Free Subscription to CFO Magazine

Procurement

You are here: Home : Topics A-Z : Procurement

Higher & Higher

Amid volatile costs for raw materials, CFOs grow bolder about increasing product prices.

November 3, 2008

In recent years, product pricing warranted daily discussions between CFO Alan Hippe and his colleagues at Continental, a €16.6 billion German tyre maker. Today, those conversations are just as likely to be taking place by the hour. Amid rising raw material costs, "pricing is key," Hippe says. "It's a discussion at every board meeting, at every level." Although cutting process costs has offered some respite, the company now has little choice but to share the burden with customers. While in the past it never raised prices more than once a year for any product, that has changed. Its replacement tyre business, for example, has raised prices three times in the US and twice in Europe this year, with further increases likely in 2009. Read more...

Follow this topic

More Procurement Articles

  • Expense Management: Better Ways to Buy

    Sometimes costs don't need to be cut so much as captured, quantified, and reconsidered. September 1, 2008

  • Who's Where, When (and How Much)?

    Often overlooked, cost savings on meetings can be found more easily with a new generation of online meetings management programs. A recent convert: Xerox. March 1, 2008

  • The Key to Meeting-Cost Savings

    Xerox is among the growing number of companies turning to online meeting management services to aggregate spending and identify savings opportunities. January 16, 2008

  • How Low Can They Go?

    A new mathematical model aims to infer the best price a supplier can offer while still making a profit. November 1, 2007

  • The High Cost of Clean Data

    Chief information officers see funding limits as one of the biggest barriers to pursuing ambitious IT projects, according to a recent Accenture study. September 20, 2007

  • Fill 'Er Up

    ''Unfunded'' p-cards streamline vendor payments and disperse the ability to pay bills across the enterprise while providing centralized control over accounts payable. April 17, 2007

  • Travel Expenses, Down to Earth

    Some thoughts on keeping your global spend from flying off in all directions. January 29, 2007

  • Study: Supplier Diversity Doesn't Cost More

    Companies can invest in minority-owned suppliers without penalty. August 24, 2006

  • Thinking Inside the Sarbox

    A new template helps corporate customers hone in on their business needs before commencing a round of RFPs from vendors. April 1, 2006

Print Edition

A Defining Moment

Stung by charges that customers never saw risks coming, vendors of governance, risk, and compliance software are rebuilding their image.

VISIT OUR SPONSOR

Full-service strategic procurement solution. eDynaQuote is a strategic sourcing services company that assists corporations with their procurement needs. Our proprietary on-demand e-sourcing software and procurement expertise will give you a high and fast ROI. Example Results...

Business Solutions Center

» More Business Solutions Center Links

advertisement

advertisement