Pump and equipment distributor

Locations added over time, and vendor sprawl came with them. A different waste hauler at each site, a merchant rate that had not been benchmarked in years, and cellphone and fuel contracts that had drifted well above market.

• Fuel
• Cellphones
• Energy
• Freight
• Small parcel
• Merchant processing
• Payroll processing
• Waste removal, site by site
• Property tax assessments on two parcels

• Phase I ran the indirect-expense review across fuel, cellphones, energy, freight, small parcel, merchant processing, and payroll.
• Merchant processing was nearly 40% above market and was repriced with a competing processor.
• Cellphones moved to a competing national carrier. Fuel was rebid. Freight consolidated onto one broker.
• Phase II went site by site on waste... five locations, five separate contracts... and contested property tax assessments on two parcels.
• Later passes on telecom, internet, and merchant processing found new savings as contracts renewed.

Merchant processing

49% savingsRepriced with a competing processor

Cellphones

51% savingsMoved to a competing national carrier

Fuel (gas)

48–56% savingsRebid to a competing supplier

Freight

30–40% savingsConsolidated onto one broker

Small parcel

5–22% savingsRenegotiated the carrier mix

Waste removal (one site)

54% savingsRenegotiated the incumbent contract

Payroll processing

20% savingsMoved to a lower-cost platform

Property taxes

17% savingsContested assessments on two parcels

Phase I first-year savings

$114,600

Phase II additional recurring

$9,800/yr

Merchant processing alone

$77,000/yr

5-year value after fees

$446,000

1. 01

   Merchant processing was the largest category

   A 40% rate gap on a distributor's transaction volume translated into tens of thousands a year, found by comparing effective rates.

2. 02

   Vendor sprawl was the pattern

   Waste removal alone had five separate vendor relationships across five sites, none of them negotiated together.

3. 03

   The relationship never really ended

   Later passes on telecom, internet, and merchant processing each found new savings as contracts renewed.