Higher quality product while reducing spending by millions of dollars.
Apache Industrial Services (Apache) is one of the largest and most highly regarded industrial soft craft services companies in America. Apache employs thousands of craftsmen across dozens of locations perform insulating, coatings and linings, scaffolding, fireproofing, and more support services for the biggest industrial companies in the world.
Every industrial company knows that hand-related injuries are the most frequent OSHA recordable events. Apache investigated this and found wide variability of gloves used by their workforce. They tried consolidating products and suppliers, but the variability persisted.
Why? Apache’s workforce was focused on performing their services on time and at the highest quality for their customers. Acquiring supplies was just too burdensome and time-consuming.
They didn’t have time to get multiple quotes, prepare POs, oversee delivery, all while scrambling to staff and perform jobs! So they would buy gloves at big box stores on the way to jobs, or from the sales rep who brought them breakfast that morning and had gloves in their truck!
So the first thing Apache and TSX Gear addressed was gloves. After testing various types with their field personnel, Apache found gloves that were the most comfortable, received the highest safety rating, and also allowed them to use touchscreens with the gloves on!
TSX created a dedicated Apache supply chain for all the varieties of gloves Apache needed, and made them available to their sites nationwide via a private procurement portal. With easy ordering came rapid adoption.
The cost savings were immediate - hundreds of thousands of dollars in the first year.
In the second year, Apache expanded the program with more PPE and accessories. Again, adoption, utilization, and this time, millions of dollars in cost savings.
The finance department could see the savings pile up with every month’s utilization reports. The field managers appreciated the ease of ordering on the site so much, they began asking if they could order the rest of their supplies that way.
Apache has thousands of crafts personnel across dozens of locations across the country, some union, some non-union. There was overlap in PPE and accessories, but every site had some preferred items specific to their job profiles.
TSX created one portal that all Apache procurement personnel across all the locations logged into, and each location had their own customized product collection.
Locations managers, procurement managers, job leaders - they just clicked on their location, picked their preferred items at a known set price, and the portal integrated with Apache’s processes to generate POs immediately.
When the portal was introduced to the Apache field managers, the reactions were very similar. First, it was relief - “Oh my gosh this is going to save so much time!” Second, it was incredulity - “This will generate a PO out of our system?”
The roll-out was mostly by email - that was how the approved managers received their logins. Some locations requested visits from TSX, some requested Zoom or phone calls, and others never talked to anyone - they just began ordering!
As the system rolled out, Apache was able to monitor utilization of PPE and accessories. This allowed them to establish dedicated supply chains for strategically important items.
For example, one particular accessory was critical to stripping paint off large steel structures. Unfortunately, it was extremely costly, unpredictably available, and was very time consuming to acquire. TSX created a dedicated supply chain for Apache with a 30% cost savings on a multi-million dollar annual expense.
The story is not over for Apache. With TSX Gear, there’s always more opportunity to improve safety, lower costs, increase profits, and create more transparency into utilization.
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