2017 U.S.-Booked Air
Volume: $51 million
Principal Global Online Booking Tool:
Cytric
Principal Payment Supplier: AirPlus
International
Consolidated Global TMC: BCD
A culture of efficiency and relative conformity laid the
foundation for Daimler's break from travel management complexity in 2017—at
least for the traveler. Daimler began last year to roll out a "digitalized"
program, now known as the FiveStar travel program, to reduce the travel process
to three clicks. Click 1: The traveler confirms on a mobile app where and when
he or she wants to travel and what combination of air, hotel and car rental is
required. Click 2: The app returns a single trip recommendation that the
traveler is expected to approve. Click 3: The traveler approves an expense
report after the system has centrally and invisibly paid for the trip. The
platform emerged from user testing in the U.S. and Canada in 2017 and in 2018
is rolling out to Daimler's Mercedes-AMG division in Stuttgart; there are plans
to go global.
The goal is to recapture 25 million euros in lost employee
productivity tied to administrative tasks associated with travel. Daimler has
outsourced or dispensed with its focus on supplier management in recent years.
It only negotiates airline deals for long-haul routes and has shifted hotel
sourcing to specialist HRS. This has freed internal efforts to focus on
traveler management and finding ways to liberate Daimler travelers to get on
with their work. The company has also eliminated pretrip approval.
Daimler's spend on U.S.-booked air travel rose $3 million in
2017, and the company expects it to rise another $2 million in 2018 to $53
million. The automaker's revenue increased 7.2 percent to 164.3 billion euros
in 2017. Daimler has a single global travel policy.