+ Procurement Consulting

Procurement Consulting

Our procurement services are project-based as well as hourly, so you can supplement your internal resources when and where you needed. With our Contingency-Based Sourcing Solutions, you can achieve savings targets without the upfront investment of traditional consultants.  Some of the services we offer include:

• Purchase Auditing
• Best Practices Guidelines
• Process of Green Procurement Standards
• Procurement Strategy
• Spend Analysis
• Strategic Sourcing
• Supply Chain Optimization

+ Cost-Savings Analysis

Cost Savings Analysis

Our team can successfully identify aggregated spends by supplier and category in addition to reviewing current contract costs, terms, and conditions, as well as product specifications including quality, availability and service requirements.  We can also create a matrix of all fixed and variable cost drivers for total cost of ownership and recommended strategies for cost reduction and operational changes aimed at improving short-term and long-term profitability.

+ Sourcing

Sourcing

We are experts at finding what you need.  Whether it’s a sustainable material from a Free Trade region or a low-cost material for a large-product rollout, we can source it.  Since most of our clients buy in large volume, we are able to pass along savings to you.  Recent client projects include:

• Sustainable Tagua Nut angels supported a village in Educador for Campbell Mithin Advertising Agency gifts
• Over 30,000 shirts for the University of Minnesota Athletic Department at a cost savings of 30% to other competitive bids
• 100% lead-free and toxin-free bobbleheads for Minnesota Public Radio
• Color-changing mugs for the U.S. Marines

In addition to custom manufacturing projects, we can also source products from brands around the world. Some examples of branded lines include:

• Athletic: HEAD, Solomon, Kettler, Adidas, Burton, Spaulding, The North Face
• Children:  Lakeshore Learning, Mattel, Melissa & Doug, Scholastic, Duplo
• Electronics: Sony, V-Tech, LG, Apple, Samsung, Coby
• Publishers: Harper Collins, Houghton Mifflin, Simon & Schuster, Penguin
• Gifts and Promotional Items: Godiva, Stonewall Kitchen, American Apparel, Pendleton

+ Fulfillment and Distribution

Fulfillment and Distribution

Our fulfillment team creates a centralized system for organizing and controlling your inventory costs. Our Zenventory™ software system empowers our clients to survey current inventory, manage forecasts, and track individual shipments.  Our team is experienced in multiple destination rollouts and global delivery.  Many of our clients require inventory personalization, so we are capable of creating corporate logos, letterhead, and gift wrapping based on client needs.  Our distribution center is also capable of handling long-term storage needs in a climate-controlled environment.  We have the lowest guaranteed shipping and freight prices in the industry, further reducing client costs.

Our pick, pack and ship services are managed by a fully automated and integrated order processing and inventory control system. We process client orders upon receipt, and 75% of all orders ship within 24 hours. From our St. Louis Park, Minnesota distribution center, we can ship to 80% of the U.S. population within one business day. Our dedicated material handlers are responsible for picking, inspecting, packaging and shipping more than 100,000 orders per year. We also provide such value-added services as kitting, giftwrapping, hang tagging, labeling and hand writing cards.

Every aspect of our process incorporates creativity and innovation as we source new products, create custom merchandise, and develop entirely new products.