Member Spotlight
ISG Office Concepts, Inc.
Reinvention and Diversification For Continued Business Success
Joanne D.F. Santomauro,
President and CEO
ISG Office Concepts, Inc.
A little over five years ago, the management team at ISG Office Concepts, Inc. led by Joanne D.F. and Frank J. Santomauro decided that to continue to grow in what seemed to be a slowing market, a new direction had to be introduced within the company. Coupled with this fact, the company realized that the current market was changing on a daily basis. Fortune 500 companies were merging to solidify their positions, large companies were attempting to go public and small to mid sized independent organizations were closing their doors without notice. All this was going on right before our eyes while the media was telling us life is good – business as usual!
No need to rehash the sequence of events that led to the demise of our financial markets and the impact on business as we ever knew it. Double digit unemployment, hundreds of business going out of business, customers tightening up their purse strings – the saga goes on and on and there seems to be no end in sight.
Santomauro’ and their team believed that the company had a bit of a head start in combating the current downturn when it launched its new division Ancillare. Ancillare embraced the over thirty year experiences of ISG, it leveraged the company’s ability to manage the supply chain, it expanded the company’s delivery scope to the global marketplace, and it implemented programs to externalize many of the costs within our customers’ organizations. These programs greatly impacted our customers’ bottom lines by offering value added services and by delivering increased operational efficiency all of which resulted in documented customer savings of over 35%. Our customers were very impressed and happy to say the least!
Long story short, Ancillare has experienced double digit growth within the past two years. We have broadened our product offerings to include advertising specialties, medical supplies and devices, food products, exercise equipment, drug supply for comparator drug sourcing as well as enhanced deliverable customer services such as clean room kitting, customer specific inventory management programs, hazmat certifications, and cold storage capabilities. We transformed ourselves from a commodity driven company within a commodity driven industry to a unique organization where immediate growth can be achieved organically and quickly.
The company is serving a host of diverse organizations including such renowned organizations as the Mayo and Cleveland Clinics, several major pharmaceutical, CRO, and bio-medical institutions, financial organizations, insurance companies, cable companies… the list goes on and on. The company’s scope is as far reaching as South America, India, China, Russia, and the EU. We’ve even shipped goods to the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Of course, all of this diversification and reinvention could not have occurred without the assistance of proven experts in the field. The Santomauro’ teamed with their son Jonathan, now a student in a five year MBA program at the prestigious Johnson School of Management at Cornell University. The duo utilized Jonathan’s incredible acumen for strategic and organizational development and implementation, as well as the Cornell Business Alumni Network and the E-Lab to further enhance the plan and drive it to market. “We grew our existing teams by offering education programs, we hired experienced/best in the field individuals, we consulted with and hired contractors who were experts in supply chain management, logistical solutions and quality control. We sought the advice of team builders, forecasters and analysts and we reached out to federal agencies to guide us in the import/export processes. The final outcome – projected sales forecast for 2010 based on contracts signed, pending in house purchase orders scheduled to ship, and pending RFP’s are expected to increase six times over current 2009 sales ,” claims Joanne Santomauro. “More incredible is that all our forecasts are attributed to organic growth within the organization – we are not merging, we are not buying up competitors, we are simply doing it ourselves! Lastly and most incredibly, our teams are happy, they feel an innate sense of value and success, our bottom line is rich and there is no end in sight,” says Santomauro.
What’s the message to fellow independent organizations? “Look within your company, diversify your offerings, become better at what you do, reach out to experts in the field that will help you leap rather than creep, utilize your supply chain experts, observe what they do best and make your offerings better. Embrace and understand your areas of expertise and modify and enhance them to achieve added success, look to your customers and offer programs that will increase their overall efficiency and reduce their bottom line costs. Never, ever become complacent or satisfied with where you are in your business plan. Always remember that organic growth is one of the key indicators of true success and above all….assure that the mantra of your management, sales, customer service and logistics teams is “the price of a product is not the true cost…it is the overall cost of the goods plus the internal operational structure that impacts our customers’ bottom lines… For it is not what you procure but how your procure it™!”
ISG Office Concepts, Inc. had its beginning in a bedroom of the home of Joanne and Frank Santomauro. Back in 1978, the duo then at a very young twenty something, sold, picked, packed and shipped orders to their customers. The delivery van was a parent’s borrowed Ranchero – an open backed vehicle that prohibited deliveries on rainy days! Wow, have those days changed!
TriMega Purchasing Association
847-699-3330 | www.trimega.org
5600 N. River Road, Suite 700| Rosemont, IL 60018
