Shelter, one of the three basic human requirements, is a market space that will never fade. With more and more development, buildings are becoming taller and larger in numbers. Although there is a lot of effort involved in their construction, the work doesn’t end there. Maintenance and repair of such structures is also an equally exhaustive task. It involves employing a large distributed labor force, purchasing required materials and a whole host of other operations. So how does one manage such tasks in an efficient and organized manner? Qmerit, an expert in supply chain management for properties, has the answer to this question.
Birthed out of ABM Industries, a Fortune 500 leader in facility solutions with over 120,000 employees, Qmerit already had a fair amount of exposure to the industry even before it commenced operations. The platform was originally envisioned by Tracy K. Price to help ABM bring order to the chaos of managing a liquid workforce consisting of internal, subcontract and contingent labor resources that service and maintain buildings. With the experience gained from building Mesa Energy Systems, FieldCentrix, and The Linc Group, Mr. Price set out to solve the perennial problem of sourcing qualified, skilled labor resources in the building trades.
Qmerit’s original solutions also address the second largest MRO cost item after labor, which are parts and materials. By aggregating the MRO spend of contractors and building engineers, Qmerit built a network of industry-leading suppliers and manufacturers who offer substantial discounts based on significant volume, driving compliance, and providing high-quality services.
The next step in Qmerit’s progression was the launching of its MRO Marketplace, a one-stop shop for companies that service and maintain buildings to source and manage their technical labor resources and to purchase MRO parts and materials at low costs. This brought success for the company following which strategic industry titans like Schneider Electric, and innogy SE invested alongside venture capital and, decided to provide Qmerit with its first outside round of funding.
Qmerit has completely digitized the MRO labor and materials supply chain through its MRO Marketplace. Moreover, Qmerit uses a merit system where contractors and suppliers are rewarded with more businesses based on their performance.
For labor services, Qmerit enables companies to manage their contractors at scale- onboarding, automated compliance, and measuring contractor performance via a proprietary Qmerit Contribution Index (QCI). The QCI scores are reflective of past performance, call back rates, and several other factors. These scores are visible to all stakeholders, and due to continual monitoring service, risks to organizations are reduced.
For MRO parts and materials, the discounts and service levels can be accessed by internal resources and can also be extended to a contractor network. This not only lowers direct costs but also extends these discounts to contractors and lowers indirect costs as most contractors don’t have significant buying power due to their size. These discounts can be accessed through phone orders, the supplier’s store or the website. Qmerit offers a flexible procurement platform that allows buyers to search and purchase from multiple suppliers simultaneously and also allows them to monitor the QCI score of each supplier.
Qmerit also has the BVA (Best Value Algorithm). Implemented on a cloud-based platform, this algorithm enables users to do quick product searches across multiple supplier categories. Qmerit’s platform always finds the best value for the product so that the user can buy at the lowest possible cost. Thanks to Qmerit’s buying power, the company delivers far better value in the supply chain than anyone else.
Apart from all of these great services, Qmerit takes it to the next level by using its technology to meet buyers where they are shopping online and alert them that there are lower total cost options available from its contracted suppliers. The QCI and automated compliance ensure that the customer has access to properly licensed, quality contractors.
Before Qmerit, no one had ever focused on optimizing contractor management and aggregating MRO spends to lower costs. By digitizing the supply chain, Qmerit offers solutions that can benefit everyone including building owners, facility managers, contractors, and suppliers. Qmerit’s strategic relationships and expertise have helped several companies save up to 25% of their total MRO spend.
Qmerit has already proven its potential and expertise in the market. The company has been running successfully since its inception and continues to see an upward trend. Even though Qmerit is a relatively new player in an old-fashioned 100-year-old industry, it has changed the game by delivering top-notch technology and landing multi-billion dollar revenue customers. Based on its track record, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Qmerit achieves its goal of becoming the ultimate destination for MRO parts and materials and technical labor resources.
