Supplier News
1 December 2011
Supply Chain Event
A Construction, Infrastructure and Enablers Strategic Framework (CIESF) supplier event was held in Birmingham on Monday 28th November.
All of the 10 prequalified bidders attended a meeting to outline the project and to discuss the best way of commercially packaging the contract to achieve the best results from the supply base.
Later in the day the wider Tier III suppliers were invited to discuss their service with each bidder, allowing supply chains to be formed and relationships at levels developed. Over 100 delegates from across the country visited find out how they could be involved.
John Vieth, Supply Chain Development Manager, said: “this was a good example of how our we can create vertically aligned and robust supply chains that will deliver our requirements in the future.”
3rd October 2011
Supply chain event attracts 450 delegates
An audience of 450 representatives attended a Nuclear Supply chain conference where they heard key messages from across the NDA estate.
This first estate-wide national event was the direct result of supply chain feedback, said NDA’s Head of Supply Chain Optimisation Ron Gorham. “We’ve been hearing consistent messages that our suppliers were looking for an authoritative event where real announcements were made by senior leaders from across our industry, and that’s precisely what they got.”
Presentations were given on: the National Programme by the NDA’s Delivery Director Mark Lesinski, which aims to deliver national solutions to national problems, and the Collaborative Procurement Programme by Magnox’s Commercial Director Peter Walkden, which currently covers some 60 different activities totalling some £2.2 billion. A key aspect was a range of new initiatives across the NDA estate aimed at increasing support for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), announced by Sellafield’s Commercial Director Keith Case.
The initiatives include:
• A single estate-wide portal which Tier 2 contractors will be encouraged to use to advertise their work alongside that of the SLCs.
• A simplified generic Pre-Qualification Questionnaire which should be capable of being maintained by the Supply Chain to avoid the costly activity of responding to numerous requests for similar information.
NDA’s Commercial Director Sean Balmer then announced the simplification and standardisation of NDA’s own contract flow-down conditions which will be formally released from January 2012.
The morning session also heard from NDA’s Business Planning Director John Clarke and the CEO Tony Fountain, who each highlighted the importance of the supply chain to NDA’s mission. Via videolink, Lord Marland, the DECC Minister responsible for the NDA, also set the wider HMG challenge.
Two case studies were presented by supply chain companies: Costain with their Tier 3 partner Harry Peers Steelwork and Interserve with their Tier 3 partner Cara Construction. All outlined the challenges and benefits of working in the NDA estate.
The afternoon session was dominated by a Meet the Buyer event where 25 Tier 2s met representatives from the SME community to share opportunities and increase transparency. Supply chain professionals from across the NDA estate also shared their procurement plans and took the audience through the systems and processes used to advertise and award contracts.
3 October 2011:
New measures to support smaller businesses
A collaborative drive is under way to shape proposals for increasing the access of smaller businesses to the £1.36 billion spent each year with the supply chain across the NDA estate.
The NDA, along with its Site Licence Companies (SLCs), main contractors and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) will be developing practical measures over the coming months.
The initiative arose from a workshop in Manchester, attended by around 60 delegates representing a range of organisations including the NDA, SMEs, business support groups, SLCs and Tier 2 contractors.
Discussion focused around the challenges facing SMEs wishing to access decommissioning opportunities including geographic limitations, difficulties of competing against existing relationships, lack of manpower resources for lengthy tender processes, complex and time-consuming nuclear protocols, regulatory procedures and impenetrable nuclear language.
Noting these challenges, delegates heard from John Stobbart, Managing Director of Stobbarts Ltd, who had started out as a self-employed contractor and built his Cumbrian civil maintenance business, employing 250 people and providing services to Sellafield, over more than 20 years. Mr Stobbart said one of the greatest strengths of small companies such as Stobbarts was the capacity to remain flexible and responsive to clients’ needs.
Delegates then developed a series of principles covering the use of SMEs and went on to suggest a wide range of possible improvements.
Among the numerous suggestions were:
- A standardised, transferable pre-qualification questionnaire for the estate
- A single web portal containing providing information on tender opportunities, future procurement plans, guidance on procedures, contact details, etc
- Possible formation of an SME board
- Cross-estate supply chain event
- Further workshops
- Web-based questionnaire to further seek views of SMEs
Ron Gorham, the NDA’s Head of Supply Chain Optimisation, said: “We were pleased to hear a wide range of views expressed by SMEs at the workshop, we acknowledge that some of the frustrations of working in the decommissioning sector, but I was extremely impressed at the positive suggestions that came forward.
“We all need a healthy supply chain as our suppliers are key to delivering the clean-up and decommissioning mission. The SME community has specific needs but suggested possible interventions look as though they will deliver benefits to all and hence improve the attractiveness of the civil nuclear sector but also provide a vital springboard to other nuclear work regionally, nationally and internationally.
The workshop followed on from an earlier one-day event in July which, for the first time, brought together the whole NDA estate’s main Tier 2 contractors with SLCs and NDA to discuss possible strategies for providing additional support for SMEs. The event looked at the way in which many individual Tier 2 contractors were already informally supporting SMEs, but acknowledged that an NDA estate-wide approach was likely to prove more effective.
The Government has challenged all public organisations to provide wider access to their markets for SMEs. Among measure envisaged by the Government are cutting away unnecessary red tape and improving transparency in commissioning.
Meanwhile, the NDA's recently published Strategy for 2011-2014 recognises the importance of a robust supply chain, and responses during the public consultation period indicated that support was particularly needed for SMEs.
Volunteers are now being sought to assist with work on the practical design of some of the initiatives. Contact: sam.dancy@nda.gov.uk
More information is available on the NDA website by clicking here
