Defence Support Group Uses AWARD® to Drive Its Supplier Relationship Management Initiative

Case Study

Defence Support Group uses AWARD® to drive its Supplier Relationship Management initiative

Customer profile activities, the resources required to deliver them, and the timeframes The Defence Support Group (DSG) is a wholly owned UK Government Trading • quarterly surveys, completed by both Fund established by the MOD to support the the contract manager and the supplier Armed Forces and to deliver wider defence to identify relationship strengths and objectives in support of the key Defence weaknesses, thereby informing proactive Industrial Strategy requirements. DSG-supplier review Meetings

It is one of the largest defence engineering SRM initiative challenges service providers in the country, employing The challenges of this initiative fell into approximately 3,500 staff. The range of two distinct areas: obtaining buy-in AWARD® for Supplier Relationship capabilities cover maintenance, repair, from DSG contract managers and Management overhaul and upgrades to key air and land suppliers to the strategy and approach equipment, mobile and in-barracks equipment to SRM, and the execution of the AWARD® software is uniquely positioned to support, fleet management, calibration, initiative itself. deliver defensible, objective evidence-based electronics, components and logistic support supplier relationship assessments. Its solutions. DSG works closely with major To instigate the initiative, the primary reporting capabilities allow multiple defence industrial contractors in delivering challenges faced by the project team viewpoints of customer and supplier to support solutions, with the best interests of were: be compared and rolled up into collective the UK defence always paramount. • the definition of the survey, which would views, identifying relationship strengths and allow both the buyer and supplier to weaknesses. Periodic assessments highlight SRM initiative overview provide their input, and the creation of the effectiveness of the remedial activities undertaken to address the weaknesses. The Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) a common understanding of how the initiative at DSG was formally questions should be framed started in December 2007. It now • the replacement of Excel as a survey covers 25 key suppliers across a wide tool, which had already been introduced spectrum of goods and services and a and had proved to be problematic wide range of contract timescales. The • managing the actual process and storing scope includes some 15 contract the data that was generated managers working in DSG. The objectives and • ensuring that all the key suppliers were on aims of the SRM initiative are to: board and that there was a consistency of approach • obtain greater value for defence • generating progress management • work more collaboratively with defined reports as and when required key suppliers on procurement activities • enabling easy completion of the survey by building and improving stronger by a large number of contractors and relationships suppliers • identify and agree on strategic producing easily understood reports of improvement targets • the survey results • identify and deliver tangible improvements to existing practices and activities • reduce joint costs

The key deliverables of the SRM initiative have been defined as:

• creating maintained charters that deliver mutually agreed performance Targets • agreeing and maintaining action plans with suppliers that cover such topics as the key The DSG team used Supply Chain 21’s The centralised management of (SC21) SRM template as the starting information enabled DSG to view the point to develop a survey of questions progress of users’ scores and rationales to address the relationship behaviours as well as to produce management that DSG wished to monitor. The 22 reports easily. agreed questions each fell into one of four categories: Communication of enhancements to instructions or questions was provided ® • communication (e.g. information automatically in AWARD , removing the need for email exchanges between exchange, problem solving) parties. • capability management (e.g. strategic AWARD® provides instant graphical alignment, solution development) “We were able to get AWARD® up and comparison of perspectives AWARD® • continuous improvement (e.g. change running very quickly,” said Roxane Moss. enables management, obsolescence management) AWARD® was set up to be delivered • commercial (e.g. dispute resolution, risk to DSG and its suppliers as a secure, and opportunity) hosted solution. This allows suppliers and contract managers to access the same AWARD® Benefits DSG was also keen to monitor Environmental 22 question survey anywhere and at any time, provided they have an internet Management and Corporate Social AWARD® delivers a transparent audit trail Responsibility as well as specific behaviours terminal. such as obsolescence management – a key that underpins the bidder debriefing process ® operational requirement. DSG adopted SC21’s One of the key features that AWARD and manages any challenges to the outcome has delivered to the SRM programme is scoring scheme: Failing, Reactive, Performing, of the procurement. Cooperative and Collaborative. Score its document management capabilities. definitions were developed which ensured that All the relevant documents relating to AWARD® is highly flexible, enabling full all parties would be consistent in selecting the programme are held in the same the appropriate score value to match their place, allowing easy access for both the integration of the tender requirements and observation and opinion. contract managers and the suppliers’ policies. representatives. Importantly, they are all “Having a well structured survey in place, version-controlled. Additionally, AWARD® enables project users to be together with ensuring that all parties had a an issue process has been set up in ® managed centrally, optimising the time common understanding of the questions, was AWARD to facilitate a dialogue about any key to ensuring that the SRM programme ran relationship issues arising. spent on evaluating suppliers. effectively,” said Roxane Moss, Performance & Data Manager, Procurement Group, DSG. What is SRM? AWARD® is delivered via a securityaccredit ed ® SRM is simply a proactive approach hosted service. Users can access AWARD Role and value of Commerce to longer-term management and from any workstation with an internet ® Decisions and AWARD development of business relationships. connection and web browser. The focus is on the development of the Commerce Decisions was engaged shortly relationship itself and not necessarily after the initiative was kicked off. DSG has Powerful reporting capabilities allow a range on the harder performance aspects of used a combination of Commerce Decisions’ any underpinning contract. Through the of selected reports to be generated quickly Professional Services and the AWARD® investment in building soft behavioural and tailored to your project. solution to facilitate the SRM programme. issues such as continuous improvement and communication, it will lead to an Initially, the team at DSG had based Enhanced controls allow better management improved understanding of each other’s the process on Excel spreadsheets. It of tender stages leading to efficiencies and objectives and business processes. was quickly recognised that this was on time project delivery. proving to be ineffective and inefficient. The programme at DSG was based on Specifically, Excel did not offer a collaborative ® best practice as defined by Supply AWARD provides a structured and environment within which multiple responses Chain 21 (SC21). This is a change could be consolidated and reported on. The compliant approach to the execution of a programme that aims to accelerate the programme was moved onto AWARD®, which procurement. competitiveness of the UK’s defence is now the foundation for the SRM programme and aerospace industry by raising the at DSG. performance of its supply chains. To date, more than 380 companies and regional trade organisations have committed to SC21.

The Defence Support Group (DSG) was an executive agency and wholly owned trading fund of the Ministry of Defence. It was established on 1 April 2008 by the merger of Defence Aviation Repair Agency and the Army Base Repair Organisation. It was created under The Defence Support Group Trading Fund Order 2008. Part of the Defence Support Group (DSG) was sold to Babcock on 31 March 2015 while the remainder became the Defence Electronics and Components Agency (DECA) on 1 April 2015. [email protected] www.commercedecisions.com