While consolidation of internal spend will mean higher volumes with a single supplier, the savings pale in comparison to the purchasing power unlocked by working with a GPO.

Group purchasing provides access to massive cost savings through volume purchasing and deep supplier discounts across several common indirect categories. Better yet, our services are offered at no cost — membership is free to join and our contracts are free to use. The tool gives you an instant estimate based on real contract terms and savings realized by actual Una members.

Like what you see? Join Una and we can quickly get you connected so you can start saving immediately. Skip to content. Save money and add value. Build a Cost-Conscious Culture. Implement Category Management. Effectively Manage Tail Spend. Manage Indirect Spend. Address Maverick Spend.

Consolidate Your Suppliers. Drive Efficiency in Procurement. Reduce Risk in Supply Management. Protect Against Price Hikes. More Focus on Sustainability. Encourage Supplier Innovation. Engage with Local Suppliers. Explore Lean Procurement Strategies. Create an SRM Program.

Join a Group Purchasing Organization. Elements of a Diversified Procurement Strategy. Change Management in Procurement. How to Get the Business Behind Procurement. Market Basket and Sample Food Cost Analysis. Shipping Cost Analysis and Shipping Calculator. Ultimate Guide to IT Procurement.

Manage Tail Spend. Download Now. Additional resources dedicated to helping you manage indirect spend:. Indirect Procurement Mistakes to Avoid. How to Overcome the Top 5 Challenges of Managing Indirect Spend. Managing Indirect Spend to Maximize Business Savings.

Consolidate Suppliers. Supplier Diversity vs Supplier Diversification. Episode Supply Chain Tech and Supplier Onboarding with Toni Ann Careccio. How to Repair Damaged Supplier Relationships. Drive Efficiency in the Procurement Process. Reduce Risk. Managing Procurement Risk with a Group Purchasing Organization.

How to Manage Risk Using a Group Purchasing Organization. How Procurement Can Risk-Proof an Organization During a Recession.

Episode Mitigating Price Increase Requests with Philip Ideson. How to Protect Against Price Hikes and Product Shortages in Procurement. Focus on Sustainability. Getting Strategic About Sustainability in Procurement.

Episode Creating a Difference in Sustainable Packaging with Cory Connors. Episode The Importance of Standardizing Carbon Reporting with Saleh ElHattab.

Supplier Portfolio. Explore Lean Procurement. This allows your business to take advantage of high volume pricing. Procurement should work closely with suppliers to identify cost-saving opportunities without compromising product quality and performance.

In this endeavor, they can explore alternative materials, components, designs or even manufacturing processes. Procurement can leverage technology to automate repetitive, time-consuming tasks and reduce the need for human intervention.

Additionally, technology can provide the much-needed visibility into procurement spend and identify new opportunities for cost savings. Purchases that do not follow defined processes and are made outside agreed contracts account for a large percentage of total purchases.

To check this spend, procurement should ensure that no purchases are made outside the contract. Spend analysis can highlight areas where uncontrolled spending occurs.

Procurement must take steps and implement control measures such as purchase requisitions to curb this spending. Given the uncertain economic environment, it is important for procurement organizations to stay prepared for supply chain disruptions and establish a contingency plan.

In this plan, they must identify secondary suppliers for all items that are critical. Building cross-functional collaboration is vital to bringing down costs. Sourcing, procurement and finance teams must work in close collaboration to judiciously utilize budgets and identify opportunities to optimize costs.

If the budget needs to be increased, there must be a clear business case and value proposition. Effective inventory management can help procurement lower costs. Instead of strictly following a just-in-time or just-in-case strategy, procurement can leverage demand planning and forecasting tools to maintain optimum inventory levels.

Enhance forecasting accuracy to avoid surplus inventory or stockouts. A longer-term strategy to cut down costs is to explore the possibility of procurement outsourcing. Outsourcing can be ideal for non-core procurement activities or indirect categories such as facilities management.

Outsourcing procurement can help achieve economies of scale and allow third-party providers to negotiate better deals and secure better pricing.

Additionally, it can free up internal resources and let them focus on core business activities. If the business has invested in procurement technology, train the staff on how to utilize the tools and analyze data to make informed purchasing decisions. By following the strategies mentioned above, procurement can explore new ways to lower costs amid a rapidly changing business landscape.

Procurement must also look at the bigger picture and look beyond hard savings. Looking at things holistically and engaging in strategic cost management are key to successfully implementing cost saving strategies. Read this GEP white paper to learn more about strategic cost management.

