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Who we work for

Buyflex works for organisations that make substantial annual investments in external staffing. Many of our clients contract flexible labour to fill hundreds of thousands of hours per year – or several times that amount. In short, we say: if you have 40 or more external staff, we should talk sometime. But this is in no way an indication of the maximum project size we are able to handle. The higher the volume, the more room we have to manoeuvre. But in the end, everything is custom-made. The chosen solution has to ‘fit’ your organisation. And that is where you will see our added value.

A single scan says more than a thousand words

We operate in a number of sectors. Increasingly, our client base is setting their sights outside of the Netherlands and they engage us to aid them in optimising their procurement of external staffing across the border. Whether they are sourcing labour in Belgium, Sweden or Italy, we can do it, both in terms of organisation and, especially, level. We practice the art of seeing the bigger picture whilst at the same time optimising every aspect, down to the very last detail.

All our clients have something in common. We do business with true professionals and initially, most are barely able to imagine the room for improvement still to be found. If you think that this applies to you too, give us a call and we will do a scan. After all, a single scan says more than a thousand words

References

“They did things I could never have dreamt of doing”

More and more companies are outsourcing their service activities to customer contact specialists such as Transcom Nederland, which in three years has grown from 500 to 900 employees, over half of whom are temporary workers. Transcom Nederland renegotiates their staffing agency agreement once every three years. “We have adopted a single vendor strategy,” explains Managing Director Joop Evers. “Which increases our purchasing power. Once every three years, we enter into a new agreement with a supplier. Buyflex coordinates the entire process, from listing our requirements to selecting a shortlist of suitable staffing agencies, and from RFP to agreement. I have been in this business a long time, and Buyflex did things I could never have dreamt of doing.”

Evers is able to briefly summarise the result of Transcom’s collaboration with Buyflex: “It delivered an extremely good agreement and savings that appear time and again on our annual P&L. Having around 500 temporary workers also provides significant leverage. Buyflex negotiates agreements that not only respect both the supplier and the applicable collective labour agreement, but which also continue to guarantee quality. After all, we recorded in advance the precise requirements our temporary staff must meet. I am very pleased with the help I have received from Buyflex.”

“The savings of 9% exceeded our expectations”

MGG Netherlands is specialised in aluminium sand casting and this company from Limburg makes aluminium parts for lorries, central heating boilers and more. An average of around 600 employees work at the branches in Tegelen and Bergen. Financial Director Michel Boots can verify that “sand casting is both capital and labour intensive. Direct labour costs consume more than 30% of our turnover. Any savings made in this regard contribute significantly to our earnings.”

This, and because around 25% of MGG’s staff works on a flexible basis, is why Boots brought Buyflex in during the tender process for staffing agencies. “Buyflex understands down to the last detail what a staffing agency has to offer and how to unravel their cost price,” Boots now knows from experience. “In the past, we had negotiated a multiplier. If it was 1.80, for example, we tried to work it down to 1.79, but Buyflex tackled things differently. They made the cost price completely transparent. Mind you: that was the cost price of the staffing agencies, and therefore their profit margin as well. Only then did we discover that previously, there had been a great deal of confusion about how staffing agencies calculated their multiplier, and whether that was the cost price or the margin.”

The new approach was effective and Buyflex achieved savings of no less than 9% on flexible labour. “That far exceeded our expectations. I would already have been surprised if they had achieved 5%. We had maximised our returns in recent years and felt that we had done things really well. But by analysing the cost price, Buyflex was able to save much more. And the best thing is,” adds Boots in a single breath. “The savings aren’t being made at the expense of the people who work here. Our employees earn the same. Honest and transparent rates from suppliers – that’s where the profits lie.”

Boots appreciates Buyflex’s attitude. “They are objective and provide recommendations grounded in fact. They don’t have a preferred supplier and they deal with agencies in a respectful manner. Everyone is given the same opportunities and knows exactly what they have to do. I am therefore able to recommend Buyflex to everyone. And as they work on a no cure, no pay basis, a collaboration is risk free. The savings of 9% that they delivered are structurally contributing to our results!”

“I don’t know of any other business in the Netherlands that is able to do it like this”

At Apollo Vredestein, temporary staff accounted for four to five hundred thousand man hours every year, which is why Purchase Manager Han van Wulfften Palthe painstakingly composed the tender for a three-year agreement with a staffing agency. He firmly believes that “effective collaboration with a supplier starts in the preparation phase. As such, we worked with Buyflex to carefully map out the exact internal demand for staff. We had already determined the scope; Buyflex then held talks with internal clients and interviewed them on the finer details of the matter. They work very methodically, which is something that appeals to me!”

No, Van Wulfften Palthe definitely didn’t want to let price alone dictate his decision. The quality of the supplier and their employees also played a major role, which is why he, together with Buyflex, first selected the suppliers that met the qualitative requirements. “An internal committee assessed the content of the proposals, minus the financial component, and delivered a shortlist. After a second round of proposals, we made the selection based on the evaluation model designed by Buyflex.”

The assessment of the final pricing was crystal clear. Part of the tender was a calculation model compiled by Buyflex, in which suppliers could detail their costs. “Unambiguous, completely transparent and therefore easy to compare: that’s what we like. A great deal of expertise is needed if you want to work out pay slips and staffing agencies’ rates. That is the power of Buyflex. They know the details and understand the components that put together the final rate. They examine the applicable collective labour agreements, and the legislation and regulations relating to temporary labour down to the smallest detail,” explains Van Wulfften Palthe. “Then, with not much effort and by leveraging the scope of the agreement you wish to conclude, substantial savings can be made far beyond what was initially expected!”

Van Wulfften Palthe, a seasoned Purchase Manager, briefly summarises his opinion of Buyflex. “They are PROFESSIONALS,” he stresses. “At the same time, they are independent and discreet. At no point will they just share information with me. Integrity is their trademark!”

Recent assignments

Since 2002, Buyflex has had the pleasure of carrying out projects for dozens of clients. The following is an overview of our most recent completed procurement and optimisation projects in the areas of temporary labour, contracting and MSP solutions. We are proud of each and every one of them.