Marriott Bedding Program

CASE STUDY

Marriott Bedding Program

Marriott International Uses Project Management to Upgrade Bedding Worldwide
Headquartered in Washington, DC, Marriott International, Inc. The program manager was strongly supported by the
is one of the leading hospitality companies in the world with Lodging Program Management Office. Her duties included
more than 2,400 properties in 68 countries and territories. maintaining communication among all parties, conducting
As a management company, Marriott is responsible for regular team meetings with clear agendas covering upcoming
daily operations in both company-operated and franchised milestones, identifying issues or risks and recognizing major
properties. Marriott has an extensive portfolio of brands accomplishments. She facilitated communication between
including full-service hotels and resorts, limited-service hotels the various headquarters’ teams, regional teams and
like Fairfield Inn by Marriott and corporate housing such as properties, identifying and employing the most appropriate
Marriott ExecuStay. In 2004, Marriott International set out to method of communications depending upon the type of
upgrade their bedding across all Marriott brands by providing information being conveyed and the urgency of the message.
new sheeted duvet covers, soft linens, down pillows and
pillow-top mattresses for their customers. Challenges
One of the most ambitious projects undertaken by Marriott
Background International, the Bedding Program produced several
The Marriott Bedding Program set out to develop and challenges on a global scale that the company had to
implement a bedding package for over 628,000 beds across overcome throughout the project lifecycle if it was going to
10 Marriott lodging brands in two years, giving Marriott a new prove successful in the end.
look and more comfortable amenities. The US$190 million
global renovation required seamless coordination of resources Marriott had an existing bedding standard prior to the
from interior design, operations, finance, owner relations and Bedding Program initiative in 2004. However, with the
public relations. differing ages of hotels and different brands came a great
deal of variation in bedding specifications. In some cases,
In addition to transforming the Marriott brand, the finished mattresses, especially in limited service hotels, were of
product gave the company an important advantage and various heights. In order to comply with the new standards,
unique selling point over competitors. As bedding choices some properties had to purchase new mattresses. Other
became a focal point of lodging industry competition, it was properties had to order special linens for higher mattresses.
imperative for Marriott to conform to a tight project timeline Box springs were different heights off the floor so properties
with strong compliance across the Marriott system in order to had to precisely measure bed heights from the floor to the
reap the rewards of competitive advantage. top of the box spring in order to purchase bed skirts of the
appropriate length. King-sized beds existed in three different
The new bedding was part of a comprehensive initiative sizes, impacting the length and width of sheets that had to
to transform the look and feel of all Marriott brands to be ordered. With so many moving parts and dependencies
create a more comfortable hotel experience for all guests and 21 internal project teams, the project scope became
Thus the project team, composed of Project Management a clear challenge. Project teams had to work across time
Professional (PMP®)-certified project managers managed zones, languages and a variety of cultures and government
by a program manager out of Marriott’s Lodging Program regulations to achieve a successful outcome, making effective
Management Office (PMO), conducted extensive market, and efficient communication and coordination a significant
product development and product and operational testing challenge.
research to get inside the minds of their customers and affirm
that the linens products adhered to their requirements.
Marriott Bedding Program

Stakeholder endorsement of the Marriott Bedding photos, the internet and Marriott intranet to communicate
Program was essential for implementation since owners to the global audiences affected by the program. Solid record
and franchisees would bear primary responsibility for the keeping and documentation also played a large part in
necessary financial investment. Owners and franchisees keeping the team organized with the numerous elements of
are required to comply with Marriott standards and the the project.
introduction of new operational measures, but if they are not
supportive of a change, the implementation process can be In addition, the project had several levels and processes,
significantly delayed. In addition, at the time of the Bedding all depending on project teams and milestones, thus it was
Program, some properties had just opened and the new important to ensure that dependencies between project
bedding standards required them to dispose of relatively new teams and key milestones were identified in a timely manner.
linens, which posed a financial burden for some. For example, a priority for one project team might require
the support of a second project team, but might not be a
With more than 143,000 employees worldwide and over priority for the second team. The program manager had
200 direct project associates, implementation of the bedding to help facilitate these issues in order to keep the project
program required significant changes in hotel management within the set objectives - timeframe, budget and expected
processes. Thousands of people including housekeepers results. Project requirements were documented and publicly
and laundry associates had to learn how to switch the new discussed at the very beginning of the program. As the project
bedding out and also maintain the new standard form for each progressed, new requirements or additional scope changes
room and each linen change. Training had to be specific to the were evaluated against the initial requirements and risks
bedding packages designed for different brands. Additionally, identified.
property management teams needed to be educated about
the rationale for the bedding change and the linen ordering To combat the challenge brought on by variations in product
process. Other training complications centered on a language sizing and mattress heights. Marriott asked individual hotels
barrier between property managers and housekeeping and simple questions and converted the answers into a database
laundry associates and the need to train all staff at the same that helped the Procurement Team create a preliminary order
level. In addition, some properties experienced staff turnover and cost estimate for each hotel. This information also aided
during the implementation process, requiring additional the team in planning, manufacturing and distribution needs.
training for new personnel. Properties were trained in the use of the inventory model
through telephone conference calls.
Much of the bedding Marriott sought was manufactured and
distributed from overseas companies. This created a six- With over 10 different brands, Marriott had to devise a plan
month lag time between the time an order was placed and to adapt the bedding to each brand’s identity. To do this,
when linens were delivered. In addition, across all brands the two core bedding teams were established: one responsible
Bedding Program involved over 1,850 different products such for Marriott’s full service brands and one for the limited
as mattresses, pillows, sheets, pillow cases, etc., which posed service brands. These teams were in charge of identifying
a challenge of tracking and distribution. the new bedding concept for each brand, developing the
specifications to support those concepts, projecting system-
wide implementation costs and on-going operating costs,
Solutions conducting market research with consumers, testing products
In order to address the challenges brought on by such a in hotels, establishing the new bedding standards, creating
multifaceted project, Marriott’s PMO needed to set forth training and implementation materials to ensure proper
specific processes and procedures to keep the lines of execution and conducting conference calls with properties
communication open between the different departments and during implementation to provide assistance and monitor
levels of involvement in the project. progress.