Tags: Procurement. Achieving Supply Chain Resilience With Total Inventory Management Solution. Sodium-ion vs. Lithium-ion Battery: Which is a Better Alternative?

By checking the box below, you consent to GEP using your personal information to send you thought leadership content — such as white papers, research reports, case studies — and other communications.

GEP representatives may contact you to provide additional information or answer questions. That being said, I know of more than one hiker who had to alter plans and had less food than they would have liked. They were fine, they just got to town very very hungry.

Each section below represents a unique way of handling your resupply. You basically just need to know where you are going to get food, and be somewhat confident that your planned stop will have something that will work.

Grocery stores, resorts, convenient stores, dollar stores…. The Long Trail is close to towns and supplying en route works well. Buying beforehand and shipping out requires a little bit of prep before hand…basically a trip to the grocery store and some sorting.

I did this for just one of my supplies. I purchased nearly everything at a dollar store for the first leg which I brought with me to the trail and then shipped a resupply box to the Inn At The Long Trail Rt4 crossing.

The Inn will allow you to ship a box there, and I had planned on staying there one night, so it made sense for my schedule…rather than taking a bus into Rutland for a grocercy store resupply. If this is your first long distance hiking trip, I do not recommend doing this strategy for the entire trail unless you have some special dietary needs, or strong dietary preferences.

It is amazing how we start to love foods that we may not have paid much attention to in the past, but then crave while on the trail….

and vice versa — some foods that you may love at home or on day hikes can become very monotonous and unappealing on the trail.

If you know that a future location will not have what you want to buy, you can purchase at a location where you can get what you want and ship ahead. Times when this may be appropriate: 1-you are on trail, and hear that a store that you counted on being open has since closed or has limited hours on the day that you expect to arrive.

Making your food at home and shipping it out allows you to really dial in your diet. If you like cooking, you really know your pallette and how long you can continally eat certain foods this can work well.

You can pore over gear lists and gain all of the outdoor skills you want, but food is deeply personal. What works for one person will not work for another.

Luckily there's a variety of different strategies that will make sure you don't go hungry. Before you start drooling over recipes and counting the calories on the back of different brands of Honey Buns, you should do some planning.

First of all, you should figure out if you have to resupply or if you can carry food for your entire trip. The widest range for which you can comfortably carry food is about two to ten days.

The amount you can load up will depend on the size of your backpack, the amount you eat, and how much weight you are alright shouldering. Personally, four to six days is the sweet spot. Less than four days and I spend too long picking up boxes or wandering around towns. More than six days, and I feel like a turtle crawling along under a giant backpack.

Once my trip is longer, I start looking for somewhere to resupply. The next big question is if you will mail resupply boxes or buy from stores and supermarkets in the towns you go through. This will depend on your individual needs and also the trail or route you're exploring. Well-traveled hikes that go through many larger towns such as the Appalachian Trail require little planning and no resupply boxes for most people.

You can simply walk into a store, decide how many days you want to spend getting to the next town, and then buy the appropriate amount of food. If you're traveling a more remote route, you're unlikely to have that option.

I am hiking the Great Divide Trail this summer. There are two spots along the trail with grocery stores. The only other resupply option is to mail food parcels to remote visitor centers. Unless I want to be very, very hungry, I have to get some boxes ready. You may also need to mail food if you have dietary restrictions.

Trail towns normally have a smaller variety of foods appropriate for special diets. If you're vegan, gluten-free, have food allergies, or any other dietary restrictions, you may struggle to find things to eat, even if there is a grocery store.

Depending on your diet, you may be able to buy appropriate food in a larger town to ship, or you may have to make and dehydrate your own meals. You are also almost certainly going to mail yourself boxes for other reasons along a trip.

More maps, ice ax, and microspikes, medication, a lighter summer sleeping bag; these are all reasons you'd ship yourself a package.

If you're already spending the money on postage, it makes sense to add as much food as you can squeeze in, especially if you use flat rate boxes. So, how do you figure out which town stops have bustling grocery stores and which have a gas station that's only stocked with overpriced canned goods?

Simply follow those who came before. If you're hiking an established route with a guidebook, using a navigation app that shows town information, or even just referring to any detailed trip reports available, you will be able to find information about resupply. If you're making up your own route, you may have to do a little more detective work.

A Google search will tell you if there's a grocery store, but you'll have to call them to find out if they have lightweight, backpacking-friendly food options.

