Uniforms and Mats – Cintas
Buyer Details
Member Industry: Diversified Manufacturing
Revenue: $13 billion
Employees: 60,000
Existing Condition
After experiencing several years of savings on Corporate United’s office products contract, a diversified industrial manufacturer decided to examine its uniform spend. With over 60,000 employees, many requiring fire-retardant garments, the company suspected that savings from utilizing the Corporate United uniforms agreement could be substantial. As the company began collecting spend data from its plants, it became apparent that the company’s decentralized purchasing policy left a great deal of room for savings; plants were contracting with numerous suppliers, while a few plants had no contract at all.
Solution
Corporate United’s analysis team completed a detailed spend report comparing the manufacturer’s current spend with the possible savings through Cintas, Corporate United’s uniform provider. Initial calculations showed a savings upwards of 10 percent if the company would begin to consolidate its spend on the Corporate United – Cintas agreement. Impressed by the numbers, the manufacturer requested a meeting with Cintas and Corporate United to determine if the supplier would be capable of handling its business. Once satisfied that Cintas could indeed excel at the job, the company immediately converted the plants that were already using Cintas to the Corporate United price file, and it developed timetables of expiring contracts at other plants for Cintas to use as a target list.
Results
The first quarter on Corporate United’s Cintas contract, the manufacturer spent just above $120 thousand and saved 14%. A year later, the company had increased its spend with Cintas to $320 thousand as it rolled out the program with more plants. Five years after the manufacturing company signed the contract, approximately 70% of the company’s uniform spend is with Cintas, an impressive number for a decentralized organization. Pleased with the relationship, the company now averages $415 thousand in spend per quarter with Cintas and has extended the agreement for another five years.
"Corporate United has helped drive significant costs out of our operation through their innovative model. In our first year as a member in Corporate United we realized a six-figure savings that went right to the bottom line. CU has proven themselves as a leader in group purchasing."