Summary

Biogen were undergoing a significant growth period, expanding their site network to drive crucial developments in the biowaste sector whilst aligning with the government’s 2036 targets. Deecon were engaged to facilitate a strategic sourcing project, to drive standardised and sustainable procurement practices to support their growth. Deecon identified that operational inefficiencies were impeding effective procurement.

The Requirement

Deecon were engaged to facilitate a strategic sourcing project, to drive standardised and sustainable procurement practices to support their growth. A decentralised sourcing approach with little communication between sites was impeding effective procurement. Site managers were operating semi-autonomously. As a result, valuable procurement knowledge was not always shared and industry best practice was not standardised. Furthermore, plant downtime was associated with immediate revenue loss, which created pressure in the supply chain related to lead times and spare parts availability.

The Solution

Deecon carried out an extensive audit of Biogen’s historical spend data to identify high spend suppliers, alongside conducting interviews with key internal stakeholders to capture inefficiencies and opportunities at site level.

Stakeholder-driven improvements: Incorporating stakeholder feedback, we approached the current ordering platform’s Account Manager to identify and implement improvements to support Biogen’s needs
Supplier engagement: We engaged top-spend incumbent suppliers to understand value levers and improvement opportunities, whilst identifying potential new entrants into the supply chain

Deecon then launched a tender process for both incumbent and prospective suppliers to support Biogen’s imminent growth, sourcing internal baseline data to ensure supplier rates would be compared against competitive market values.

Collaborative dialogue: To support tenderers during the procurement process, we conducted collaborative dialogue with the 30 suppliers to address questions and mitigate risk ahead of submission
Comprehensive submission analysis: Following submission of supplier rate cards, we ran comprehensive analysis of commercial and technical submissions using our bespoke consolidation tool
Tailored clarification sessions: This analysis informed supplier clarification sessions where each tenderer was provided with tailored feedback whilst ensuring a fair and equal process
Pricing reviews: A further round of pricing reviews was carried out, giving suppliers the opportunity to offer innovative solutions to improve industry practices

The Results

Deecon identified a £136,000 annual savings opportunity, using a volume-commit approach to drive sustainable long-term relationships with Biogen’s supply chain.

Built a forecast model using cross-site data to predict upcoming business needs
Engaged 30 suppliers in a category-led tender process with three clarification rounds, to support Biogen’s growth needs
Facilitated dialogue with the Account Manager to enhance the functionalities of Biogen’s current ordering system