The Challenge: Lack of Consistent Processes

ServiceMaster provides outsourcing services for millions of residential and commercial customers. Based in Downers Grove, Ill., ServiceMaster specializes in providing lawn care and landscape maintenance, termite and pest control, plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning services, cleaning and disaster restoration, furniture repair and home warranty products.

Service Master provides these products and services through a network of over 5,400 company-owned and franchised service centers and business units operating under leading brands, which include Terminix, TruGreen ChemLawn, TruGreen LandCare, ARS Service Express, Rescue Rooter, American Mechanical Services, American Home Shield, ServiceMaster Clean, AmeriSpec, Merry Maids and Furniture Medic.

But with over 45,000 employees and 1,000 branch locations, ServiceMaster faced the challenges common to most distributed organizations - namely, lack of consistent procurement processes and systems. Moreover, the disparate homegrown systems at its various branches and business units meant that ServiceMaster had no way to access spend data, either directly or indirectly.

That′s why ServiceMaster sought a business procurement solution strategy that would provide insight into its spending, enable it to rationalize its supply base and negotiate the best prices, limit "maverick" or off-contract spending, and give end-users an intuitive, easy-to-use interface.

"We knew there were opportunities to better leverage our buying power, but to do so we needed a service that could be quickly and effectively integrated into our complex supply chain," said Dian Trosclair, VP of Supply Chain Management at ServiceMaster.

The Solution: Ketera Procurement

After evaluating procurement strategy solutions from eScout, Ariba and CommerceOne, ServiceMaster chose to implement the Ketera Procurement solution.

Working closely with an internal team from ServiceMaster, Ketera achieved the following in only 90 days:

• Configured the Ketera Procurement application by defining users, workflows, payment
  methods and permissions.

• Enabled suppliers′ systems by identifying suppliers, determining content, and enabling
  transmission methods.

• Enabled content by cleansing data and maintaining catalogs, as well as providing custom views and pricing to each branch or business unit.

For ServiceMaster, Ketera′s user-friendliness was a key differentiator. "In our distributed business model, people are trained in different arenas, use different legacy systems, and provide different services," said Trosclair. "So the system had to be user-friendly enough for a novice user to use without a lot of training."

An overly complex procurement system would have required ServiceMaster to roll out training, such as webinars, to thousands of employees in hundreds of locations - a feat that would have been virtually impossible, added Trosclair.

Additionally, Ketera′s business procurement strategy provided an affordable, scaleable and low-maintenance solution. "As a highly cost-effective ASP solution, Ketera appealed to us. And with Ketera maintaining the system, we knew we′d keep the burden on our internal IT resources to a minimum," said Trosclair.

The Results: Streamlined Procurement and Improved Supplier Enablement

Today, approximately 600 users from the TruGreen ChemLawn division access the Ketera Procurement system, though ServiceMaster plans to add another 600 users by end of the year.

Using the Web-based Ketera procurement system, TruGreen ChemLawn employees can make all their purchases from a centralized portal - allowing them to buy anything from fertilizer to pencils quickly and easily. In addition, the centralized process helps ServiceMaster eliminate maverick spending, track transactions, and leverage the buying power of the entire organization.

In fact, for every business procurement dollar that ServiceMaster spends, Trosclair estimates a two to three percent ROI. Moreover, as a result of a rationalized supplier base, the company has seen a three percent drop in its purchasing costs.

The Ketera Procurement system has been so successful at TruGreen ChemLawn that the company plans to roll it out to its other business units - including Terminix, TruGreen LandCare and American Residential Services - as part of an enterprise-wide spend management initiative.

The Ketera Procurement system has also been a boon to ServiceMaster′s suppliers.

"Before Ketera, our suppliers had to contend with multiple systems and processes. With Ketera, we show one face to the market. Suppliers see it as advantage, because they know we can ramp them up very quickly," added Trosclair.

To date, ServiceMaster has 70 suppliers on the business procurement system, but plans to add another 30 suppliers by end of the year. Moreover, Trosclair projects that ServiceMaster will add another one hundred suppliers by end of year, 2006.

ServiceMaster can add as many suppliers as necessary, because Ketera gives the company unprecedented visibility into their business performance. ServiceMaster can easily determine if invoices are correct, or if shipments are on time, added Trosclair. "We can now `score card´ our suppliers to make sure we′re working with the best possible companies, and in turn, giving the best possible service to our internal branch customers as well as our external customers."

Using Ketera, the company also has greater flexibility than ever before. "If we change out a program, we don′t have to re-train every single branch. We can simply plug out one supplier and plug in another," said Trosclair. "Ketera means communicating change - not changing processes."

Going forward, Trosclair anticipates that the company′s biggest challenge will be to ensure the consistency of processes across the enterprise. Using Ketera, ServiceMaster can meet that challenge by leveraging one, common platform as well as a reliable technology and business partner.

"We′ve found that customer service at Ketera is excellent. Ketera always takes into consideration what′s important to us - our goals, our expectations and our timelines," she said.