The massive scope of the Bedding Program presented a Customer research proved critical to gaining the support of
challenge in itself. To bring the project down to size, the team owners and franchisees as it demonstrated the compelling
implemented several project management techniques, the guest desire for new bedding. Additionally, product testing
most important being communication. Project teams used in properties was essential to show that the new bedding
meetings, emails, status reports, memos, conference calls, could be properly implemented in hotels of various sizes.
conferences, wordless videos, how-to videos and pamphlets, Negotiating competitive pricing was important, especially to

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Marriott Bedding Program

those hotel owners who opened a new property within a year Results
of the Bedding Program. Marriott negotiated with vendors
With the help of more than 200 employees worldwide
to obtain the best possible pricing so that owners would be
participating in the program as members of specialized
encouraged to use
project teams, the Marriott Bedding Program completed the
Marriott’s procurement process. The negotiation process conversion of 628,000 beds into a fresh, white, luxurious yet
proved to be a challenge itself since Marriott could not modern ideal of comfort on March 31, 2006, two years after
forecast the volume of bedding purchases until the orders commencement. The project came in under budget at US$190
were placed, but owners would not commit to purchasing million with 95 percent of properties converted over by the
the bedding without price quotes. The procurement team end of Q1 2006.
negotiated preliminary pricing, prepared property-specific
quotes for all properties and then obtained signed agreements Marriott Bedding Program Key Achievements
from the owners. Continuous communication proved
■■ The project accomplished sponsor goals of large
invaluable to gaining the support from property owners and
improvements in guest satisfaction and revenue
franchisees.
improvement. Market research has shown that increases
To resolve the challenges brought on by Marriott’s complex in guest satisfaction translate into customers’ intent to
procurement process, Marriott contracted an outside return to the hotel for another stay, resulting in higher
distribution company to receive, repackage and ship the bulk revenue.
of the bedding to the properties. This allowed the properties
■■ The individual property owners are pleased with the
to receive complete orders - a Marriott requirement that
results as they are seeing higher revenue at their
reduced the risk of storage complications at properties that
individual hotel properties.
received items piece-meal. Within Marriott, each distribution
team was responsible for tracking actual and projected ■■ With the help of the Marriott public relations team, the
shipments and shortfalls by item, by week. The distributions project received a large amount of media exposure in
and procurement teams met with vendors every week to addition to several awards for their initiatives.
review manufacturing schedules and overseas shipping status
reports and plan how to address shortfalls. ■■ Through the linen reuse program, individual properties
are achieving an 11 to 17 percent savings on hot water
To overcome language barriers while training staff, the project and sewer bills in addition to helping conserve energy
team developed wordless training videos and job aides with and water.
photos to demonstrate how the beds should be made. To
keep up with staff turnover, Marriott leveraged an intranet ■■ The Marriott Bedding Program was a top three finalist
web site where department or initiative information could for Project Management Institute’s 2007 Project of the
be posted and easily accessed. Additionally, the project team Year award.
conducted property conference calls during the ordering
process and when the linens were shipped to reinforce written
communications and ensure no confusion was created by a
change in managers.

In addition to the transformation of all bed linens

across all Marriott brands and properties, the company
saw an opportunity to save money and become more
environmentally friendly through the establishment of a linen
reuse program. The program mandates linens to be changed
only as needed, upon guest request and between stays. This
allows the hotels to conserve energy and water as well as
reduce energy costs.

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