When Midas was looking for a better way to manage its print business it engaged Corporate Express Print Services to better manage the process.
Midas manages one of the country's largest networks of specialist automotive repair centres. It is the market leader in exhaust service and offer a ‘Total Car Care’ range of services including: servicing, mufflers, brakes and suspensions.
With 124 outlets across Australia and each one needing an increasing range of forms, stationery, point of sale and other collateral, there was little control over service levels and added costs.
According to Jo Krause, Midas Brand Manager, an advertising agency had handled their print requirements, and they in turn outsourced this business.
“Print management just wasn’t the core business for our agency and with our franchisees and our own requirements growing rapidly, we started thinking if we could manage our print better and cheaper,” said Krause
“Corporate Express Print Services began talking with us about what they could offer, although it took approximately 12 months before we decided to go out to tender. They went on to win the tender and we commenced the new arrangement in August 2004,” she said.
Centralised ordering via the Melbourne head office was set up to suit Midas. In all, approximately 85 items are printed, stocked and distributed nationally by Corporate Express for Midas.
Karl Pace, Corporate Express Account Manager for Midas said the ‘Midas Promise’ of delivering individual customer satisfaction was measured by perception, so every bumper sticker had to represent excellence.
“This involved setting up and continuously managing a high print standard. But they found that our Print Services can deliver quality while also driving down costs,” said Pace.
“When we began talking to Midas, we were able to show them immediate hard cost savings of $15,000 for their top 20 lines.
“We also identified a number of lines that were no longer required and helped update their range to incorporate the new Midas' corporate identity. Today, Midas is reaping the benefits of the NetXpress ordering system and the imaging of each item online, which has helped reduce the amount of the returns from our outlets,” he said.
NetXpress, Corporate Express’ EB2B ordering system, accounts for over 65 per cent of all of its customer orders. After setting up purchasing hierarchies and products on NetXpress, clients can order 24x7 and obtain reports from monthly spend down to category spend.
One word describes the business relationship between Midas and Corporate Express.
“Easy,” said Jo Krause of Midas.
“We now enjoy a direct relationship with a dedicated Print Account Manger and support team. The account runs smoothly with stock levels kept over 98 per cent (slow moving stock is continuously monitored) and they have added value through areas such as forms rationalisation and brand policing. It was well worth making the switch,” she said.
