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Customer Story: National Restaurant Chain

Small program changes significantly reduced time spent managing orders and approving invoices

National Footprint. Multiple Locations. High employee turnover.
How we saved our customer valuable time and money.

Challenge

A national chain with fast-growth expansion plans contacted us requesting pricing for 4,000 employee uniforms. As part of the discovery phase of the project, we learned they experienced nearly 50% turnover in employee population each year. They admitted they were concerned about the amount of time that location managers and corporate purchasing staff were spending on managing the uniform procurement process. The client expected this time burden would only increase, based on the organizational growth planned for the next several years.

Solution

We provided them with the competitive pricing they asked for, but we went a step further and proposed a more efficient new hire uniform program process – designed to cut their administrative burden and time substantially.

Making Uniform Size Part of the New Hire Process

We suggested sizing each new employee as part of the onboarding process using “size sets”. Each location had samples of the sizes offered, and this way, each approved applicant could immediately try on a uniform to determine his/her size, at the same time they complete their new hire paperwork. The size information was entered into the client’s human resources system as part of routine employee set up.

Automating Order Placement and Shipping

Each night, our system receives data feeds of new hires sizes by location and automatically generates an order for the required number of uniforms based on the employee FTE status. Orders are aggregated and shipped 2nd Day Express to each location, based on their pre-determined schedule for receiving days. This ensures that we only deliver when it is most convenient for that location.

Online Invoice Approvals

  • Monthly invoices are posted to a custom web portal.
  • Approving managers at each location are emailed with a reminder to view and approve online.
  • Corporate accounts payable managers are able to log in and see which invoices are approved and which are pending. Users can drill down into deeper detail, whenever needed, and see who has purchased what and when.
  • When all invoices are approved, the corporate manager submits the master invoice for payment.

Results

Now in its third year, the program has exceeded expectations on all fronts. The staff looks professional and employees enjoy the comfort of the new uniforms. Location managers spend less than 15 minutes a month administering the program. This frees up their time to focus on mission-critical business projects and initiatives. They also find the online ordering and invoice approval tools easy and intuitive.