Overview

Founded in 1855, Samuel, Son & Co., Limited is a leading metal and industrial products manufacturer, processor and distributor, serving various industrial markets through its corporate groups and divisions. Determined to provide high-quality products at a competitive price, this integrated family network leverages its industry expertise, experience and unwavering passion to help North American businesses achieve success. 

A supply chain with many links

Known for being committed to understanding every client’s business challenges in order to provide the best solution, Samuel was facing a complex problem of its own. With a presence throughout North America, the company needed a supply chain solution that could manage the supply of office materials and maintenance products to its factories.

What’s more, the use of personal Amazon accounts for work purchases added yet another challenge. “Instead of using personal accounts, we wanted to have a single shared corporate Amazon account to gain better visibility and optimize the way we manage expenses in all our business units,” explained Katherine Vaillancourt, Director, Indirect Procurement, at Samuel. 

Analyze, centralize, optimize

Amazon Business helped Samuel overcome these challenges, thanks to a wide variety of tools that supported their supply chain needs. Katherine said, “Amazon Business offers a number of benefits to companies that operate in many locations across different countries. Plus, the platform is easy to use and access, which means a streamlined way to manage business operations.”

Account Authority, which allows a company to establish ownership over an official business account, helped Samuel switch over from personal Amazon Business accounts to a single corporate account. The Add Users feature also simplified managing users who are authorized to make purchases on behalf of the company and made it easier for different business units to coordinate among themselves. 

Thanks to turnkey reports and dashboards, the Business Analytics tools improved spend monitoring and cost control for the entire supply chain. It provided Samuel with valuable data, which it used to make informed budgetary decisions. “Spend visibility is a crucial part of financial management, and Amazon Business offers access to relevant information on all the companies within our network,” said Katherine.

Significant savings

As a member of Business Prime, Samuel also enjoyed access to an even larger selection of tools and features to optimize its expenses and take advantage of opportunities to save. “Cost savings opportunities are a key deliverable of our national programs,” said Katherine, who plans to continue this successful collaboration in 2024. “Our relationship is just beginning, and we’re thrilled at the prospect of taking our strategic partnership with Amazon Business even further.” In particular, Samuel would like to set up a Guided buying system to suggest products at the best prices to its local buyers, as well as take advantage of Bulk buying to purchase IT peripherals in large quantities.

All in all, Amazon Business tools offer an integrated solution that has given Samuel a better overview of supply and spend management, which has translated into at least 10% saved annually across Canada and the U.S.