Metasys Procurement Solutions Drive $15M of Cost Savings for Global Airline

A Fortune 500 US airline undertook an initiative to reinvent its inflight sourcing experience and extract greater value from its existing onboard assets. The airline aimed to streamline the sourcing of food items and customer-facing materials such as headsets, bedding, plastic cups, entrees, and service ware. The goal was to drive savings, implement an efficient and sustainable sourcing process, and integrate a procure-to-pay (P2P) solution to track savings and sourcing activity while building a contractor repository. Faced with increasing market competition and cost pressures, the airline sought a partner capable of meeting these savings goals while maintaining high-quality standards.

The airline engaged Metasys due to our expertise in procurement solutions and ability to deliver sustainable savings. Metasys implemented a comprehensive three-step process to help the airline achieve its objectives:

1. Spend Data Cube: Metasys applied a clean-sheet methodology to collect and analyze spend and specification data from all relevant inflight departments. We built a spend data cube to identify savings opportunities across both supplier and category levels.
2. Tollgate Process: Metasys established a governance framework to maximize the realization of identified savings:some text
   • Tollgate 1: Developed a sourcing strategy with key stakeholders.
   • Tollgate 2: Secured sign-offs on each strategy from the Business Owner, Director of Onboard Services, and Managing Director of Supply Chain.
   • Tollgate 3: Ensured agility by creating collaborative checkpoints for business owners to rapidly iterate with the execution team.
3. End-to-End Sourcing: Metasys implemented a proprietary sourcing approach designed to achieve a best-in-class benchmark of 5-10% savings by systematically reducing spend across suppliers and categories.

Metasys’ comprehensive approach identified over 30 actionable sourcing projects across a cumulative spend of $100M, with realized savings of over $15M. Beyond immediate cost savings, Metasys delivered additional strategic value by:

• Developing value-based relationships with key suppliers, generating gains in price, quality, and service.
• Institutionalizing a supplier relationship and management process.
• Increasing employee satisfaction within the airline's procurement team.
• Providing frameworks and methodologies to strengthen internal sourcing capabilities.

Through this collaboration, the airline has solidified its position as a leader in procurement innovation, achieving measurable and lasting value from its partnership with Metasys.