Newly Published Resources at www.capsresearch.org:

Benchmarking: Supply Chain Alliance Supplier Environmental Performance Evaluation
This report was developed for the Electric Utility Industry Sustainable Supply Chain Alliance as the baseline report of their suppliers' focus on climate change and environmental sustainability. The metric report includes data provided to CAPS Research by the utility companies' suppliers who were nominated to participate in the survey. The 240 different suppliers were categorized as being manufacturers, services providers, or distributors. The metric report provides benchmarks relative to how these communities of suppliers are addressing Policy & Environmental Management; Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions; Air Emissions; Energy Consumption; Water Use; Waste & Materials Management; and Innovation. The report also summarizes a list of specific topics about collaborative efforts to reduce environmental impacts.

• Click here to access the benchmarking report.

Benchmarking: Cross-Industry Report of Standard Benchmarks
The updated CAPS Research Cross-Industry Metric report published in November 2009 provides 20 standard key performance indicators across 20 industries. This highly regarded report includes key performance indicators such as purchasing operating expense, training spend, diversity spend, and total spend as a percent of revenue. New information on supply management organization operating costs, purchase order cycle times, and employee retention were added to the 2009 report. New Industries added to this updated report include: Automotive & Transport, Consumer Product Manufacturers, Healthcare Services, Retail and Telecommunications Services.

• Click here to access the benchmarking report.

Benchmarking: SnapShots – Payment Terms
The changing economy continues to challenge organizations to better manage their supply chains and make better use of eTools to track order information or as procure-to-pay programs. SnapShots survey participants were asked about their typical (or default) payment terms, whether or not they receive discounts for early payments, and their general use of eTools for order tracking or procure-to-pay programs. About three-fourths of the survey population reported their typical payment terms were either 30 days (42%) or 45 days (32%), respectively. About 14% of the survey population reported 60-day payment terms. The remaining 12% reported payment terms ranging from 15 days (1.5%) to 90 days (4.5%). Almost 90% reported their organizations do receive discounts for paying early, and 83% reported they employ eTools for their Procure-to-Pay programs or other solutions that track order information.

• Click here to access the benchmarking report.

Benchmarking: SnapShots – Use of Social Networking
As the use of social networking tools continue to migrate into the professional work environment, we want to better understand which social networking sites are being used for different business practices. Based on the SnapShots survey results, there is a 10% difference between those who responded 'Yes' to the question about using social networking for business practices (45%) and those who responded 'No' (55%). Of those who responded 'Yes,' about two-thirds reported that 'LinkedIn' is the networking tool most frequently used. About one-third of the participants reported they use either 'Facebook' or 'Twitter.' More than half (55 %) of the participants use social networking for Human Resources communications, and 41% reported using social networking for sales/marketing.

• Click here to access the benchmarking report.

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Benchmarking Opportunities:

• SnapShot Benchmarking - Information sharing is one the most effective tools that companies can use to gain insight to topics or issues of general interest. CAPS Research SnapShot is proving to be a simple and straight-forward communications tool. Not only do you share in the results, you can develop your own questions for us to release to our benchmarking community. For more information, send an email to metrics@capsresearch.org.
  
  
• Benchmarking surveys in data collection:
  -Department of Energy/NNSA Contractors
  -Print Services Market Basket of Goods
  
  
• Benchmarking surveys in review:
  -Supply Management Talent Development and Retention
  

Do You Want To Benchmark? If the answer is 'Yes,' contact the Benchmarking team at CAPS Research to get your company added to the list of companies who will be asked to provide data for new survey releases. Just send an email to metrics@capsresearch.org asking for more information about benchmarking opportunities.

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News:

• Follow CAPS Research on Twitter!– http://twitter.com/capsresearch.

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Knowledge Central:

The following reports and information are now published on www.capsknowledge.org, a sponsor-only searchable archive of CAPS Research studies, leading-edge practices, benchmarking reports and best practices presentations:

• Benchmarking: Metals & Mining Industry Metric Report
• CPO Insights: Employing and Managing the Supplier Auditing Process
• CPO Insights: Supporting Global Contract Template Development, Maintenance and Standardization
• Event Presentations: 2009 Best Practices Workshop

Please note that only CAPS Research sponsor organizations have full access to Knowledge Central. If you haven't already done so, I encourage you to click on Knowledge Central Overview for a short, five-minute guided tour of our Sponsor website, Knowledge Central.

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For more information about CAPS Research programs and products please contact us at Research@capsresearch.org.

Sincerely,
Phillip Carter, D.B.A.
Executive Director
CAPS Research

CAPS Research is a global research organization jointly sponsored by the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, and the Institute for Supply Management™.

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