How an internationally renowned academic institution secured even greater value-for-money
Public sector procurement is governed by strict legalisation, compliance and an overarching need to source products and services that represent the best value for money while maintaining reliability. For purchasing professionals, balancing these needs and making efficient and cost saving decisions while sourcing high-quality products necessitates a proactive and reliable supply partner.
In return, the right supplier should support its customers’ purchasing processes by offering a comprehensive portfolio backed by technological innovation, a world-class customer experience and flexible delivery options.
With solutions tailored to meet the individual needs of the customer and their unique challenges as well as an extensive range of high-performing and competitively price products, RS can provide such support. Here is an example of this customer-supplier partnership in action.
The challenge
Imperial College London (ICL) is a global top 10 university with a global reputation in science, engineering, medicine and business. Part of the Russell Group of research-focused institutions, ICL has been named by Reuters as the UK’s most innovative university thanks to its entrepreneurial culture and ties to industry.
With more than 8000 staff and 20,000 students, ICL had identified the need to reduce the cost of consumables for its laboratory and research team, which procures products required for use in its world-leading science, engineering and research operations.
As a longstanding supplier, RS already provided ICL with a number of different product solutions for use in teaching and research, including low-value consumables, tooling and test & measurement items. Now the RS dedicated account management team worked collaboratively with ICL to identify where cost savings could be made without compromising on the quality or functionality of the consumables required.
The solution
RS PRO is an ever-expanding range of high-quality own-brand industrial products and electrical components. It is the largest in the industry with more than 70,000 tools and consumable items in areas covering automation, electrical, electronics and test & measurement.
Built on decades of engineering expertise, every RS PRO product is audited, inspected, tested and certified under the RS Seal of Approval, which follows the same rigorous testing and international standards as branded alternatives, with each item backed by a three-year warranty.
By demonstrating the savings possible with RS’s own-label products over branded alternatives, the account management team was able to show real-time savings for ICL as well identify potential further cost reductions.
The outcome
We worked with ICL to demonstrate the savings that could be made by using RS PRO,” explains Lorna Allcorn, National Account Manager for Education at RS. “With access to our extensive portfolio, we’ve helped drive cost savings for ICL while ensuring they receive quality products as and when they need them.”
By working closely with RS to meet their cost-saving objectives, ICL has already saved £15,000, with the potential for £42,000 additional savings. The RS PRO catalogue of products has also been embedded within the university’s existing e-procurement solution, giving employees easy access to cost-effective and compliant consumables.
In addition, the RS ScanStock® solution is in place, an added-value service managed by the nearby RS Local branch, which stock checks and replenishes the supply of low-value, fast-moving supplies onsite.
“The consumables we source from RS are used extensively in our laboratories and scientific research,” says Peter Leahy, Category Manager (Laboratory/Research) at ICL. “To allow us to deliver our work and maintain our reputation, the products must offer value for money, combined with quality, functionality and performance.
“The RS PRO range gives us access to everything we need, with readily available and cost-effective products backed up by flexible delivery.”
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