ICG Commerce sourcing pays off for leading casino chain

Situation:

Prior sourcing efforts at a major casino and resort company had produced little savings and even higher costs at some of its 21 properties. A centralized sourcing organization was established, but limited resources, lack of executive support, and renegade purchasing at each property diminished its effectiveness. With increasing pressures to reduce costs across the company, the newly founded sourcing group established objectives for strengthening its role within the organization, improving processes and performance while achieving cost savings of $10 million in 6 months.

Solution:

ICG Commerce provided extensive strategic sourcing knowledge and expertise to help the casino company's sourcing group develop and deliver more effective sourcing performance. ICG Commerce professionals conducted an in-depth organizational and spend analysis to identify opportunities for improvement in sourcing organization, methods and savings. With this information, ICG Commerce helped architect a new sourcing organization for the company. The group was organized in cross-functional teams based on functional areas and specific category expertise.

ICG Commerce sourcing experts facilitated the teams through a 5-step strategic sourcing process leveraging eSourcing tools to help identify savings opportunities and achieve sourcing goals. At the same time, ICG Commerce helped the group's management launch a campaign to build greater awareness and support for the sourcing organization company-wide.

Results:

The sourcing group achieved its goal of identifying $10 million in savings in 6 months through strategic sourcing. The organization acquired structured sourcing methodology, analysis and change management skills, as well as broad support from both corporate and property management. As a result, the company was able to effectively implement programs and deals to ensure continued achievement of significant savings for the company.