Strategic Sourcing

22 Sept

Summary

Biogen is the UK’s leading operator of Anaerobic Digestion (AD) processes, converting almost half a million tonnes of organic waste to energy each year. Biogen are currently undergoing a significant growth period through expansion of the site network, as they aim to drive crucial developments in the biowaste sector whilst aligning with the government’s 2036 targets.

Biogen engaged Deecon 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, caused by a decentralized sourcing approach with little communication between sites.

Site managers operate semi-autonomously meaning valuable procurement knowledge is not always shared and best industry practice is not standardised. Furthermore, any plant downtime is associated with immediate revenue loss, creating pressure in the supply chain around lead times and spare parts availability.

Situation & Approach

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 realise inefficiencies and opportunities at site level.

Incorporating stakeholder feedback, we approached the current ordering platform’s account manager to identify and implement improvements to support Biogen’s needs

We engaged top-spend incumbent suppliers to understand value levers and improvement opportunities, whilst also 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.

To support tenderers during the procurement process we conducted collaborative dialogue with the 30 suppliers to address questions and mitigate risk ahead of submission

Following submission of supplier rate cards, Deecon ran comprehensive analysis of commercial and technical submissions using our bespoke consolidation tool

This informed supplier clarification sessions where each tenderer was provided with tailored feedback whilst ensuring a fair and equal process

A further round of pricing reviews was carried out, giving suppliers the opportunity to offer innovative solutions to improve industry practices

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.