Electric Supply Company
- Industrial Distribution Partners is purchasing two industrial supply distributors:
- In other Motion news: The distributor has received the World Class Sales Excellence Award from the H.R. Chally Group.
- Motion Industries is expanding its operation in Canada with the acquisition of Lou's Bearings & Transmission Ltd.
- Wholesaler-distributors are upbeat, reports a new confidence index survey by Arthur Andersen
- ON THE INTERNET
- Office Products & Business Systems
- The Buy Recycled Business Alliance encourages environmental awareness among purchasers
- BRIEFS
- Pitney Bowes adds system for mid-volume mailers
- ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY OFFICE PRODUCTS
- Buyer demand for recycled office products picks up
- OFFICE FURNITURE
- Technology transforms new designs
- PURCHASING NOTES
- Ricoh has launched an interactive media forum on the Internet
- Boeing has selected Boise Cascade Office Products to provide its operations in the BT Office Products has acquired Joseph Rothbard & Co., an office products and furniture company
- Boeing has selected Boise Cascade Office Products to provide its operations in the To provide authorized dealers and direct sales offices with improved training opportunities
- Boeing has selected Boise Cascade Office Products to provide its operations in the 1999 National Ergonomics Conference & Expo takes place Dec. 7-9 at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel
- "There are a number of reasons for the independent dealer's resurgence," says David Guernsey, president & CEO, Guernsey Office Products
- Xerox fires up its rivalry with Hewlett-Packard by introducing five new inkjet and laser multifunction products
- Boeing has selected Boise Cascade Office Products to provide its operations in the Pacific Northwest; Southern California; Wichita, Kan.; and St. Louis, Mo., with paper, office products, and computer supplies
- PRODUCT UPDATE
- ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
- Prices to remain stable, supply to remain good
- PROFESSIONAL PROFILE
- PURCHASING HOTLINE
- PC buyers: Look for bargains in fourth quarter
- Watch for shipments of new 256-megabit sdrams
- Keep an eye on workstation prices
- Look for Pacific carriers to ease back rate increases of last year
- Plan on prices for most commodity chemicals to stay low until at least third quarter
- Count on the U.S. dollar strengthening this year against euro and Japanese yen
- Exporters should keep close eye on proposed United Nations agreement on hazardous-waste cleanup bills.
- Get up to speed on the Internet
- Get some help in today's talent-tight job market
- Visit Purchasing's Web site at www.purchasing.com for up-to-the-minute buying data
- Electronics buyers: Keep an eye on supplies of Pentium II processors
- Want to reduce worker-compensation costs?
- Vote for your favorite Web site!
- Count on buyer's market for connectors to continue through rest of year
- Plan on osha rules on job safety checks to be proposed this summer
- Keep an eye on stricter Internet regulation being looked at by several states
- Don't want to pay for Y2K compliance? Keep an eye on insurance claim by Port of Seattle
- Are you buying more from distributors than you were five years ago?
- Expect buying of handheld computer products to accelerate
- ECONOMY
- Visit Purchasing Online (www. purchasing.com) to enter Purchasing's 1999 Crystal Ball
- There's no global surplus of manufacturing capacity
- Economists cease to fear global meltdown
- Uncle's final revision places the fourth-quarter 1998 GDP annual growth rate at 6%
- Most economists are expecting a small inventory build leading to the Y2K computer rollover
- Early-year declines in durable goods orders
- The Fed's not particularly worried about economic problems associated with the Y2K computer bug
- Markets
- Industrial distributor wesco International of Pittsburgh has launched the Bruckner International Group
- Heavy-truck industry will sell 270,000 vehicles in North America this year
- RMI Titanium of Niles, Ohio, will form a new business group to market non-aerospace-grade unalloyed titanium
- Number of mobile telephone users in the U.S. rose 25% last year to 69.2 million people
- Rail disruptions are inevitable following the June 1 split of Conrail
- Proposed takeover of Atlantic Richfield by BP Amoco would create the world's second-largest oil producer
- Despite predictions to the contrary, U.S. paper use continues to swell
- After a slow fourth quarter, buying activity perked up in January and February for printed wiring boards
- Weyerhaeuser execs are considering the sale of composite product plants
- Worldwide semiconductor sales in 1998 suffered their biggest loss since 1985
- Champion International is selling uncoated freesheet and paperboard operations
- Century Aluminum is "in the final stages" of a $28 million expansion that will double annual output
- A 2% drop in steel demand this year has been projected for the 29 countries
- New research predicts a swell in the number of hand-held PC companions
- Cognis will be the new name (starting in May) for a free-standing firm being created
- Demand from personal-computer distributors weakened last quarter
- Polypropylene (PP) industry is "shooting itself in the foot by adding too much capacity at the same time,"
- BHP Copper will shut its San Manuel smelter in Arizona for May and most of June
- New flash-memory chips for battery-powered devices such as cell phones and pagers
- United Copper Industries has opened a new copper rod mill and wire and cable plant
- Prices
- The airline industry has raised business fares by 1% and leisure fares by 3%
- Buyers of aluminum-coated steel used in heat-resistant applications are forecasting a slight rise
- Aluminum mills are seeking a 6¢/lb list price increase on soft-alloy extrusionsCrystal Ball
- Recent rise in prices at U.S. gas pumps (to better than $1/gal) is not the start of a sustained rise
- Specialty steelmakers are attempting to raise selling prices on stainless steel bar and wire rod by 3%-6%
- Expect "no significant rise" in polyethylene (PE) prices until 2001
- Linerboard and corrugating medium prices have risen substantially
- World steel prices may begin to recover later this year
- The airline industry has raised business fares by 1% and leisure fares by 3%
- Silicon metal is selling this quarter at an average 62¢/lb
- Primary aluminum ingot will average $1,150 per metric ton in 1999
- Spot tags for uncoated groundwood offset grades have slipped to $590/ton this month
- Zinc is selling at 48¢/lb in the U.S. market and should hold at that level
- PURCHASING SOFTWARE NEWS
- Purchasing Hotline
- SUPPLY INSIGHTS
- LEADTIMES
- BUYING PLANS/PRICE EXPECTATIONS
- FORECASTS
- Finished goods PPI flattens
- CPI defies inflation hawks
- Deflation hits intermediates
- STRATEGIC COST INSIGHTS
- Aluminum extrudes profits
- TRANSPORTATION
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