The problem
TA faced a host of problems associated with how they monitored more than $45 million annually in foodservice purchases, including:

The solution
TA looked at the potential benefits of automating contract compliance, identifying specific areas of the business where automating would save them considerable time and money. When the time came to select an automation solution, TA chose Tibersoft IQ™ because it offered a degree of customization and flexibility that far surpassed the other shared solutions on the market. In particular, Tibersoft IQ provided three features TA considered vital: accurate data based on IQ's proprietary modeling; the flexibility to add user-defined criteria at will; and the speed and control of being able to edit data and adjust criteria at any time.

The results
TA's first priority was managing price compliance, and they saw immediate benefits with Tibersoft IQ. Audits on invoices from their top 20 vendors for 2003 alerted them to over $200,000 in non-compliant pricing. With that one audit, TA more than reached its low-end year-one ROI goal. Because the system gave TA visibility down to the invoice and item level, they could easily format that information into reports to use to obtain the credits.

TA's next priority was controlling item compliance. Using its automated system to track all 115 of its full-service restaurants, TA immediately identified opportunities to save money by getting the restaurants to purchase items according to contract specifications. For example, it doubled rebate dollars with two vendors based on the knowledge it gained from having thorough, accurate automated processes. TA now has a well-documented, centralized process for handling credits. This eliminates time spent at 115 locations checking for compliance, notifying distributors' CSRs, handling the bookkeeping and duplicating efforts to chase down credits. TA's Distributions Program Manager estimates that her field managers are saving 20 hours a month thanks to the automated system. She observes, "20 hours a month times 115 managers... annualized, that represents major savings."

What's next?
TA has plans to expand the benefits of Tibersoft IQ to its other lines of business. In the near future, for example, it intends to bring automated contract compliance management to its 130 convenience stores.