E-Tix Mandate At Olsten Moves 90%Olsten Exec. Heads Travel

Melville, N.Y. - Since May 1, when it began moving all of its travelers to electronic tickets, Olsten Corp. has seen $8,000 in savings. The initiative, the brainchild of assistant vice president of procurement Philip Mingin, is part of the staffing and health management company's plan to get a handle on its $12 million travel spend.

Beginning in late April, Mingin, along with his account manager Barbara Finn, sent out an internal policy statement mandating the use of e-tickets unless the traveler specifically requests a paper one. Mingin said 90 percent of all tickets are now being issued electronically, up from about 50 percent. In its first two months, Olsten already has saved $8,000 by not having to issue paper tickets or pay for overnight delivery. Mingin estimated that the program will save the company $60,000 dollars annually.

Traveler compliance "has been a non-issue," Mingin said. "I haven't received one phone call or e-mail that there is a problem."

On the technology side, the company has been reengineering many of its internal processes and procedures that do not relate directly to travel. It will go live with Oracle's enterprise resource planning system this month for accounts payable, purchasing, general ledger and fixed assets, and is moving to PeopleSoft for human resources and payroll. The company also is finalizing work on its corporate intranet, which should roll out companywide by September. Once everyone has access, the current expense report form will be put online.

Olsten has been using Rosenbluth International as its agency since 1993 and last month signed a contract continuation based on a management fee. Rosenbluth also handles the company's hotel program.

Olsten for the past two years has been using Hertz as its car rental vendor and has 98 percent compliance. It also has negotiated discounts with four major airlines. Mingin plans to rebid his corporate card program sometime next year.

Mingin came to Olsten in June 1997 to handle corporate procurement, and took on the travel function in February of this year. Before him, travel was handled by the vice president of administrative services. When that position was abolished in an internal reorganization, senior management saw travel as a natural fit with procurement. Mingin himself did not have a background in travel, save his experience as a frequent traveler, flying 100,000 miles a year for two years.

When he arrived at Olsten, its corporate travel policy was in the process of being revised by a team of division heads. The new policy rolled out companywide in April. In it, post-trip exception reporting remains the standard; all reports now are sent to Mingin and then to the division presidents. Travelers are expected to fly coach class on all flights in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Business class is accepted for all intercontinental flights from North America to Europe and South America.

For the rest of 1998, Mingin will be focusing on improving traveler compliance with corporate travel policy—while "we are really fortunate travelers are doing that, 100 percent is always the goal," he said.