Case Study

Consolidating Ordering Systems

Over 30% saving for Radian in the first year of their contract

The Company

Radian Group are an award-winning organisation, employing over 1200 staff, providing nearly 21,000 affordable homes in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Dorset, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Surrey, Sussex, and Wiltshire. They provide care and support to help people live independently across the Southeast, through Radian Support.

With a turnover in excess of £137m, the majority of their stock is general needs housing, but it also includes a significant portfolio of sheltered and supported housing, together with key worker accommodation, shared ownership, market rent and private sale properties.

“At Radian Group, we wanted to take better control of how and what PPE or workwear we order” Carly Dunwoody – Procurement Manager

The Challenge

Radian Group bought their PPE and workwear from different sources, with regional staff responsible for their area, often buying from local suppliers which resulted in inconsistency in look and quality. Procurement staff would often receive differing quotes for identical garments at differing price points, differing systems, inconsistent tendering, Radian Group realised that they needed to consolidate under “ONE Radian”, purchasing from the same supplier, under the same contract.

PWS secured the contract after a formal tender with the promise of delivering consistent quality, economies of scale and a unified, streamlined procurement process.

The Implementation

Guided by PWS, Radian Group established a new, reduced core list of appropriate PPE to be supplied to their staff. Through PWS’s PPE auditing process, issues can be identified where incorrect PPE allocation, or incorrect use, is causing risk to staff, all whilst consolidating a company’s PPE range. Radian Housing were one of the first companies to pilot our online ordering system for us and we worked with them to transition their procurement ordering to a fully digital system.

PWS always strive to be at the cutting edge of product development and introduced Radian Group to innovative new products. Roll out of the new system met with a few challenges, which is not unusual with any new supply solution, but Radian Group were supported by PWS throughout, with our team visiting Radian’s sites regularly to train staff and support them through the transition.

“This has been a good exercise to highlight that competitively tendering our requirements to test whether we are getting best value, is worth it, this exercise has ticked all good practice procurement boxes.” Carly Dunwoody – Procurement Manager

“PWS… have introduced positive change to Radian and they supply us with good quality products at reasonable prices. This combination is what us procurement people call – GOOD VALUE FOR MONEY“ Carly Dunwoody – Procurement Manager

The Results

With the new system, Radian Group are now able to set order limits for individuals, departments, as well as job roles, and to manage all their orders in one place. Radian Group are now able to see clearly and wholistically, what they are ordering, when, for who and how much it all costs with instant reporting at any time, something they could simply not do before.

Through the PPE auditing process, PWS have been able to reduce Radian’s large and inconsistent PPE product list to a core number of items, enabling standardisation across the company, whilst ensuring the highest standards of safety for their staff. Innovations in products and systems have helped Radian Group to maximise cost savings and to take better control of how and what PPE and workwear they order.

With a digitised, centralised system, Radian Group have saved significant time on procurement as well as a 32% saving on procurement product costs alone!