United Kingdom
Siemens case study: Reduce travel and expense spend by 25%
Siemens, a leading global engineering and technology services company, had tracked a 10-15% increase in travel and expense (T&E) spend over two years.
An initiative, TravelOut25, began in December 2012 to reduce this €65m spend in the UK by 25%.
A CWT client since 1999, Siemens has traditionally used quarterly reviews to gain an overview of spend in the UK as a whole. To kick off the TravelOut25 initiative and drill down further into this spend, the following procedures were put in place:
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Weekly reports at a divisional and individual level that
highlighted performance against key performance indicators (KPIs), including missed savings, online
adoption and advance purchases.
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Increased communication with divisional line managers,
Chief Financial Officers and individual travellers to raise awareness of high levels of spend, to
provide recommendations for cost savings and highlight the importance of policy compliance.
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Divisional spend was published on Siemens’ intranet to
reveal which divisions were successfully reducing their spend, and which were struggling to comply.
High-performing individuals and divisions were rewarded through Siemens’ ‘Champions Scheme’ as
positive reinforcement.
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Travel bookers were provided with more detailed information
about the locations employees were heading to in order to enable a booker to recommend the correct
shuttle or bus route into the city centre avoid costly taxis, for instance.
- A TravelOut25 group was set up on
Siemens’ social network to enable
advice and tips to be shared and a travel tips document
that provided advice on how to follow policy and help reduce spend to stakeholders was circulated.
- ‘Live meeting’ technology was implemented to help reduce meeting spend by providing an alternative to face-to-face meetings and enhance the meeting experience through the addition of virtual voting and feedback capabilities, while internal meeting space was recommended to reduce external venue spend.
The (success) story so far...
At the half-way mark, Siemens had achieved 11% savings against the 25% target. With much of the groundwork in place, the TravelOut25 team is set to achieve its aims.
“TravelOut25 is not just about telling people they are being non-compliant , it’s about reaching out in order to connect and provide real-time information to stakeholders that will help them make the right decision,” said Andy King, Head of Local Buying, UK Procurement and Logistics, Siemens. “At the end of the day, people need to travel. So it’s about having a clear strategy that both guides people towards the most cost-effective option and ensures the correct resources are in place.”
