How Vontier Fixed Global Contract Chaos

Vontier is a global industrial technology company focused on smarter transportation and mobility. Their portfolio of businesses and market-leading technologies covers three segments – mobility technologies, environmental and fueling solutions, and repair solutions. One of Vontier’s companies, Gilbarco Veeder-Root, which manufactures gas dispensers and service station equipment, faced a familiar but costly problem: thousands of contracts scattered across email threads and shared drives, with no central oversight or approval process.

The consequences were severe. “Employees were signing things without legal being involved, without finance being involved, without procurement being involved,” explains Sarah Durham, Legal Counsel at Vontier Business Services. “And we didn’t find out until we were facing litigation, or when we would get a collection letter saying we owed money.”

This contract leakage problem prompted Vontier to implement Ironclad as their contract lifecycle management (CLM) solution, transforming their legal operations from a reactive, email-based system to a centralized, controlled process that has cut contract turnaround times in half while preventing unauthorized spending.

The challenge: Global scale meets manual processes

Before Ironclad, Vontier’s contract management resembled many growing enterprises: “Employees would send us contracts via email, I’d review it in Word and then save files on a shared drive,” Durham recalls. “It was a nightmare trying to look through all of them, there were thousands. We’re a global company.”

As a global company operating across several business lines, with operations across the world, Vontier’s contract volume spans everything from distributor agreements to service contractor arrangements. 

The manual email-based system created several critical problems:

• Revenue recognition issues: Finance couldn’t access agreements needed to recognize revenue properly or prepare for audits
• Unauthorized spending: Regional teams were signing leases and other contracts outside any approval process
• Legal bottlenecks: Lawyers spent excessive time managing email threads instead of reviewing contracts
• Visibility gaps: Leadership had no insight into contract status, approval workflows, or spending commitments

“The process had gone off the rails too much and we needed to get it under control,” Durham says, describing the company’s mindset when they decided to implement a CLM solution.

Implementation: Region by region rollout

Durham joined Vontier specifically for her CLM experience, arriving during the final vendor selection process. Ultimately, the team chose Ironclad over a procurement tool that offered contract functionality as an add-on feature. 

The Ironclad implementation strategy focused on regional deployment, starting with the United States before expanding to Latin America, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia. 

“We went pretty hard in terms of communicating that we will no longer accept contract submissions via email. We required them to be submitted through Ironclad after a certain day,” Durham says about their enforcement approach.

The company worked directly with Ironclad’s customer success team rather than using implementation partners.

Results: Faster turnaround and better control

The implementation delivered measurable improvements across multiple dimensions:

Contract cycle time reduction

Vontier cut contract processing time significantly. “Our SLA is 7 to 14 days, but if my team ever takes more than 7 days, I’m generally shocked. It’s usually less than that now that we have Ironclad,” Durham said. 

Previously, 14 days or longer was typical due to email back-and-forth. Now for complex agreements, “It’s more like 3-5 days.” For simple agreements like NDAs, processing happens “in about an hour.”

Enhanced visibility and control

The centralized system eliminated the visibility problem that plagued leadership. “My manager can log into Ironclad and see what I’m working on if he wants to,” Durham says, referring to her supervisor’s ability to track contract status in real-time.

More importantly, the system helps prevent contract leakage through built-in approval workflows. “If it didn’t go through Ironclad, it didn’t get reviewed by legal, and our key signers now understand if it does not come from Ironclad, they cannot sign it.”

Operational efficiency gains

The platform enabled automation for routine contract types. Durham built template workflows that allow field service teams to handle service contractor agreements independently: “The field service teams fill it out, it goes to the customer, they fill out their bid, it comes back. It’s all automatic. So we’re not even involved unless the customer tries to change our template.”

Advanced features driving additional value

Vontier continues expanding their Ironclad usage beyond basic contract processing:

• Smart Import: Durham is using Smart Import, leveraging AI to extract contract language from their repository of 10,000 legacy agreements.

• Public Workflows: Recently approved after Durham presented three business use cases, this offering enables end users, customers and prospects to initiate workflows. “I’m launching a new product on Friday, and the workflow is there for the customers to use.”

• Reporting and Insights: Durham has been a regular user of Ironclad Insights, generating monthly reports tracking approval volumes, review times, and user adoption. The most important questions to answer through metrics are: How many approvals did my team do? How many did I do? Which user requested the most? What was the average median time for review?

Career impact and organizational value

For Durham personally, Ironclad expertise became a career differentiator. “This is the biggest job I’ve ever had. So for me, that is overwhelming in itself,” she explains. “No one at my organization can do what I do (at this level). So, Ironclad has given my career stability because I am the only one who can do this.”

The specialized knowledge extends beyond job security. “I know that this will put me ahead not only as a lawyer, but as someone who has specialized training. I’ve now implemented two CLMs,” Durham says. “Our leadership knows who I am because of Ironclad.”

Looking ahead

For Vontier, Ironclad transformed contract management from a reactive cost center to a proactive business enabler. The combination of faster processing, better visibility, and controlled approvals addresses the fundamental challenge that prompted their CLM search: preventing expensive surprises from unauthorized agreements. “It’s exponential,” Durham says about Ironclad’s impact on her work.

As Vontier continues acquiring new companies and expanding new markets, their contract management foundation positions them to scale operations without losing control.

Ironclad’s success at Vontier demonstrates how enterprise legal teams can move beyond simply digitizing contract storage, to creating comprehensive workflow systems that prevent problems before they occur–ultimately protecting the business while enabling growth.