Brief | LincAdvantage IMG

How it works LincAdvantage is one of TLG’s portal extranet sites that runs on Microsoft Office SharePoint. It is designed to allow anonymous access by vendors, authenticated access to registered vendors and preferred partners, and general access by employees and franchisees.

A simple search feature allows users to look for a category, product, service, or a specific item or vendor. By allowing our preferred partners to maintain their own program pages and submit purchase history reports, LincAdvantage extends to all users the ability to view business unit participation, savings earned from purchases, as well as compel others who have not used the program to do so.

Through the program pages, partners have the autonomy to market their products and services directly to their Linc consumers.

News | Reviews TLG National Purchasing Director: “LincAdvantage helps our employees find the products they use, the partners they need to contact, and the purchase history numbers required to help the company earn even greater savings as a whole.”

Summary As usage of our National Purchasing Program increases, so will the savings and our ability to negotiate even better deals with our preferred partners.

LincAdvantage is just that...an advantage that we are empowered and privileged to have, and sets us apart from our competition. It helps us meet our RAF mantra of: Respected by our Customers, Admired by Employees, and Feared by our Competitors.

Available links

Benefits

General links that will provide you with additional details:

 Increased usage of preferred partner programs

 Anonymous access for vendors:

that will deliver a higher combined savings for our organization

 Visibility to all the programs and the products and services offered

 Ability to set Alerts provides automated notification when new partners, products and services, or special offerings are available

 Automation of vendor registration, preferred partner approval, and purchase history reporting provides the National Purchasing Team with more time to focus on new negotiations

IMG Product Brief

http://partners.thelincgroup.com/apps/ lincadvantage/partners/Pages/default.aspx

 Registered vendors access—user name and password required: https://tlgpartners.thelincgroup.com/apps/ lincadvantage/partners/Pages/default.aspx

 Linc employee and franchisee access: https://tlgpartners.thelincgroup.com/apps/ lincadvantage/default.aspx

 Partners have a forum to market their wares directly to Linc consumers User impact

 Central repository of all things related to TLG’s

LincAdvantage

National Purchasing Program

 An easy to use search engine when looking for a product, service or specific vendor.

 A safe environment for vendors, preferred partners, employees and franchisees to collaborate

 Management and business units are given visibility to purchase history reports as a tool to compel usage by all employees

Information Management Group (IMG) Primary location: 152 Technology, Irvine, CA imginfo@thelincgroup.com Brief code: 20090910

TLG National Purchasing Program Portal

Information Management Group (IMG) imginfo@thelincgroup.com

Overview In 2006, TLG launched a National Purchasing Program designed to leverage the organization’s combined purchasing power. The program establishes a vendor as a “preferred” partner from whom products and services can be purchased at the nationally negotiated discounted prices.

Preferred partners are chosen on their ability to serve our diverse business units nationally and their proven products and services. While the program has grown since its introduction, it needed greater visibility.

In 2007, the LincAdvantage portal interface was created to help promote the National Purchasing Program and provide an easy way for employees and vendors to access and use the site.

Current situation In the first year alone, business units that utilized LincAdvantage realized valuable savings in excess of $6 million! Savings continue to grow daily as more and more employees use the program.

To date, LincAdvantage is home to 40+ preferred partners. The ability to search by partner, products and services provides users with easy access to program information at the click of a mouse.

Some of the categories and partners we have in place today are:

 Employee Discount Programs: Dell, Enterprise Car Rental, Ford, Grainger, Microsoft, Sears, Sherwin Williams

 HVAC Consumables: Alps, Baker, United Refrigeration

 MRO: Fastenal, Grainger  Special Services: Escalator Cleaning Co., Mintie Technologies, Water Treatment Solutions

 Uniforms: Cintas, Unifirst There is new information every day, so set your Alerts to be automatically notified of any changes.

Promotional considerations Consider using the purchase history reports to compel usage at the business unit and operating location level. Urge advocates to set Alerts on behalf of other employees to be notified of LincAdvantage activity.

Technical requirements | End users

 LincAdvantage Employee User Training available through our Corporate University.

Course Name: MGMT 1004_Enterprise Management  LincAdvantage Vendor User Training available through the anonymous access site of LincAdvantage; contact the National Purchasing Director for assistance.

Technical requirements | Authentication; servers

 A CORP domain user name is required to use LincAdvantage; all Linc employees have access to LincAdvantage by default.  Non-Linc employees such as franchisees who do not have a TLG provided PC, must be provided a TLGDMZ domain user name.

Contact your business unit evangelist for assistance.

Data sheet | Front-end overview Minimum PC requirements for optimum user experience:

       

=/> 384K internet speed connection Windows operating system, XP or greater 1024 X 768 + monitor resolution =/> Microsoft Office 2003; 2007 is ideal for full Office Suite integration Pentium 4 1 GB ram minimum 1.2 gigahertz processor Level 1 web browser takes advantage of advanced features provided by ActiveX controls and provides the most complete user experience. Level 1 browsers offer full functionality on all SharePoint sites:

— Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.X or higher Data sheet | Back-end overview The back-end architecture is provided by TLG according to Microsoft specifications and industry best practices.

Information Management Group (IMG) Primary location: 152 Technology, Irvine, CA imginfo@thelincgroup.com