Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I consider IEM Group, Inc.?

IEM Group is the Indirect Expense Management Leader.  We have special knowledge about found money and hidden costs and how to bring them to the bottom line (not just identify them).

IEM Group has created many paradigm changes in procurement, supply management, network management, indirect expense management, and finance resulting in lower costs, faster cycles, and teamwork across divisions and subsidiaries.

What is ROI?

ROI stands for Return on Investment. It is a financial ratio used to measure the financial return between competing investment alternatives. This is critical in an age of constrained resources. In general, a 100% return on the investment within the first year is considered outstanding. In the case of supply management, it should refer to the cost savings impact of the organization over the cost of the organization, e.g. $10 million savings with an organizational SG&A of $1 million equals a 10 to 1 or 1,000% ROI. A 100% ROI would be a $1 million savings.
 

How can ROI be abused and misused?

• Consultants, and others, throw around the “ROI” of their work that may have been achieved within specific conditions that may or may not be repeatable. Often, management who have “bought” into the cited ROI are disappointed when the total ROI is less.
• For strategic items or when macro inflation is occurring, ROI may not be the best measure. It must be adjusted by competitive and economic indexes.
   

 
How does IEM Group define its ROI?

The ROI for one specific project and commodity will vary, therefore the total among all projects supported by the measuring organization must be used. In the case of IEM Group Solutions, the cost to run the group becomes the denominator while the cost savings versus prior cost becomes the numerator.
 

What types of Firms benefit from IEM Group's Solutions?

Clearly, any for profit, non-profit, or public sector entity could benefit! Studies show that indirect expenses are typically common across industry and business type.

However, there are business reasons why IEM Group is must evaluate each opportunity. Considerations include:

• Company Size
• Desire to Participate
• Level of Company Sponsor
• Group Dynamics
• Similar buyer-supplier relationship philosophies
• Location…

Generally, IEM Group has a solution for every size company; from start-up to over a billion dollars in revenue. The more employees (spelled expense) the firm has, the higher number of solutions and services that could be mutually economic to pursue. Also, our approach is different depending upon the size client and their needs.

IEM Group encourages everyone to contact us to chat. Clients are often surprised how often we can help.

What advantages are there by using IEM if we presently perform an audit internally? Could my company still realize benefits?

Even the most sophisticated organizations benefit from utilizing external services that give support to and focus on opportunities to reduce costs. Internal processing routines evolve over time from processing millions of procurement transactions. These routines often conceal saving opportunities. By electing to use IEM Group, we will provide you with a complete cost-savings analysis, designed to not only identify saving opportunities, but also capture categories of information not normally reviewed by an A/P auditing firm. This added value ensures that key problem areas are identified, savings and recoveries are realized, and your specific business needs are achieved and maximized.

As a company, we consider our vendor relationships a critical link to our purchasing environment. How does IEM Group protect the sensitivity of those relationships?

Strategic supplier relationship management is a basic tenet of strategic sourcing and another reason why supply management professionals, like those within IEM Group, should be considered.

When recovering funds, suppliers should always be provided with substantiating documentation and given adequate time to review identified claims that have resulted from an audit. Within the framework of our business model, however, we will be working closely with the same supplier community to derive procurement efficiencies. This provides us a much closer working relationship with the suppliers and dramatically improves their willingness to review and bring the claims to resolution. The ultimate goal in our model is to build upon the best relationships and strengthen the buying methodology so both parties realize cost savings and business-to-business efficiencies, making it a win-win at every level.

Does IEM Group provide all the resources, or do you expect your clients to focus significant resources on the projects?

Most of the project resources come from IEM Group and IEM Group’s alliance partners. Each company’s participation requirements will vary but will be least during the Recovery and Analysis stage and increase as projects move up in strategic visibility and organizational development.

Why does IEM Group use alliances and partners?

IEM Group, as the Indirect Expense Management Company™, utilizes Network Development best practices by bringing in the most qualified and experienced teams possible. These teams include third parties whose core competency may be in a specific expense category. IEM Group is a One-Stop-Shop bringing the best Total Value possible to our clients. We are committed to your success and share our profits with others to offer you the best possible service.