Often, hostels, hotels, and visitor centers will hold packages sometimes for a fee if you decide to mail boxes instead. Mailing boxes might seem perfect. You can eat your favorite foods without worrying if the tiny trail town grocery store carries them.

You can save money on the food itself if you're shipping from a larger town. But resupply boxes also come with some pretty hefty disadvantages. The shipping cost can quickly eat up any savings on the food itself. You can find yourself waiting in town for days if your schedule does not line up with post office opening hours.

Most of all, you might end up looking at a box full of food you can't stand, gagging at the sight of yet more instant mashed potatoes. You can't account for changes in your tastes in a box you packed two months ago, and you will get sick of the meals you eat every day.

You also cannot mail fresh food. If you include cheese, vegetables, or even tortillas with a shorter shelf life, it will spoil before you pick up your box. Most hikers supplement their boxes with fresh food, so they have to go to a grocery store anyway. Unless you need to mail food for dietary issues, a trip to the grocery store will cancel out many of the benefits of mailing.

So, how do you know how many days of food to pack for each section? It all depends on how fast you can walk. You probably already know roughly how many miles a day you like to cover from shorter hikes, even if you haven't done a trip that requires resupply before.

Some pretty easy math will tell you that if you like to hike 20 miles a day, a hundred-mile section will take you five days.

The amount of miles you can cover varies from person to person and trail to trail. If you're a complete beginner, do a couple of practice hikes beforehand on similar terrain to figure out how many miles you like to hike. If you're packing resupply boxes for a five-month thru hike before you start, keep in mind that both the amount you eat and the distance you can cover will increase as your hike progresses.

You may start a hike only able to do 10 miles a day. After three or four months, you might be able to do 25 or 30 miles a day. Luckily, you're also hungrier, so if you underestimate how much distance you can cover, you'll still be able to eat the extra food you packed. How do you figure out how many calories a day you need to eat?

Unfortunately, there's no formula that works for everyone. To check this spend, procurement should ensure that no purchases are made outside the contract. Spend analysis can highlight areas where uncontrolled spending occurs. Procurement must take steps and implement control measures such as purchase requisitions to curb this spending.

Given the uncertain economic environment, it is important for procurement organizations to stay prepared for supply chain disruptions and establish a contingency plan. In this plan, they must identify secondary suppliers for all items that are critical.

Building cross-functional collaboration is vital to bringing down costs. Sourcing, procurement and finance teams must work in close collaboration to judiciously utilize budgets and identify opportunities to optimize costs.

If the budget needs to be increased, there must be a clear business case and value proposition. Effective inventory management can help procurement lower costs. Instead of strictly following a just-in-time or just-in-case strategy, procurement can leverage demand planning and forecasting tools to maintain optimum inventory levels.

Enhance forecasting accuracy to avoid surplus inventory or stockouts. A longer-term strategy to cut down costs is to explore the possibility of procurement outsourcing.

Outsourcing can be ideal for non-core procurement activities or indirect categories such as facilities management. Outsourcing procurement can help achieve economies of scale and allow third-party providers to negotiate better deals and secure better pricing.

Additionally, it can free up internal resources and let them focus on core business activities. If the business has invested in procurement technology, train the staff on how to utilize the tools and analyze data to make informed purchasing decisions.

By following the strategies mentioned above, procurement can explore new ways to lower costs amid a rapidly changing business landscape. Procurement must also look at the bigger picture and look beyond hard savings. Looking at things holistically and engaging in strategic cost management are key to successfully implementing cost saving strategies.

Read this GEP white paper to learn more about strategic cost management. Tags: Procurement. Achieving Supply Chain Resilience With Total Inventory Management Solution.

Sodium-ion vs. Lithium-ion Battery: Which is a Better Alternative? By checking the box below, you consent to GEP using your personal information to send you thought leadership content — such as white papers, research reports, case studies — and other communications. GEP representatives may contact you to provide additional information or answer questions.

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Terms of Use Privacy Statement. The Ultimate Guide to Cost Saving Strategies in Procurement. Containing costs has always been the top priority for procurement.

Amid the uncertain business landscape, procurement must explore new opportunities to reduce costs. It is vital for procurement to take a holistic approach and look beyond hard savings.

Review existing contracts: Procurement must revisit existing contracts with suppliers. Assess supplier performance: While reviewing existing contracts, procurement can also review suppliers that have become less competitive over time.

Engage in value engineering: Procurement should work closely with suppliers to identify cost-saving opportunities without compromising product quality and performance. Leverage technology: Procurement can leverage technology to automate repetitive, time-consuming tasks and reduce the need for human intervention.

