FCm Travel Solutions has extended its travel management consultancy service with US-based Richardson Electronics Ltd, from North America to more than 30 countries worldwide – including China. FCm was initially appointed to manage corporate travel for Richardson Electronics (RELL) in 2006. Following the company’s successful implementation of travel solutions in North America, FCm is now also responsible for RELL’s travel management in Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

RELL is a global provider of engineered solutions serving the radio frequency, wireless communications, industrial, power conversion and display systems markets. Founded in 1947, the company is headquartered in Illinois USA, and has 50+ office locations worldwide. FCm president USA, Gregory Lording, said RELL required global travel consolidation and seamless implementation of travel management processes.

“RELL wanted to create a more effective travel policy and ensure this policy suited its overall company needs, yet it needed to consider the local cultural nuances of individual countries,” he said. “It also wanted better visibility into its travel expenditure, stronger negotiation with suppliers, and a more strategic approach to travel as a whole. The overall goal was to improve cost effectiveness.”

Mr Lording said FCm’s primary solution was to assist RELL in creating an internal travel committee with representatives from its HR and finance teams, as well as top travellers from each business unit. “This committee was guided and supported by FCm, and has become the driving force behind RELL achieving best practice throughout its travel activity,” he said. “We worked closely with the committee members to review RELL’s entire travel program and identify the areas for improvement. For the first time, RELL was equipped with a single global travel policy to maximise productivity and cost savings. Our solutions also included ongoing education to all company travellers about the implications and benefits of the new policy, as part of a change management plan to garner the strongest level of support for the policy.”

RELL global travel manager, Karen Allen, said FCm won the company’s confidence to manage RELL’s travel worldwide following its effective service in North America. “We had never implemented a travel program globally before, and FCm gave us the strategic direction we needed to achieve consistency and cost control,” she said. "FCm partnered with my team to develop a global vision to ensure our business needs are being met, while maintaining the goals of our Travel & Entertainment team. Through this process, we have developed a true partnership with FCm.”