Pentair joined Corporate United in 2004, the same year the company acquired a manufacturer of water system and filtration equipment products that created a $2 billion Pentair water technology business with 8,000 employees worldwide. Today, Pentair is still the global leader in water products and systems. In addition, it has a Technical Products Group that markets, designs and manufactures enclosures and thermal management products. The company now employs approximately 15,000 people around the world and has revenues of $3.15 billion.
Natalie McGrady, Pentair’s Indirect Supply & Technology Manager, joined the company just after it became a Corporate United member, and she has been an integral part of the relationship ever since. Along with her traditional indirect supply role, Natalie manages technology projects for supply. Those projects include the online and full-service travel and expense programs, bank cards, supply data warehouse and e-Sourcing.
Regarding Corporate United’s category offerings, Natalie cites Intercall as Pentair’s initial leveraged agreement as a member, which has been embraced by the IT department; a success which has resulted in the addition of Intercall’s LiveMeeting application to their program. The temporary staffing agreements have been successfully implemented for Pentair as well; most locations around the U.S. use either Volt or Manpower in some capacity. As for MRO, Pentair’s maintenance group genuinely values Fastenal’s offerings, which has led to some excellent traction in the Midwest facilities. In all areas, Natalie views Corporate United as a commodity leader and says of the leveraged contracts and supplier management services, “it’s one less thing for me to worry about.”
While the Corporate United agreements remain a key component of Pentair’s indirect supply chain strategy, Ms. McGrady says that belonging to the network is the most valuable part of Corporate United membership. “Networking is key; it’s great that we’re encouraged to get together with our peers.” Natalie regularly attends and occasionally presents at the Minnesota quarterly meetings. She keeps in close contact with Dave Plantan and Gary Klco, who she says “know everyone [in the group] and have an impressive amount of industry knowledge."
In addition to the network, the group’s ability to create opportunities for aggregation continues to impress Ms. McGrady. “The ability to leverage spend where Pentair previously did not is a great thing about membership. It really shows something that Corporate United has been able to survive in an industry where people like to do things themselves. Corporate United proves their business case every time.”
Corporate United extends a big ‘thank you’ to Natalie McGrady for taking the time to share her experience with and thoughts about Pentair’s Corporate United membership. Pentair has proven itself an invaluable member, participating in one-third of the agreements that Corporate United offers and maintaining a strong presence at all of our networking events. industry knowledge.”
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Fourth Quarter, 2007
