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<title><![CDATA[Justin Fogarty]]></title>
<link>/profile/justin-fogarty/jfogarty134/rss20/</link>
<description><![CDATA[I am managing editor of Ariba's Supply Excellence blog, which draws on our category & commodity managers to cover news, trends, best practices and other factors that impact supply chain, sourcing, procurement and finance decisions.
I also handle how we utilize social networking (such as LinkedIn Groups) and YouTube. Basically, if it's "web 2.0"...it finds it's way to my desk(top).]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Commodity Prices: Where are they headed? And how should you cope?]]></title>
<link>http://www.supplyexcellence.com/blog/2009/09/23/commodity-prices-trends-2009-2010/</link>
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<pubDate>Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:17:33 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Although the jury is still out as to whether or not the recession has ended, recent raw material price increases seem to indicate that commodity markets have indeed hit bottom and started heading back up. Naturally, that’s leading to category/commodity managers asking (or being asked) a few questions, including…
“Are we too late to take advantage of the buyer’s market?” And, “What strategy should we use right now to contain commodity price inflation?”
The important thing to remember about pricing is that it is always relative. Prices are still down overall when compared to 2008, and commodity markets still have a ways to go before they can recoup their losses from earlier this year. So, if you didn’t lock in direct material contracts already, there’s still hope. Sure you may have missed the bottom, but current prices are certainly better than what you’ll likely get 6-12 months down the road.
We are forecasting that most raw material markets will]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[August ISM Manufacturing Index: Improvement or false start?]]></title>
<link>http://www.supplyexcellence.com/blog/2009/09/01/august-ism-manufacturing-index-pmi/</link>
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<pubDate>Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:35:55 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Today, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) announced an August PMI of 52.9, a full 4 points higher than July and the highest we’ve seen since June 2007. Although many news sources and even President Obama himself were quick to declare the improved number as a sort of economic victory, ISM chairman Norbert J. Ore urged caution and realism...
...Overall, seeing the PMI over 50 doesn’t surprise me - we had been forecasting a move towards growth late in the 3rd quarter for more than 6 months. From a buyer’s perspective, there are two things to watch for in the next few months:]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[“Commodities” Blamed for Beer Price Hike]]></title>
<link>http://www.supplyexcellence.com/blog/2009/08/27/commodities-blamed-for-beer-price-hike/</link>
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<pubDate>Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:31:12 EDT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[Yesterday, it was reported that MillerCoors and Anhauser-Busch are raising their beer prices due to rising “commodity” costs. The brewing giants control 80% of the US market share...]]></description>
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