by Mary Ruth Williamson, CEO | Mar 5, 2026 | RFQ/E-Sourcing
Most manufacturers have run RFQs. Far fewer feel like they got what they were promised: real savings, clearer decisions, better suppliers, and fewer headaches. That’s not because competitive sourcing is broken. It’s because RFQs are often treated as a transactional...
by Mary Ruth Williamson, CEO | Feb 25, 2026 | Manufacturing Procurement
Multi-plant sourcing is where procurement stops being a “function” and starts being an operating model. As manufacturers expand across geographies—organically or through acquisition—what worked at a single plant often becomes structurally inefficient at scale....
by Mary Ruth Williamson, CEO | Feb 18, 2026 | Manufacturing Procurement
Most sourcing advice assumes scale. It assumes predictable demand, consolidated volumes, stable specifications, and repeatable purchasing patterns. That logic works in high-volume environments. It breaks down fast in high-mix, low-volume (HMLV) manufacturing—job...
by Mary Ruth Williamson, CEO | Feb 12, 2026 | Manufacturing Procurement
Manufacturing procurement hasn’t returned to “normal.” The acute shocks of the early 2020s may have cooled, but the pressure on procurement hasn’t. In 2026 and beyond, procurement leaders are operating in a permanently higher-stakes environment: supply instability...
by Mary Ruth Williamson, CEO | Feb 4, 2026 | Direct Materials Sourcing
When manufacturers talk about cost reduction, the conversation usually defaults to negotiation. Sometimes that works. More often, it turns into an annual ritual: squeeze the supplier, celebrate the spreadsheet, then watch costs creep back in through surcharges,...
