Supply Chain 21 initiative is a win-win
28 Apr 2009
Working in partnership with other companies is essential in today's business environment and with over 10,000 suppliers in the UK alone, BAE Systems is no exception. Typically, suppliers account for about 70 per cent of the costs of our products and services. That means it is crucial for us to work as effectively as possible with the very best businesses we can find.
A key element of our supplier management programme is our participation in an exciting UK initiative that is delivering huge advantage to the industry as a whole. The Supply Chains in the Twenty First Century programme – known as SC21 – aims to help deliver increased competitiveness by lowering the costs of doing business.
The programme works to remove duplication, minimise waste and increase co-ordination between suppliers by requiring one standard for suppliers to meet instead of individual standards enforced by the different ‘prime' contracting companies. First launched at the Farnborough Air Show in 2006, it has secured the commitment of over 400 UK companies in the defence and aerospace sectors.
The key themes of the initiative are accreditation, development and performance and relationships. As one of the lead prime companies in SC21, BAE Systems is undertaking a range of activities to ensure that all parts of the supply chain work together. The programme is also used as one of the reference points in long-term partnering agreements between the company and the UK Ministry of Defence who became a signatory in July 2008.
BAE Systems continues to provide a programme of training and awareness sessions for its key suppliers, and industry peers involved in the SC21 programme, who are undertaking similar work with their own supply base. The result is that some 120 companies are already involved in the initial phase of coordinated actions to identify and harness innovations and best practice.
One of these companies is Astrum (UK) Ltd, a North East based supplier of track systems and running gear for armoured fighting vehicles and a key supplier to BAE Systems' land vehicles business. For Astrum, who recently won an award for their implementation of SC21, participation in the programme was seen as means to be more competitive, eliminate waste and measure improvement.
As a result of the improvement measures established, the company's delivery and quality metrics with BAE Systems are now reaching 99.98% and 99.52% respectively.
Phil Kite, Managing Director of Astrum (UK) Ltd said: "Adoption of the SC21 process just made good business sense to us. It has helped us really engage with everyone in our business – they can now see how they contribute to the company's success."
Neal Dobby, one of the SC21 Champions at BAE Systems, added; "The work we have undertaken with Astrum under SC21 has really strengthened our relationship and we are delighted with the progress we are all making."