Spring cleaning: A corporate cost savings checklist

It’s April and spring-cleaning time is here. Time to sweep the floors, clear out the cobwebs and evaluate your first quarter performance. What adjustments can you make to achieve those year-end cost savings goals?

NTT DATA’s Sourcing and Procurement practice suggests reducing asset management waste. Work on re-aligning budgets with current workplace needs and reducing your tail spend — generating immediate cost savings with only a minimal impact on your organization. No matter how well you've done recently, taking a reflective view of your business is a great way to promote growth as you head into the second quarter.

You don’t need it: Let redundant IT go

In light of post-pandemic hybrid and remote work trends, many companies are moving toward bring-your-own-device environments. Ask yourself if the organization is managing IT that isn’t earning its keep. While issuing technology to employees functioned as a kind of perk in the past, recent trends toward simplification and leaner organizations have altered the equation. Now is a good time to consider your businesses‘ IT asset needs. You might find it isn’t necessary to distribute all those phones, tablets, docking stations and whatever else.

Consider if all these devices are necessary. Assess your IT needs. Explore developing an environment that removes the burden of administrative information technology tasks. Offer flexible options to your employees aligned with current technology preferences. This solution to the IT quandary can maintain employee satisfaction while radically slimming down your technology spend. Explore what approaches will work for your users and your specific security needs.

Out with the old: Rethink office needs

Commuting to the office five days a week is a thing of the past, reducing the resources needed to operate an office. Aligning with these changes is an opportunity. So, yes, there’s less need for paper, pens and cone-shaped cups for the water cooler (or even the water coolers themselves). Delve into what other expenditures you can reduce. Many monitors — and conference room equipment — will sit idle most of the time with fewer employees in the office. Likewise, a lower day-to-day headcount reduces the need for massive internet bandwidth. Make educated data-driven adjustments and see how you can improve the office experience while pursuing your Q2 cost-savings goals.

Quality over quantity: Clear out your supplier base

Like dealing with a cluttered garage, it’s high time to sort out what stays and what goes. Assess your supplier relationships; they constantly bombard you early in the year, often bloating your supply base. But the goal isn’t to have lots of suppliers. You need the best ones for your needs. Lean out your supply base and reduce your administrative burden. Negotiate competitive terms with your suppliers and develop partnerships that will support future value opportunities. You can simplify this process by awarding more business to a few high-performing suppliers and slowly shortening your unnecessarily long tail. As the old saying goes, “It’s better to have a few best friends than a bunch of average ones.” This spring, curating your suppliers and building strong relationships will help lower costs and bring you closer to achieving your savings goals.

Spring forward and dial costs back

Develop initiatives that will sprout savings opportunities for Q2. It starts with your goals and the route to get you there. Spot areas that don’t add value. Activities like those above will put your savings goals within reach. Even if your company has tackled some of the above-listed tasks, these only scratch the surface of this spring’s cost-reducing possibilities.

Contact us and see how NTT DATA’s Sourcing & Procurement team will identify, diagnose and resolve your most complex procurement challenges. Our top manufacturing talent, enabled by effective methodologies, deliver actionable insights and measurable outcomes.