CH2M
HILL’s association with Corporate United
began in September 2007. Following initial
exploratory discussions with Craig Lucas,
Vice President of Member Development, "I
understood the group purchasing organization
concept and its value proposition in about
one nanosecond," said Don Seward, Director,
Indirect Procurement.
Convinced that we "were on
to something," the office products category
assessment commenced immediately. "At the
same time, we were also acquiring two energy
sector companies with U.S. and Canadian
operations. Corporate United’s thoughtful
approach to category assessment really
helped Indirect Procurement get its arms
around our new colleagues’ spend and supply
chain."
With a compelling category
analysis in hand, "my team set off to
consolidate the office products supply
chains of the legacy and acquired companies
with Corporate United’s OfficeMax/Grand &
Toy offering. We also started the assessment
of other category offerings." Utilizing some
of the project management tools applied to
its client projects, CH2M HILL implemented a
Microsoft SharePoint site accessible by the
CH2M HILL and Corporate United
implementation team to enhance collaboration
and data management during concurrent
category implementations.
"Although OfficeMax/Grand &
Toy was our legacy supplier, the
extraordinary support provided by OfficeMax
during our integration of the acquired
companies led to still further opportunities
for the supplier," said Mr. Seward. "On a
roll, we continued working with the
Corporate United/OfficeMax team to extend
the account to CH2M HILL’s operations in
Puerto Rico, Mexico, Panama and Australia."
"We also expanded the
categories purchased through OfficeMax to
include IT peripheral products," explained
Mr. Seward. "They helped us meet an
environmental goal to reduce carbon
emissions through optimizing ordering
quantities and decreasing the frequency of
deliveries to our offices, among other
things."
CH2M HILL is the first
member to implement Corporate United’s
newest international office products
offering provided through Lyreco, a
privately held multi-national corporation
headquartered in France. "We have completed
our rollout of the Lyreco solution in our
European offices on schedule and, as I
understand, to the delight of our internal
customers. Now the late-night conference
calls are beginning for some of my staff as
they work on the next phase with our
personnel in China, Singapore, and other
Asia-Pacific locations."
Another Corporate United
supplier, Choctaw-Kaul Distribution Company,
helped the organization streamline its field
equipment and health and safety programs, as
well as supported some high-profile client
projects. Recently, Choctaw-Kaul supplied
custom-manufactured cold weather protective
clothing for CH2M HILL personnel working on
the North Slope and Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.
"This is a location where temperatures sink
to minus 30º F and colder during the winter.
In addition to accommodating modifications
to garments requested by our field services
staff, the landed price of these items was
significantly reduced as compared to the
prior suppliers."
Additionally, CH2M HILL
recently finished a global rollout of
InterCall’s audio conferencing services. "I
am incredibly impressed with the simplicity
and effectiveness of the InterCall
solution," said Mr. Seward, adding, "InterCall
by far is the most global, seamless supplier
that we have encountered." Also nearing
"go-live" are the Weichert Relocation
Resources and the A.I.S. office moves
offerings.
Since joining Corporate
United, Mr. Seward has become highly
involved in member events and has joined the
Member Advisory Board. "The advisory board
is a great forum to discuss common member
needs, while providing recommendations to
affect the timing and content of Corporate
United’s sourcing roadmap and its relevancy
to members," Mr. Seward added.
According to Mr. Seward, all
of the categories in which CH2M HILL
participates have filled a niche for the
organization. As a result, CH2M HILL’s
sourcing process for indirect spend has
changed since becoming a member. "We now
have five prioritized sourcing options for
indirect; the first, our preferred method,
is to move spend to Corporate United
suppliers. We first look to Corporate United
to see if they have a category offering,"
said Mr. Seward. "And only if they do not,
or if it is not a good fit, do we move on to
secondary sourcing processes."
According to Mr. Seward, the
benefits of membership are many. Most
important are the improved category service
levels, quality, cost savings, and the
ability to access well-negotiated agreements
in a relatively quick manner. CH2M HILL also
finds value through the effectiveness of
Corporate United personnel. "We are
incredibly fortunate to have a first-rate
category manager, Sonda Sahley, assigned to
us. The amount of category monitoring,
research and preparation that she puts into
each quarterly business review is
impressive. Indirect Procurement relies on
her heavily; we view her as an extension of
our team."
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