Woolworths at Work enables Big Childcare to have more time to care and more time to grow

Providing education and care to over 12,000 children during an average vacation care period, Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) provider, Big Childcare knows a thing or two about keeping hungry children fed with nutritious and healthy food options.

 

Ensuring those options are delivered to services in a timely and efficient manner, especially with the supply chain challenges caused by COVID-19, has been somewhat more of a challenge, and with the increasing administrative burdens being placed on its rapidly growing network, the provider found itself seeking any way possible to save its busy leaders time, effort and energy. 

 

Meal times in ECEC are a high priority for children and staff alike. With over 170 monthly grocery invoices coming in across the network, finding a new supplier who could make this process smoother was a priority for Big Childcare. When evaluating their options, Big Childcare was attracted to the simplicity and streamlining offered by Woolworths at Work. With a network that was continuing to expand, a big selling point was that adding new shoppers and sites was hassle free.  

 

A tailored solution designed to save time 

 

One of the biggest, and most immediate improvements that Big Childcare Operations Manager Erica Mihalakis noticed when moving to Woolworths at Work was that the “seemingly endless” trickle of invoices was reduced to just one. 

 

What was previously “a mundane process” of manual data entry, reconciliation and “back and forth” between shoppers and finance teams was now one simple invoice, once per month. As a result of the switch, the accounts payable team experienced a 50 per cent reduction in administrative time, driving productivity upwards. 

 

The Woolworths at Work Account Management team offer Big Childcare a consistent point of contact and ongoing support. The change led not only to efficient onboarding of new services, taking the pressure off head office, but having an additional port of call has also meant that services are supported to cope with the challenges of COVID-19, with fluctuating attendance numbers and supply chain disruptions leaving leaders pressed for time. 

 

When a procurement solution is designed to work around an organisation or business, it frees up its most important resource – time. For care providers like Big Childcare, reduced administration and easy shopping means more time focussed on the children and long term growth plans.

 

Customised offerings make life easier for service level staff 

 

Continuing to focus on saving service leaders and educators time and stress, Woolworths at Work committed to working with staff on the ground in Big Childcare services across New South Wales and Victoria, providing a tailored product range, saveable shopping lists, and repeat orders. 

This simplified the purchasing process, and same day and next day delivery options made an immediate impact on operations and the capacity of the team to respond to the needs of children and families, and keeping up with the challenging moments of the pandemic. 

 

Increased visibility into operational budgets 

 

As well as providing ongoing support for Big Childcare’s finance and shopper teams, Woolworths at Work’s Account Management team works with Big Childcare’s strategic leaders to deliver long term value – being a great partner isn’t just about helping with the day to day stuff after all.

“That fact we can just log on, see where we’re at, see what we’re spending for each service is a lot easier from a head office perspective, especially as our operations span a lot of locations. Our experience to date has been fantastic.” Ms Mihalakis said, highlighting one of the benefits of making the switch to Woolworths at Work. 

To learn more about Woolworths at Work and how they can support ECEC services with managing their procurement needs, please see here.