RS PurchasingManager™ saving time and money for a telecoms service provider
RS helped a leading national telecoms provider achieve £94,500 in cost savings
End inefficient, costly procurement processes
Procurement teams and engineers face a number of challenges when it comes to the maintenance, repair and operation of their organisation’s assets and facilities. The supply chain for indirect materials is complex due to the number of stakeholders involved, a fragmented supply base and the sheer number of products split across multiple categories.
As one of the largest suppliers of industrial supplies, RS is in a unique position to help businesses improve their processes and make efficiencies.
An example of how RS has been able to help is our work with a leading telecoms service provider that has thousands of sites across the UK. RS had already worked with this company for a number of years, fulfilling around 2,200 orders per annum
The customer realised that it had a poor procure to pay process, with lots of duplication and double handling of parts in some cases. Engineers would identify a requirement then email or phone a central team about it.
The central team would check pricing, stock and place an order. Sometimes the order was delivered directly to the relevant site, but often they arrived at a central stores.
This situation meant a huge supply base with no supplier leverage and no standardised support. The absence of standardised suppliers also resulted in time delays and lack of productivity.
The customer was therefore looking to simplify its indirect procurement processes, remove duplication and create efficiencies.
Having gained an understanding of the company’s processes by working across a group of stakeholders, RS advised that one of their procurement solutions would help reduce duplication whilst empowering teams to do their own ordering.
RS PurchasingManager™ is a web-based order management tool used alongside the RS website. Buyers can create account structures across their organisation as well as assign spend controls, cost centres and approval limits to manage all online orders. The system allows the end user, usually an engineer, to go onto the RS website and choose the product they need, order the product and see when the delivery will be made. After an order is made, a confirmation request goes to a senior colleague, who can quickly approve the cost and the order is processed.
In the case of this customer, the approval functions in RS PurchasingManager™ allow them to monitor spending while striking a balance between time spent on approving orders and the ultimate cost – 80% of their orders cost less than £250 but 50% of their total spending went on orders over £250.
RS was able to advise this organisation on how to deliver savings effectively within the MRO category and the introduction of RS PurchasingManager™ has resulted in a range of benefits.
The most obvious benefit is financial. Both the cost per order and time spent on orders has been greatly reduced. Previously these came to £65 and 78 minutes per order, although for orders placed with suppliers other than RS, the former would be nearer to £80. Now these figures are £22 and 26 minutes.
This means greater visibility of costs for the customer while also freeing up time for procurement professionals and engineers. These savings translate into a 66% reduction in costs for more than 2,200 orders placed with RS each year. This amounts to around £94,500 in cost savings in transactions with RS alone – a substantial figure for any firm.
70% of professionals state one of the biggest benefits of adopting a digital processes is better spend visibility*
*2022 Indirect Procurement Report: RS & the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply
Leave the leg work to us
Consolidating more of your purchasing with RS reduces purchase orders and helps you leverage your spend. Speak to your account manager to see if this service is right for your business or contact us directly below.