Beverly, Hills, Calif.-based Hilton Hotels Corp. had humble beginnings in the early 1900s. Businessman and philanthropist Conrad Hilton learned the hotel business by helping his immigrant father run an inn at his family's adobe home in San Antonio. In 1919, after buying several hotels in Texas, Hilton launched his own company. By his death in 1979, Hilton's corporation was global. Today, the company includes brands such as Hampton Inn®, Doubletree®, Embassy Suites Hotels®, Homewood Suites® by Hilton and more.
And all of them need forms.
David French, Hilton's corporate
director of strategic sourcing, leads a 6-member supply management team that
purchases and manages approximately $200 million annually in printed products,
service contracts and property operation supplies for Hilton facilities. (That
doesn't include food and beverage purchases, brand management, or hotel room
products, which have separate purchasing divisions.) The team's major purchases
are stationery, business cards, forms, note pads and sales collateral.
To encourage competition on quality and
cost, the team develops product specifications and operates a bidding system.
"Then we advise hotels which supplier has been awarded the program, and, in many
cases, have them work directly with the supplier on orders and payment," French
says.
French estimates that 75 percent of his
print providers are manufacturers and 25 percent are distributorships. He
usually relies on manufacturers for high-volume, company-wide supplies and
distributorships for small runs of diverse supplies at individual Hilton
facilities. "We look at where the most value can be created," French says. His
team currently works with 30 print providers.
French says the ideal print provider offers high-volume capability, a proven track record of upholding its promises, high-quality products, on-time delivery and a proactive, problem-solving attitude. "We may have a specification that we feel is important to us, but we ask [providers] to suggest alternative specifications that may reduce cost," he says.
One of French's favorite providers is a manufacturer that has worked with Hilton for 15 years. The firm recently supplied numerous operating forms, including guest folios and envelopes. French asked the manufacturer to create a streamlined ordering process, and the firm offered an electronic reprint request form. French uses a PDF version of the form to view inventory levels and to suggest and approve product improvements. He emails the form to all affected parties at Hilton's Beverly Hills headquarters; its Memphis, Tenn., office; and individual hotel locations.
French has dealt with problem providers as well. "We've had challenges where people had reprinted things on their own [without] approval and created obsolete inventory," he says. Also, some providers don't adhere to bidding guidelines, he says. For example, French once requested a paper that, unbeknownst to him, had been discontinued. Though the bidding form offers space for suppliers to inform him of product availability changes and to suggest alternatives, some suppliers ignored it. They submitted bids without mentioning they intended to use different papers. French says he wants to avoid situations in which he awards a bid, then realizes the product's quality is too low and is forced to spend more money to upgrade it.
French has worked with Hilton for 16 years, mainly in purchasing, though he has specialized in printed products for only one year. He says he enjoys coordinating purchases for diverse locations and solving problems with print providers. "It isn't routine," he says. Not that more routine would hurt. "We do some online ordering with some of our suppliers, and we're moving more and more in that direction," he says.
In the future, French would like an ordering system that's compatible with software programs at multiple manufacturers. The system would generate inventory reports that could be viewed by all interested parties at Hilton and that feature 6-month ordering reports, recommended reprint volumes and product images. French's wish list also includes a web-based program that helps him manage products after they're printed.
—Rita Tiefert
Hilton Hotels Corp., based in Beverly Hills, Calif., requires printed products for a vast array of brands, including this Doubletree® guest folio.
