What is the role, mission of KeyMRO? What is the added-value of KeyMRO for its clients?

KeyMRO is the European market solution of general procurement of the IBM Corporation. KeyMRO acts as a `Sourcing Hub'. It negotiates and deploys the best solutions for general purchases for corporate clients which remain the owners of the contracts with the suppliers. As such, KeyMRO is not a procurement centre.

The added-value of KeyMRO is the specialization of its procurement professionals by commodity and its capacity to mutualize volumes that IBM divides with the whole of its customers (10B€). The mutualisation consists of implementing synergies which exist in common categories across clients, independent of their core activities, and mostly non-strategic ones.

The stakes? Which are the advantages for a company to use KeyMRO?

KeyMRO is a flexible and fast solution to implement. It produces significant results from the on set; by contributing to the procurement performance year on year over a long period. The advantage for a client: insure procurement performance without changing its internal organization and structure. The operating mode of KeyMRO is as an extension of the procurement organization: everywhere the customer has needs; KeyMRO puts in levers of general procurement performance worthy of best in class.

How does KeyMRO position itself on the European and world market?

KeyMRO has no equal as a ”Sourcing Hub” for European base companies. The business model of KeyMRO is to provide its clients with a worldwide procurement network coupled with the purchasing power of IBM.

What is the strategy of KeyMRO in the short and long-term?

The strategy of KeyMRO is based on three axes:
1. Target small and medium-size businesses with KeyMRO’s turnkey sourcing solutions      specifically adapted for the market segment
2. Use synergies with IBM (KeyMRO is a 100 % IBM owned subsidiary) to access IBM’s large      accounts and to benefit from its geographical coverage (the United Kingdom, Germany,      Spain, Italy…)
3. Continue to adapt KeyMRO’s offering to meet the needs of its clients without losing its      specificity and its force. For example: specialized consultation in general procurement,      integrated sourcing solutions, the”Freight Payment”…

What kind of enterprises are in KeyMRO’s target ?

Our clients are from various sectors, such as food processing, chemical, car manufacturing, technology, banking. We have a dynamic business model: some of our clients have transferred 20 million euro volumes to us in selected non-production procurement categories, while others are above 450 million euros in more than 80 procurement categories. Our mutualization based model provides us with the flexibility to accommodate all kinds of clients requests. All of our cost reduction programs are manage with a two prong approach, one phase with quick wins to maximize cost reduction benefits and one phase executed over time via consolidation and extensions.