Parsons Brinckerhoff Aggregates Spend and Reduces Purchasing Costs with Epicor

Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ: EPIC), a leading provider of integrated enterprise software solutions for midmarket companies, today announced that Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB), an international planning, engineering, program and construction management organization, is realizing significant cost savings and improved efficiency as a result of using Epicor Procurement. Epicor Procurement is a complete purchasing management solution that creates a seamless connection between buyers and suppliers for the purchase of direct and indirect goods and services.

Founded in 1885, PB has helped shape some of the world's largest and most important public works projects, from MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) to the Sabiya power plant in Kuwait and the Singapore Deep Tunnel Sewerage System. The company is utilizing Epicor Procurement to facilitate virtually all of its purchases from hardware and software systems to safety equipment, promotional materials and office supplies. According to Suzanne Puccino, vice president and director of corporate services for PB, the ability to make on-contract purchases through Epicor Procurement has enabled PB to save money by maximizing its buying power to negotiate more favorable supplier contracts.

Using retail pricing as a benchmark, Puccino reports that PB saved 40 percent on average on office equipment and supplies over the year. For purchases of computer software and equipment, the company saw a 24 percent savings. Additional savings have been achieved through utilization of Epicor Procurements Tap Out feature, which allows buyers to tap in to suppliers e-commerce sites while maintaining the controls in the purchasing solution.

We find that when we set up a new Tap Out, our usage goes way up. The suppliers know this, which gives us great leverage in our contract negotiation, said Puccino. Last year, we negotiated a contract with a new vendor for marketing and promotional items and set them up on Epicor Procurement Tap Out. Compared to our previous vendor, we saw a 42 percent savings because we were able to capitalize on our buying power to negotiate a very favorable contract.

Global Reach and Accessibility

Epicor Procurement also enables PB to be transparent in its purchasing and supplier relationships. Conducting our purchasing through Epicor Procurement provides us with total auditability, said Puccino. We have data at our fingertips, which enables us to provide tax reports by harvesting information from Epicor Procurement.

PB currently has about 1,600 requisitioners in the U.S. and is in the process of expanding use of Epicor Procurement to its locations in the United Kingdom; the Australia and New Zealand and Asian regions will follow over the next three years. By implementing worldwide the processes and technologies that have been successful in the U.S., we aim to more broadly aggregate our spend and further reduce our purchasing costs, making the process easier for our end users.

Epicor Procurement, part of Epicors complete solution for Supplier Relationship Management (SRM), is equally effective whether utilized at a single location or across global operations. For service enterprises like Parsons Brinckerhoff, keeping people and other assets productive is critical, and efficient purchasing helps do that, said Scott Hays, senior product marketing manager for Epicor. Epicor Procurement provides the necessary reach, speed and control to bring purchasing processes online, across distributed operations, enabling increased efficiency and significant cost savings.