Check maverick spend: Purchases that do not follow defined processes and are made outside agreed contracts account for a large percentage of total purchases.

Reduce risk: Given the uncertain economic environment, it is important for procurement organizations to stay prepared for supply chain disruptions and establish a contingency plan. Work closely with finance: Building cross-functional collaboration is vital to bringing down costs.

Maintain optimum inventory: Effective inventory management can help procurement lower costs. Consider outsourcing: A longer-term strategy to cut down costs is to explore the possibility of procurement outsourcing. FEATURED POST. Inventory Management Software Achieving Supply Chain Resilience With Total Inventory Management Solution.

Supply Chain Strategy Sodium-ion vs. Supply Chain Strategy 3 Best Practices to Tackle Inflation in Supply Chain Network Design. Supply Chain Strategy. Procurement Strategy.

Electrolytes Liquid IV , Nuun , or LMNT. Oatmeal normally with chia seeds, dried fruit, or something that gives it more substance. Snacks — this list could be infinite. Chomps meat sticks. Energy chews or waffles. Dehydrated backpacking meals these get expensive but if you ship your resupplies, you can buy in bulk beforehand.

I chose to do a mix of shipping and buying. I dehydrated some of my own food prior to trail and wanted to have as many healthy options as I could. There were some towns with fully stocked grocery stores or very well stocked general stores that you can do a full resupply at.

On the contrary, there were also many towns with poorly stocked and expensive stores or gas stations. I have created a complete breakdown of every single trail town along the trail. Southern California.

Northern California. Prepare your first resupply before you get to the trail. I packed enough food to get me 2. The Lake Morena Malt Shop is 0. They serve breakfast burritos, burgers, milkshakes, and basic resupply foods.

I chose to not resupply here but enjoyed an amazing breakfast on day two. This was my first real resupply. I chose to mail a package to the General Store 0. The store does carry a lot of resupply foods for purchase but is very expensive.

The address to ship a package here by USPS is:. They are very supportive of PCT hikers and have outlets to charge up your electronics. You can also buy coins to use the campground showers to quick rinse off.

Julian is 13 miles from the trail so you will have to hitchhike to get there. It is filled with restaurants, cafes, and hotels - the perfect place to take your first zero day. I resupplied in town at their small grocery store.

There were not a lot of options but enough to put together a small resupply. If you decide to mail a resupply here, the shipping address is:. Unfortunately, the Warner Springs Resource Center no longer hosts hikers.

The only place to buy food is at the gas station down the street. The mailing address for the post office is:. Please note that the post office is a mile down the road, and has limited hours on Saturday and is closed on Sunday. I chose to not resupply here and wait until Idyllwild, but I did enjoy the most delicious burger at the café.

I ended up running the last mile and made it with a few minutes to spare haha. The café also allows hikers to camp in the field behind the café. Not the most scenic but you have a bathroom you can use!

The café does accept packages if you choose to send one. The mailing address is:. Idyllwild is an incredible trail town perfect for a zero day. If you choose to mail a package here, you can send it to the post office:. San Jacinto! The town of Cabazon is 4. I chose to not even go into town BUT I did order Chipotle through Uber Eats to the I underpass.

Highly recommend this move! Big Bear Lake is an awesome mountain town filled with restaurants, hotels, outfitters, and grocery stores. I highly recommend going to Grizzly Manor Cafe for breakfast — biggest and best pancakes on the trail.

The post office does accept resupply packages:. We ended up having to take a lot of hitches around town. The town of Wrightwood is located 5. The town has a grocery store well stocked , restaurants, hotels, and a hardware store that carries outdoor gear. Your Name Mountain Hardware Hwy 2 P O Box Wrightwood, California The Acton KOA campground is located a quarter of a mile from the trail.

Also, the camping area is located directly next to both a road and train tracks so you will not get much sleep. PCT Hiker: Your Name Soledad Canyon Rd.

Acton, CA Most hikers will get food then continue on the trail. If you want to go into Los Angeles this is the best place to do so. We took a Nero nearly zero mile day and got a hotel in Santa Clarita. The strangest place on the entire trail. There are limited resupply options besides mailing a package here.

The address is:. Your Name Hikertown W. C Lancaster, CA If you choose to resupply here, you have two options: Neenach Cafe and Wee Vill Market. You can definitely put together a resupply at Neenach Cafe but it is very expensive.

