Andra
With Silex, Andra puts supplier knowledge at the heart of the buyer’s work
In order to meet complex needs and a pharaonic project, the construction of the Cigéo storage center, Andra needed a tool to help its buyers identify contractors more easily and develop a local and responsible purchasing approach. Silex has enabled the company to strengthen and improve its knowledge of suppliers while accelerating its sourcing.
About Andra
The protection of present and future generations from the long-term impacts of nuclear waste is a major societal issue. The mission of the National Agency for Radioactive Waste Management (Andra) is to design, implement and monitor safe management solutions. Its expertise ranges from conducting studies and research to the design and management of storage facilities. The agency is now under the supervision of the Ministries of Research, Industry and the Environment.
As a public industrial and commercial establishment (EPIC), it has an autonomous budget, mainly financed by taxes from nuclear waste producers. Its purchases represent between 60 and 75% of a total budget of 325 million euros per year. Composed of some thirty buyers, Andra’s purchasing function is decentralized to best meet the specific needs of each center and its various businesses, which include R&D, project management and industrial site operations.
Crucial issues
Identify relevant service providers while favouring local and responsible purchasing
The agency has recurring needs in contracting for the design, implementation and management of its projects. Its activities require a high level of expertise to ensure the safety and protection of people and the environment. With such a high level of demand, the search for and selection of suppliers is an important part of the buyers’ work. Purchasing requests are very varied, often technical or linked to cutting-edge industries, as is the case for the design of the future Cigéo storage center, dedicated to the burial of highly radioactive waste in the Meuse and Haute-Marne regions. The purchase requests concern in particular intellectual services, such as scientific or technical studies.
In addition, Andra is committed to a policy of supporting professional integration and the local economy. Whenever possible, buyers include social integration clauses in their contracts with suppliers. They also carry out important monitoring and sourcing work to know the operators in their territories and define their needs according to the local offer. Another major concern for Andra’s purchasing function is the environmental impact, which is taken into account from the moment the need is defined and in the criteria for evaluating offers.
The challenge
Improve market knowledge and responsiveness of procurement teams
Results
Andra’s buyers found that Silex allowed them to discover suppliers they would not have been able to identify without the solution. They also use Silex to get to get to know the markets before sourcing and to specify their needs and selection criteria according to the actual offer. Thanks to this, they are able to obtain more quality answers in line with their expectations during consultations.
The traceability of the actions carried out on the platform and of the exchanges with the suppliers, allows the purchasers to justify more easily their steps of purchases and to secure their practice at the legal level, in the respect of the fundamental principles of the public order: the freedom of access to the public order, the transparency of the procedures and the equal treatment of the candidates.
In addition, the exchanges and transparency provided by the platform also contribute to improving its relations with suppliers. This is a subject to which the agency has committed itself by signing the “Responsible Supplier Relations and Purchasing” charter.
In line with this approach, Andra is carrying out several actions to promote access by companies to public contracts and to develop ethical and sustainable supplier relations. The agency works in particular with the “Energic 52 55” association to explain to energy players how they do their purchasing. At the same time, it organizes an annual “Let’s buy local” day where many suppliers from the Meuse and Haute-Marne regions meet to and where they present their future needs. Silex has also joined this initiative to make the solution known to suppliers so that they can complete their profile and exchange with buyers on the platform.
