The Problem
The Supply Management Services department had foodservice spend visibility only for SYSCO business, which represented approximately 80% of all FS purchases. They had no visibility into secondary distributor purchases and as a result could not evaluate nor manage the non-SYSCO spend.

They were concerned that their current solution would not be able to effectively scale for secondary distributor connections nor provide the flexible reporting capabilities required to support the larger and more diverse dataset.

DNC experienced a 45-day lag period before usable information for detailed reporting on purchases was made available. This delay hindered the ability of the Supply Management group to react in a timely fashion.
Their current solution lacked the flexibility to categorize information by the specific nomenclature necessary to support their diverse organization, contributing to lesser adoption within the group.

DNC could not effectively report on the breakdown by subsidiary, region and product commodity, which dramatically affected the usability of their current solution. This resulted in reporting being done using spreadsheets and other manual methods.

Validation of contract pricing was largely a hit or miss proposition and very time intensive. When distributor pricing errors were detected it was usually several months down the road, which resulted in credit processing and overall administrative inefficiency.

The Solution
Tibersoft offered DNC the benefits of a “Next-Gen” dedicated solution: accuracy, speed, and flexibility.
The Supply Management Services department needed to be able to manage compliant vs. non-compliant purchases, given that there were many exceptions to national programs based on local sponsorship or advertising deals.

The goal was to develop the means to measure compliance or program participation by subsidiary and operating units on a monthly basis. The next step was to show each group where there were opportunities for increased purchasing of items on promotion (rebate eligible) and where program participation would lead to overall lower cost of goods. Additionally, Supply Management Services needed to achieve total visibility of all foodservice spend beyond SYSCO to include all secondary distributors, in order to manage total spend across all subsidiaries and operating units.

Delaware North Companies’ evaluation of automated solutions led them to choose the proven technology and services from Tibersoft. Tibersoft’s formula for success – flexible ad hoc reporting, a rapid implementation process and foodservice operator expertise – far surpassed other available options and exceeded their expectations.

Item Compliance – Using DNC-specific item and location identifiers provides accurate identification of true out of compliance purchases.
Contract Monitoring – The ability to load contract pricing and automatically monitor all invoices against that pricing enables quicker identification and resolution.
Ad Hoc Reporting – The SMS group is now self-reliant and can react more quickly to the needs of both the group and the organization as a whole.
Visibility to Non-SYSCO spend – The ability to analyze spend across a wider aspect of the supply chain improves contract leverage and helps to identify new opportunities.

The Results
Delaware North Companies has realized significant returns and impressive benefits to date:
Improved measurement and reporting capabilities drove overall compliance on national contracted programs from under 70% to over 80% in the second half of 2005.

Time to generate rebate reports has been reduced from 60 days after period end to 30 days, leading to more timely collections and allocations.

DNC’s incremental investment in Tibersoft was returned within 9 months by way of increased program partici-pation and overall higher rebate capture. Rebate capture increased 8% in the first 9 months. Rebate allocation by subsidiary or by individual unit can now be administered in an efficient and rational manner.