Benchmarking Hits Home for Green Tree Facilities

 

 

Recommended cost reductions projected up to 42%

 

 

Green Tree Servicing LLC, the St. Paul-based financial services company, recently discovered opportunities to reduce its facilities management costs by as much as 42 percent in certain areas while also improving the overall service levels in its largest properties in three different cities: St. Paul, Tempe, Ariz. and Rapid City, SD. 

 

Those cost-reduction opportunities were revealed through a corporate facilities benchmarking study conducted by the United Properties Corporate Real Estate Services Group on behalf of Green Tree. 

 

In December 2004, United Properties conducted a comprehensive needs assessment and operations analysis of Green Tree's three largest corporate facilities as part of its new facilities management contract. 

 

"We were looking for a more streamlined facilities management approach, one that would significantly reduce our operating costs through strategic vendor management and improve our operational efficiencies at the same time," said Jerry Hersman, director of Corporate Real Estate for Green Tree.

 

The 46-page report for Green Tree management provided recommendations for obtaining significant cost reductions in four areas: 42 percent reduction in mailroom costs; 24 percent reduction in staffing costs; 22 percent reduction in housekeeping costs; and 7 percent reduction in energy costs 

 

"In a lot of these areas, we were able to recommend ways to both increase the level of service and reduce costs," said Bruce Williams, senior facilities manager, United Properties Cost Reduction Solutions Group. Those cost savings will continue to accrue to the company's advantage for the long-term, Williams noted. "The advantage to these types of savings is that once they're completed, they're gone from the corporate cost system for good," he said.

 

Green Tree is aggressively implementing the recommended action steps for achieving substantial cost reductions and program efficiencies. "The results greatly exceeded the targets I initially hoped to achieve," said Hersman. "United Properties is now a key partner in my overall Corporate Real Estate Program. I now strongly rely on them for the delivery of their expertise, team-based solutions, state-of-the-art technology and industry-wide best practices and achieving necessary program effectiveness and cost-cutting solutions."