Manufacturing & Hi-tech Archives

We’ve Only Just Begun

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

Jane Drasites, Director, Benefits Delivery for BP Amoco, swears that the first year in an outsourcing relationship is just like a marriage. Some marriages don’t work very well. When Amoco (prior to its merger with BP) signed an agreement in 1993 for Hewitt Associates to handle its HR functions, it was positive it had found the right mate. Unfortunately, they didn’t go for some counseling before they tied the knot, and the honeymoon didn’t last long.

Ordering Online Produces A Catalog of Benefits for Quill

Outsourcing Center, Bruce McCracken, Business Writer

For Quill, a mail order office supply retailer based in the Chicago suburb of Lincolnshire, eCommerce in the late 1990s was a lucrative and untapped marketing channel. Its first Web site, launched in 1996, was rudimentary. We figured that everybody has one, so we better get one up, too. We did not pay a lot of attention to it. It was not a focused effort, says Lisa Iannuzzelli, senior Internet marketing manager. Email marketing, which Quill decided to do itself, included converting its printed newsletters to email.

Outsourcing Helps Trade Center Buyers Get Back in Business

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

Outsourcing suppliers are responsive in a crisis. Forty-five minutes after the first plane hit the World Trade Center, Compaq executives were on the phone, putting together a triage of support for its eight financial clients with Recover-All contracts as well as its many other customers headquartered in the twin towers. Tom Simmons, vice president of Compaq Managed Services in Stowe, Massachusetts, says within three hours Compaq had organized a crisis center routing telephone questions to Colorado Springs and opened a walk-in facility near Madison Square Garden manned by its Northeast sales team. A crisis Web site was online that night.

An Ounce of Prevention

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

Burlington Resources, Inc., which is involved in the exploration, development and production of hydrocarbons, ranks first among U.S. independent oil and gas companies, in terms of proved U.S. reserves. It’s a company with the diverse global opportunities and financial strength of a major oil company, but it is also blessed with the entrepreneurial spirit, flexibility and responsiveness of an independent operator. If there was anything that might impede its ability to grow and remain competitive in its industry, Burlington would take steps to rectify that situation.

Ten Key Questions for Developing Effective Service Level Agreements

Brad L. Peterson, Partner, Mayer Brown LLP

The first and most important step in developing an effective SLA is to ask the right questions. This article will give you those questions and some background on how to choose the right answers.

Delivering the Difference

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

If you’re a patient in the emergency room, you definitely want that hospital or trauma center to have all the necessary supplies on hand — from IVs and blood plasma to bandages and syringes. But the hospital can’t keep everything on hand; it’s in the patient care business, not inventory warehousing. So the doctors and nurses rely on medical distributors to be sure they have what’s needed — or can deliver it in a couple of hours for an emergency. Many of them depend on Owens & Minor, Inc. (O&M) and, in outsourcing their supplies process to O&M, they enjoy the added advantage of reduced costs.

Riding a Wave of Success

Chris Pryer, Business Writer

There are certain times when a confluence of events can create an environment like no other. The moon in the seventh sky, or Jupiter aligning with Mars, for instance. In today’s fast-paced and constantly evolving business world, successful companies must be vigilant and nimble in order to respond quickly and take advantage of such favorable conditions when they present themselves. If these companies don’t possess the necessary resources in-house to accomplish their business objectives, they collaborate with another company who does.

My Benefit Source Chips Away at Payroll Administration Costs

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

Outsourcing was the right course for Meadowbrook Golf. The Lakeland, Florida company owns, leases or manages 100 golf courses in 16 states; during the summer the employee roster swells to 3,500. Payroll and tax filing took two days to complete every pay period.

Outsourcing a Process Co-Generates Savings

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

It all started with deregulation. Outsourcing the entire process fuels savings.

The Heat Is On for Energy Management Outsourcing

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

California’s skyrocketing energy costs and energy price volatility all across the U.S. have turned the spotlight on energy costs, and that’s a good thing for energy management outsourcing providers.

Research & Insight

Industry