Leo T. Brennan This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. SupplierMarket.com - Company Info - Management Team

   www.suppliermarket.com/public/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 6/29/1999   Last Visited: 8/17/2000

   "When I explain to people how much goes into protecting our mattresses, they are often shocked by both the effort and the dollar amount," said Leo T. Brennan, Simmons vice president of material management. "We take our commitment to quality very seriously and focus not only on the quality of our mattresses, but also on protecting our mattresses during shipping." Moreover, it can take months for Simmons to research and qualify suppliers, which adds to the already-huge expense involved.
   
   Simmons Saves Over $400,000 in less than 30 Minutes on SupplierMarket.com
   
   It was due to Simmons dedication to quality and history of innovation in delivering mattresses that it decided to employ SupplierMarket.coms' online service to procure the highest quality materials at the best price.

2. 2. Net Sourcing: Simmons Saves $400,000 in 30 Minutes

   www.netsourcingmag.com/article - [Cached]

   Published on: 10/26/2000   Last Visited: 6/17/2001

   Comfortable with reverse auctions : Leo T. Brennan , Simmons' vp of material management Simmons saves $400 , 000 in 3 hours Net Sourcing : Simmons Saves $400 , 000 in 30 Minutes
   
   Search archive & site :
   
   First published April 2000 , p. 7
   ...
   Comfortable with reverse auctions : Leo T. Brennan , Simmons' vp of material management
   
   The cost savings were so significant that Simmons is aggressively moving to source other materials online. More recent reverse auctions conducted for corrugated packaging have yielded reductions approaching 20 % compared to what Simmons had been paying. That's almost another hundred thousand dollars , says Leo T. Brennan , vp of material management.
   
   Just as important as the cost savings is the time savings. Basically , Supplier Market.com takes on the responsibility of finding sources for you , says Brennan. He acknowledges that he's relinquishing an important step in the sourcing process , but he feels SupplierMarket.com can bring in a greater number of suppliers than Simmons can , mainly because that's the Internet firm's full-time focus.
   
   Anatomy of a reverse auction
   
   Most people are familiar with the concept of an auction : several buyers bid on an item from one seller. In a reverse auction , several sellers bid on the business from a given buyer. Typically that business is in the form of a commitment to buy a given quantity of items over a given time period.
   
   ...
   Aliases aren't necessarily foolproof , says Brennan. If you really know your industry , you might get a pretty good idea which supplier is behind what alias , says Brennan.
   
   He also points to a unique aspect of the auction concept : The interesting thing is the last 20 minutes of the bid cycle is when the activity starts , says Brennan. If a supplier bids in the last five minutes , the auction is automatically extended another five minutes to give other suppliers a chance to respond.
   
   Two winners
   
   After the auction ends , the buyer chooses the winning supplier ( s ). The identities of buyer and supplier are revealed to each other only after the buyer picks the winner.
   ...
   The difference between the lowest bidder and our two current suppliers was less than one percent , says Brennan. He adds that choosing the new supplier would have meant a two-month qualification process , whereas the current suppliers were able to offer immediate savings , plus the comfort factor of dealing with a known supplier.
   
   Nevertheless , Simmons is grooming one of the new suppliers it discovered via the auction to be a fully qualified supplier for next year's bidding.
   
   Seller pays fee
   
   SupplierMarket.com doesn't charge the buyer anything to use the service. Instead , it charges the seller a finder's fee of 2 % to 4 % depending on the total value of the winning bid. ( The fee is 4 % up to $100 , 000 ; 3 % from $100 , 000 to $500 , 000 ; and 2 % of anything over $500 , 000. ) Brennan confirms the service didn't cost Simmons a cent.
   
   Simmons intends to bid more commodities this way ( and more often ) , not just packaging.
   
   Brennan acknowledges that for better or worse , procurement is entering a brave new world. In the past , if you were to take someone's bid and show it to another supplier [ to get a better price ] and then showed both [ bids ] to a third supplier , suppliers might frown on such behavior.
   
   Somehow you do the same thing on the Internet and it's considered okay..

3. 3. www.packworld.com

   www.packworld.com/printer_frie - [Cached]

   Last Visited: 1/30/2001

   "That's almost another hundred thousand dollars," says Leo T. Brennan, vp of material management.
   
   Just as important as the cost savings is the time savings. "Basically, Supplier Market.com takes on the responsibility of finding sources for you," says Brennan. He acknowledges that he's relinquishing an important step in the sourcing process, but he feels SupplierMarket.com can bring in a greater number of suppliers than Simmons can, mainly because that's the Internet firm's full-time focus.
   
   Anatomy of a reverse auction
   
   Most people are familiar with the concept of an auction: several buyers bid on an item from one seller. In a reverse auction, several sellers bid on the business from a given buyer. Typically that "business" is in the form of a commitment to buy a given quantity of items over a given time period.
   
   ...
   Aliases aren't necessarily foolproof, says Brennan. "If you really know your industry, you might get a pretty good idea which supplier is behind what alias," says Brennan.
   
   He also points to a unique aspect of the auction concept: "The interesting thing is the last 20 minutes of the bid cycle is when the activity starts," says Brennan. If a supplier bids in the last five minutes, the auction is automatically extended another five minutes to give other suppliers a chance to respond.
   
   Two winners
   
   After the auction ends, the buyer chooses the winning supplier(s). The identities of buyer and supplier are revealed to each other only after the buyer picks the winner.
   ...
   "The difference between the lowest bidder and our two current suppliers was less than one percent," says Brennan. He adds that choosing the new supplier would have meant a two-month qualification process, whereas the current suppliers were able to offer immediate savings, plus the comfort factor of dealing with a known supplier.
   
   Nevertheless, Simmons is grooming one of the new suppliers it discovered via the auction to be a fully qualified supplier for next year's bidding.
   
   Seller pays fee
   
   SupplierMarket.com doesn't charge the buyer anything to use the service. Instead, it charges the seller a "finder's fee" of 2% to 4% depending on the total value of the winning bid. (The fee is 4% up to $100,000; 3% from $100,000 to $500,000; and 2% of anything over $500,000.) Brennan confirms the service didn't cost Simmons a cent.
   
   Simmons intends to bid more commodities this way (and more often), not just packaging.
   
   Brennan acknowledges that for better or worse, procurement is entering a brave new world. "In the past, if you were to take someone's bid and show it to another supplier [to get a better price] and then showed both [bids] to a third supplier," suppliers might frown on such behavior.
   
   "Somehow you do the same thing on the Internet and it's considered okay."