They will let you camp in the yard directly next to the market if you need a place to camp for the night. Tehachapi is located 9 miles off the trail but is an easy hitch. There are trail angels who provide rides if you need it - check FarOut comments and the trail logbook close to town for phone numbers.

The town has hotels, grocery stores, restaurants, and pretty much everything else you would need. There is a post office so you can send out boxes to upcoming towns that might have limited resupply options i.

Kennedy Meadows or VVR. The post office mailing address is:. The exit point for Lake Isabella is Walker Pass. They also have a post office if you need to ship something:.

Kernville is 46 miles from the trail but has a grocery store, cafes, restaurants, breweries, and even a river to go tubing in. The official end of the desert and the start of the Sierras! Kennedy Meadows is known to be a vortex and hikers will typically stay longer than they originally planned.

However, I honestly found it to be overpriced and crowded. Grumpy Bears Retreat is where I chose to stay. They also accept packages for FREE:. Inyokern, CA Kennedy Meadows General Store is also an option to stay. If you choose to stay here, the shipping address is:.

Triple Crown Outfitters has a great selection of resupply options, as well as, bear canisters, ice axes, and microspikes for the Sierras. Kearsarge Pass is an 8 mile beautiful detour off of the PCT. If you want to quickly grab a resupply and get back on trail, you can send a box there:.

The shipping address is:. So delicious! Vermillion Valley Resort aka VVR mile The staff are welcoming, hiker boxes are stocked, and meals are amazing. The returning times from VVR are AM and PM. If you choose to hike there instead, the resort is located 8 miles off of the trail.

The resort does provide rides to and from the trailhead for a fee if you want to cut off some of that mileage. Fortunately, the right cost reduction strategies can help you regain control of operating expenses and get your organization back on track.

Cost reduction does just what it suggests. It's a way for companies to cut costs and boost their bottom line. How and where organizations implement this strategy can vary depending on their products, services, and existing budget.

Both large and small businesses stand to benefit from cost reduction strategies. These strategies allow them to counter high operating costs that don't add revenue or value to the organization.

Companies that execute their strategies well can increase profits dramatically. The right cost reduction strategies keep a company competitive within its industry. The methods streamline operational efficiency so that organizations get the most out of their employees and investments.

The proper oversight of day-to-day expenses can transform struggling new businesses into profitable ones. Cost reduction strategies can also free up opportunities for strategic resource allocation. They force companies to reassess their assets and focus on areas with a strong return on investment.

That may mean allocating more resources to office equipment, the supply chain, digital resources, or raw materials. Cost reduction is more than an antidote to unprecedented expenses. It can eliminate waste, too. Optimizing business expenses means a company invests in fewer low-value assets.

If a company needs help targeting unnecessary expenses, it can ask top-performing employees. They know what aspects of an operation stand to benefit from cost-cutting measures. Employees can be a company's most valuable asset.

Each person that a business adds to the payroll can also come with high capital costs. That's because the employee needs office space, equipment, and utilities. Remote employees don't require these overhead expenses.

While remote working can cause challenges for the human resources department, the long-term benefits may outweigh the short-term hiccups.

The proper cost reduction strategies keep everyone on the same page so that the business doesn't miss a beat. A small business may have a high operating cost because it pays too much for employees and raw materials. Often, these costs occur when a company doesn't have a long-term relationship with a vendor.

Sharpening negotiation skills and building trust with suppliers can make it easier to reduce costs in the supply chain. Remember that negotiating is a balancing act. While a business wants to reach the lowest possible price, it shouldn't do so at the expense of the quality of raw materials.

Enterprises that create mutually beneficial relationships with suppliers can secure reasonable payment terms and high-quality material in perpetuity.

It's no secret that a busy travel itinerary can drive up operations costs. Sometimes, business travel is unavoidable. However, proper cost reduction strategies can help companies make informed decisions about when to send people to in-person events and how to do so.

For instance, a business can book flights through a smaller regional airport since local flights typically cost less. Booking flights in advance can also net a significant amount of savings.

That's because airlines raise their rates as the flight date approaches, effectively penalizing last-minute bookings. Many cost reduction strategies require investing in technology. While this strategic approach may seem counterintuitive, it pays dividends in the long run. Supplier Segmentation: How to Prioritize SRM Activities.

How to Establish a Preferred Supplier Program. How to Build a Socially Conscious Supply Chain. Partner with a Group Purchasing Organization. Join for Free. Want to work with us? If you share our values and want a true partner in procurement, we want to work with you, too!

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