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reduction in contractor selection and approval time
to qualify and approve new contractors
Avetta helped cut Vertical Limit’s contractor approval time by over 50% while improving safety and compliance across its projects.
As a leading provider of infrastructure services to the wireless telecommunications industry, Vertical Limit plans, builds, modifies, optimises and maintains wireless networks across North America. Mobile phone masts are located in all types of environments – from swampland to remote mountain tops to city streets – and they must all be accessed by Vertical Limit at times of repair or replacement.
Because these masts can have technical issues at any time of day or night, the company depends on contractors to supplement staff whenever and wherever they are needed. With human safety a primary concern at these worksites, recruiting qualified, tried-and-tested contractors is an essential component of Vertical Limit’s business. “Unlike traditional service companies, we send our contractors to places where few people have been before. Finding and approving qualified contractors is a time-and resource-intensive manual process that can take weeks,” said Justin Gillette, Director of Risk Management at Vertical Limit.
Working on mobile phone masts tens of metres above the ground can be a risky endeavour if not done to exacting standards. With a zero-incident philosophy, Vertical Limit’s staff needed to move beyond its manual processes to an effective platform to pre-qualify potential contractors for its growing business. “At Vertical Limit, safety is at our core. We live and breathe it every day. We need to be sure qualified people are on our projects, ensuring everyone comes home safely,” said Eric Bicknese, CEO of Vertical Limit.
Vertical Limit began working with Avetta as a supplier in 2013 and was impressed with the quality of the solution and training capabilities. When they decided to become a customer of Avetta in 2017, the choice was easy for several reasons. “Many of the large wireless carriers and other industry players were already using the Avetta solution. In addition, 60% of our existing subcontractors were in the system,” said Gillette. “Consolidating information on a single industry platform simplified the search process for us, so we can find qualified contractors much faster.”
With Vertical Limit’s previous experience on the Avetta platform, the transition from supplier to customer was rapid and seamless.
“It’s great to work with a vendor that has deep wireless service provider experience. Avetta understands our business and our urgent need for an effective database of highly qualified contractors. They had us up and running in under three months.”
– Eric Bicknese, CEO, Vertical Limit
With over 300 clients and 57,000 contractor companies in over 120 countries, Avetta’s network played a major role in Vertical Limit’s decision to partner with Avetta. Access to the large database of qualified contractors and the ability to search easily by location, trade and diversity metrics are standard with all Avetta subscriptions. “The ability to find new contractors provides substantial time savings for our contractor search, review and approval process. It’s improved our efficiency by 50% or more,” said Gillette.
Vertical Limit’s ability to collect and store pre-qualification information without using internal resources was significantly improved with Supplier Pre-Qualification. To further streamline the process, Avetta’s team of experts work with Vertical Limit’s contractors to collect all information and verify it for accuracy.
The solution enables quick and easy onboarding of new and existing suppliers and access to all qualification information from any web-enabled device for a consistent view of the Vertical Limit supply chain.
Avetta’s auditing service enables Vertical Limit to minimise supply chain risk with detailed visibility into how their contractors perform critical safety procedures. With Supplier Audits, Vertical Limit gained valuable insights into their contactors through detailed reviews of safety manuals, training logs, onsite implementation, as well as best practice guidance from Avetta’s safety experts. To provide a complete view of their contractors’ safety, the solution provides comprehensive reports, with written and photographic accounts of positive safety practices, areas for improvement and recommendations.
Insurance Monitoring offers a single repository for all suppliers and contractor insurance documentation to simplify supply chain risk management. The solution allows Vertical Limit’s suppliers and contractors to easily submit Certificates of Insurance to the Insurance Monitoring platform, where Avetta insurance professionals review them and confirm that client-defined limits have been met. When a contractor’s status changes, the solution also provides automatic alerts that notify Vertical Limit. “It's great to have all the insurance information in one location. We can easily send, track, time-stamp and report on all alerts to ensure our information is up to date and all of our contractors and suppliers are aware of new policies,” said Gillette.
With the Avetta network, Supplier Pre-Qualification, Supplier Audits and Insurance Monitoring, Vertical Limit has improved search efficiency by over 50%, with instant access to thousands of contractors across the USA. The company has also reduced supply chain risks with in-depth supplier audits and verification of contractor safety compliance and insurance. The solution has enabled geographical prioritisation and screening of specific regions. Streamlining its search and pre-qualification process with Avetta solutions has also allowed Vertical Limit to commit to new projects faster. “Before working with Avetta, it could take weeks to find and qualify contractors for projects in new locations. Now, we can identify and approve contractors in less than one week, which allows us to accept more projects,” said Gillette.
“We have always used cutting-edge technology to help us remain nimble and efficient in all areas of business. In that respect, Avetta’s vendor pre-qualification solution more that fits the bill.”
– Eric Bicknese, CEO, Vertical Limit
Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Wanamingo, Minnesota, Vertical Limit is a leading provider of infrastructure services in the wireless telecommunications industry. Wanamingo, MN (with regional offices across the USA).
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