Expense Reduction Analysts (ERA) Brussels has helped a leading power and automation technology specialist to uncover ways to achieve savings on its building maintenance and facilities costs.
Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) is a leader in power and automation technologies which enables utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. It operates in close to 100 countries worldwide and employs more than 103,000 people.
Market leaders
ABB called in ERA director of operations Bert Hummel to see if he could assist in reducing the company's outsourced building maintenance costs and facility services at four of its plants in Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg.
"Building maintenance was one of the activities we decided to abandon some years ago," explains ABB Benelux chief executive officer Marco Kroon. "Today, our core products include robots, various electrical and electronic automation systems and naval turbines. ABB is a market leader in these areas and focuses on continuous product and systems improvements. Building maintenance is not part of this anymore."
Broader approach After closely reviewing its processes, ERA was able to make recommendations that could reduce ABB's current building maintenance and facilities expenditure levels.
"Many times, clients themselves are very involved in details," says Bert Hummel. "The incumbent supplier was also very focused on providing means rather than results. Bringing the subject to a much higher and broader approach allows creativity, which also ensures that substantial savings can go along with a win-win situation for the supplier. As a temporary outside partner, ERA can do this more easily, leaving the client to focus on its core business activity.
"We are delighted with the potential savings that ERA was able to identify," says ABB real estate director Gerald de Leeuw. "We're happy to have used this service which has taken very little involvement on our side."
21-Aug-2007