So why reinvent the wheel when DivTRAK® already provides the best on the road? Make DivTRAK® your standard in tracking supplier diversity.

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The Company Avis Rent A Car operates the world's second largest car rental brand, providing business and leisure customers with a wide range of services at more than 1,700 locations in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Latin American/Caribbean region. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cendant Corporation (NYSE: CD), a diversified global provider of business and consumer services primarily within the real estate and travel sectors. A leader in the development and maintenance of a world-class supplier diversity program, Avis has received multiple awards and citations. Most recently, the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) announced Avis as one of America's Top Corporations for Women's Business Enterprises.

Avis' Supplier Business Alliances has created a world-class supplier diversity program through dynamic teamwork and unflinching dedication. From left to right, the group is comprised of Susan Pettit, senior procurement specialist; Lynn A. Boccio, vice president; Torronce Addison, certified paralegal; and Patricia Tagle Maurin, program coordinator.

The Challenge
Avis had two distinct needs for its supplier diversity program. As an airport concessionaire, Avis is mandated by the government to maintain a minimum level of Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs) as vendors. As part of its compliance, the company must furnish aviation boards and mayors of cities in the airports where they reside with customized compliance reports. These reports require distinct content and formatting, and each is often due at varying schedules.

Secondly, Avis maintains a standard corporate supplier diversity program. A proactive and expansive program, it includes both large national MWBEs, such as rubber mat suppliers, and small businesses, such as auto body shops that prepare and repair cars at airport locations.

For all businesses, data must be accurate and efficient. Reports must be prepared and the company must be able to respond to requests for compliance audits at a moment's notice. And as the company grows rapidly – acquiring new organizations and establishing new outlets – it must find a way for its supplier diversity program to seamlessly grow in conjunction.

A tall order to say the least. And without a long-term solution, Avis was losing days and weeks in response time, and sacrificing the accuracy of its information. "The only way to effectively run a program of this magnitude was through an automated system," said Lynn Boccio, vice president of Supplier Business Alliances at Avis. And so the search began.

The Solution
Boccio and her right-hand man, Torronce Addison began investigating the available offerings. Upon encountering Appliedinfo's DivTRAK® solution, the answer was clear. "Other businesses were attempting to compete with DivTRAK®, but they didn't make the cut," said Boccio.

As a certified Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) itself, Appliedinfo inherently understood the issues of certification and compliance. "I didn't have the time to invest in conditioning a majority-owned company," observed Boccio. "The DivTRAK® team had the competency, timeliness, and ability to customize our solution. And they understood all the key issues from their own experience." In DivTRAK®, Avis found a perfect combination of an MWBE small business able to meet the demands of a large corporation.

The Benefits
Since implementing DivTRAK®, the system has successfully grown with Avis. In addition, it has increased the accuracy and efficiency of its supplier diversity program extensively. Reports that used to take days and weeks to complete, now take five minutes.

With such time savings, Addison is now able to complete nearly seven-times as many reports as in the past and focus his attentions on other tasks. But perhaps most importantly, the airports are pleased. Avis has received multiple letters of commendation praising the company's fine reporting and compliance.

Able to ensure accurate data, quickly compile reports, respond to inquiries, and manage all aspects of the Avis supplier diversity program, Boccio comments "DivTRAK® allowed us to do what no other company even thought of."

"Bottom line? We're happy."

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