By Dan Wright, Head of Supply Chain
As part of OEUK’s Working as One initiative, we have recently participated in a supply chain survey to measure compliance with key supply chain principles that are being promoted across the energy industry.
Since 2019, OEUK has been advocating for a set of supply chain principles, to drive best practice across the energy sector and this latest industry survey looks to further build the consensus of the importance of fairness, transparency and early engagement in commercial relationships.
In publishing industry best practice in this area, OEUK’s work is establishing a framework for governance, which we welcome in full.
The latest Working as One OEUK survey was issued out to companies active in the Flotation Energy supply chain, asking how we performed against the stated supply chain principles.
Top-line best practice identified in the recent survey results were as follows:
- strive for 30 day payment terms in line with Government guidelines;
- embed fair allocation of risk and pricing models;
- provide visibility of forward looking workplans, allowing suppliers to forecast;
- use industry standard T&C’s to standardise and create efficiencies when tendering
Supply chain principles – A framework for governance
Over the last eighteen months, we have made strides forward with investment in our teams and systems to refine how we engage, communicate and process work across our developing supply chain. New finance and purchase ordering systems have facilitated enhanced governance in payment processing and we are working on how we can further improve with end-to-end automated reporting.
Working with industry bodies such as OEUK to ensure the sector has a joined up approach across the UK supply chain is central to further building trust in our industry.
To deliver our renewable energy goals, it’s clear developers such as ourselves must work cooperatively with the businesses that we so much rely on to keep our projects on track in challenging market conditions. Better governance will foster confidence and resilience in supply chain businesses, meaning more business getting done and more renewable energy projects coming online, on time.
Striving for operational excellence
In addition to the investment in our new finance systems, the Supply Chain team now holds dedicated weekly meetings to review outstanding invoices. These huddles have shown to improve invoice processing, with all relevant stakeholders in attendance meaning decisions can be made more quickly to unlock obstacles causing invoices to run overdue. Over the last 3 months, we have found this weekly meeting to reduce the number of invoices due by over 50%.
Furthermore, Zahara – our accounts-payable automation system, assists with early status reporting to supply chain, finance and contract holders allowing the team to take action earlier. The automated invoice approval process in Zahara also allows us to identify where invoices may be getting held up.
Overall, we are encouraged how our systems and processes are having a positive impact on how we drive operational efficiencies across our business. There is of course, much work still to be done and we look forward to continue working with OEUK and the network of businesses actively collaborating to drive the supply chain principles work forward for the commercial benefit of all.
To view our OEUK Working as One survey results, use the button below:
