BLANKSPACES brings order and efficiency to purchasing chaos

Elizabeth Nowlin, Facilities Manager, is in charge of staff management, delegation, and managing supplies purchasing for office materials, decorations, facilities, and more.

The problem

Unscalable purchasing: Location expansions added chaos to an already messy purchasing process

No standardization: Every location had different purchasing tools and needs

Difficulty tracking orders: Unable to seamlessly get the right supplies to the right locations

Before Order.co, BLANKSPACES struggled to manage a purchasing process that scaled linearly in time and complexity as locations were added. Each location came equipped with its own credit card, vendor list, and unique purchases that needed to be made. Elizabeth recalls, “The system was chaotic, and we knew that it was just going to keep getting worse if we didn't implement something new.”

The disjointed process made ordering, tracking, and reviewing purchases difficult. “We need to be able to review the purchases and know where things are going,” Elizabeth says while discussing such challenges, "It was not rare that someone would ask, "Who ordered this?" With 5 locations to manage, Elizabeth states, "We were constantly running out of supplies,” and with so much to accomplish at the company,“We didn't want our staff to have to go out and buy things when they ran out – it was disruptive.”

The solution

With the expansion of 3-5 locations in sight, the problem needed to be addressed quickly. BLANKSPACES partnered with Order.co in the fall of 2017 to improve communication and overall efficiency around purchasing.

For Elizabeth's team, everyday processes instantly became easier: “We have a one-stop shop for purchasing and shopping for the offices.” Order.co eliminated the stressful task of using separate credit cards for different locations.

Elizabeth comments that the new system has "given us a seamless and easy procedure for both myself and my staff."

The outcome

Super-simple scaling

Expanding to new locations, a formerly daunting process, was similarly simplified. Elizabeth says that when opening up BLANKSPACES' Irvine location, "We were able to place one massive order in one cart for all our stuff – kitchen supplies, reception supplies, desks, and planters. It was easy because there was one credit card, one order, one everything. And then, it took only five minutes to set up that location's account and ordering process.

Powerful vendor network

BLANKSPACES also noticed a drop in both time and money spent procuring the items for their locations. “Since Order.co handles all the sourcing and price checking for us, we don’t need to wonder or worry if our staff is getting the best deal,” Elizabeth expressed.