Thistle Hotels, the UK's third largest
hotel group, has implemented anorder processing systemfor its food,
beverage and housekeeping supplies that will save the company more
than £150,000 a year.
The system, from hospitality e-procurement company Makella,
reduces the cost of the purchasing process as well as software
licensing fees by enabling Thistle to move from
SAP Enterprise Buyer Professional to a standard version of
SAP.
Makella's Procure Lite software has been tailored to integrate
with Thistle's
SAP R3 system. "The cost was becoming prohibitive, and we
needed to look for a lower-cost alternative with better
functionality," said Quentin Neville, purchasing director at
Thistle.
Thistle will save £150,000 a year in licence fees alone, said
Neville. "We have still to quantify the additional savings from
reduced staff input time and improved efficiency," he said.
The
e-procurement system, which handles 300 orders a day, enables
200 staff across Thistle's 49 hotels to order supplies from 30
approved suppliers through a central website at any time of the
day.
"This flexibility is essential in the hospitality industry,
where vital food orders for the following day are often made by
chefs after evening service," said Neville.
Makella has connected Thistle with all of the hotel's suppliers,
ranging from small businesses with little or no electronic trading
capability, to corporates with their own proprietary systems.
Liam Taylor, managing director at Makella, said electronic
trading is used by about 10% of the hospitality industry, but this
is growing as chief executives begin to understand the cost savings
they can realise through e-procurement.
"Taking control of the supply chain, consolidating suppliers and
product ranges, and improving efficiency through managing
procurement across a group according to set policies and
procedures, all helps to cut cost out of the process," he said.