Targeted Procurement Operations Drive $3M of Cost Savings

One of the world’s largest home improvement retailers, with over 1,500 stores in North America, faced a growing challenge: achieving more with fewer resources. The client’s procurement organization needed to focus on strategic imperatives while handling increasing demands with limited capacity. The team evaluated its operations and identified non-proprietary and non-unique processes that could be outsourced. By doing so, they aimed to free up internal resources to focus on core business functions and align procurement more closely with the organization’s strategic goals. The client required an outsourcing partner with deep industry and domain expertise to ensure a smooth transition without impacting revenue or business operations.

The client engaged Metasys as the managed services provider to outsourced targeted procurement capabilities. Metasys implemented a structured approach to ensure the successful transition and optimization of the procurement process:

1. Accurate Process Documentation: Metasys captured both the "as-is" and "to-be" processes, enabling a clear understanding of existing workflows and providing a foundation to manage internal customer expectations and support cultural change.
2. Skill Set Identification: In collaboration with supervisors and key personnel, Metasys identified the specific skill sets required to execute the outsourced functions offshore.
3. Knowledge Transfer: An experienced offshore team completed a seamless knowledge transfer, ensuring operational continuity and minimal disruption during the transition.
4. Comprehensive Documentation and Training: A detailed documentation and training plan was developed and approved by the client to ensure all processes were fully understood and followed.
5. Key Metrics and SLAs: Metasys worked closely with the client to define strategic metrics and service-level agreements (SLAs) that guaranteed no impact on revenue or core business functions.

Through its partnership with Metasys, the home improvement retailer achieved substantial operational improvements and cost savings. Metasys successfully delivered $2.5M in operational cost savings and reduced total costs for outsourced processes by 45% within just three months of implementation. The partnership also enabled the client to hit a 100% compliance target through customized service-level agreements (SLAs). Additionally, response times to stores improved by 36%, resulting in $500K in productivity savings from faster resolutions. Importantly, the transition was smooth, with minimal attrition of client personnel, allowing experienced staff to be redeployed to more strategic roles. Furthermore, the cycle time for the delivery of non-merchandise items to stores was improved by 150%, and the client gained access to a scalable, skilled resource pool, enhancing the flexibility and efficiency of their operations moving forward.