Adveo is a leading Benelux distributor of office and paper products. The business model is based on excellent logistics within the distribution chain and supports the competitiveness of dealers and retailers in their struggle for market share with an exceptionally broad product range, unmatched logistics performance and marketing formulas such as Calipage (www.calipage.be) and Office deal (www.officedeal.be). The headquarters and logistics center are located in Deinze. In addition, they have a sales team for the Dutch market. The Benelux logistics center of 16,000 m² storage houses an assortment of over 21,000 references, 98.5% of which are delivered within 24 hours throughout the Benelux to the wholesale trade or on behalf of the dealer to the end user.

In July 2020, we spoke with Roland Laschet, Managing Director of Adveo Benelux, about his experience with Spendless' services and optimizations.

No doubt

"When you approached me, I was not looking for such a collaboration. Therefore, I did not conduct a study of similar companies. But I did not hesitate to work with you.

During the first conversation with Hannes, I immediately had a good feeling. It clicked from the very beginning. This click and your list of good references gave me an important incentive to take a closer look at our fixed costs."

Seamless collaboration

"You scrutinize costs very critically and bring them down to a low to normal level. As an external partner, you help control and optimize costs without us having to invest much time ourselves. We provided the right data, you did the heavy lifting, and communicated the most important results to us. Providing this data is obviously very important; only then can you achieve the best result. Garbage in, garbage out."

It is important for us that customers implement our advice. We communicate the key steps and provide sufficient feedback opportunities. We analyze data and optimize contracts. Our customers receive several quotes from current and new suppliers per cost, supplemented with savings simulations.

In the end, the customer decides which supplier to continue with. It doesn't matter to us whether this is the most cost-effective solution or not. We provide insights. If the customer knows the alternatives and understands the potential for savings, we have done our job.

"You have been able to significantly reduce some costs. A seamless collaboration."

Better than expected results

Around ten fixed costs were examined for Adveo Belgium. And it wasn't so much the "normal, expected costs like energy and telecom" that yielded the most. "The big hitters came from transport and cardboard, a service and product that we use a lot ourselves."

Performed optimizations:

• Fuel -50%
• Electricity -21%
• Gas -11%
• Mobile telephony -29%
• Fixed telephony/data lines -34%
• Transport -9%
• Copiers -14%
• Security -28%
• Cardboard -15%

Continuous collaboration

In a first exercise, Spendless optimizes the fixed costs. The goal is to get the contracts in order and offer the best rates and conditions to the customer. We base ourselves on the customer's consumption: what do they need and what do they earn. At least. In most cases, this results in high savings.

After the initial cost optimizations are completed and the contracts are closed, it remains important to manage, periodically check, and optimize costs well. You want stable and market-conform prices. It's nice to hear that Adveo Benelux wants to enter into a long-term partnership:

"I want to stay in touch with you. We count on your market knowledge and knowledge of other companies. With your contacts and know-how, I want you to continue to support us. Not a one-shot, but a lasting collaboration. You have a broader perspective and can look into many people."

Thank you for the pleasant collaboration, Adveo!