The 11th Décision Achats/CNA Awards ceremony was held in Paris on 9 April this year. Organised by Décision Achats in partnership with the French National Procurement Council (CNA), each year the event highlights France's key procurement projects and players. Read on to find out about this year's winners…
The Procurement Decision-Maker Award 2019
1. Bertrand Pouilloux, Director of Procurement at Enedis, has made it his goal to increase the visibility of his procurement department both internally and externally. With this aim, he has organised the first major convention to bring together all the company's buyers. He also keeps his company's management teams up to date regarding performance and has written a "Buy and supply" manual that he has made available both to his teams and externally.
2. Claudine Banzet, Vice President Sourcing Europe of the Wessanen Group is tackling two new challenges this year: managing the procurement of raw materials for production plants and consolidating partnerships with suppliers, with a particular focus on innovation and research and development.
3. Michel Grévoul, Director of Procurement for the French State Procurement Directorate (DAE), piloted a reform of state procurement while also professionalising, optimising and digitalising the overall strategy.
The "CSR" category
1. The Regional council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes has created its own procurement organisation specialising in food. With a purchasing volume of 54 million euro for foodstuffs for school meals, the organisation aims to promote good-quality food, while also supporting local agriculture. The target for this initiative is to quadruple the proportion of locally sourced ingredients used in school meals. The regional procurement organisation, called "Regal", now comprises more than 100 local suppliers, 900 products available at controlled costs, more than 130 users and an online ordering site.
2. Four French banking institutions (BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, the BPCE Group and Société Générale) have worked together to adapt CSR risk mapping to the banking sector by developing a collaborative, easy-to-use tool for buyers.
3. L'Oréal has launched a procurement programme oriented around social responsibility called "solidarity sourcing". The programme aims to give socially and economically vulnerable people access to employment. In 2018, more than 56,000 people worldwide have returned to full-time employment thanks to this initiative.
The "Innovation" category
1. The Amiens-Picardie University Hospital (CHU) called on its suppliers to work together to come up with a solution for acquiring an MRI machine for pre-operative scans. This request prompted the development of a funding scheme based on a fee-for-service system. Magali Tassery, Director of Procurement points out that: "Purchases are justifiable only if they immediately contribute to the satisfaction of patients or practitioners". The hospital achieved its goal, with the service's activity increasing by 20% and the average length of patient stays decreased thanks to this solution.
2. Technicolor and AskR.ai have collaborated to set up a chatbot system linked to an expenditure management system. The robot, named "Jim", now responds to buyers' questions from any device.
3. In'Li and ContractChain have developed a solution for digitalising and time-stamping calls for tender, with the benefit of accelerating the contract chain, as well as making it simpler and more reliable.
The "Procurement Agility" category
1. The Naos Group has created a procurement group uniting VSB, SMB and MMB (Very Small Businesses, Small- and Medium-sized Businesses and Mid-Market Businesses) from the cosmetics sector. The aim of this strategy is to better manage tail spend by working together. Called "HACosmed", this association now consists of 280 active buyers, 65 registered suppliers, 2 million euro of purchases in 2018 and finally, savings of 10% to 60% depending on the product family (administrative supplies, hygiene products or even logistical supplies). Stéphane Faustin-Leybach, Director of Procurement, summarises the principle behind this initiative: "It's the concept of starting with individual problems and ending with a shared solution"
2. The French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) has deployed Silex's cloud sourcing solution to improve procurement performance. In concrete terms, buyers can now identify suppliers that meet their needs more quickly and easily.
3. Enedis has set up a degressive pricing system for materials, based on volume. This financial strategy for engaging with suppliers has now been applied to all business markets.
The Young Buyer Award
1. Claire Bardin (Master in Management of Strategic Purchasing [DESMA], IAE Grenoble) for her essay on "How Nudge* can be used to manage procurement performance".
2. Maxime Tran-Tanh (Master in Management of Strategic Purchasing [DESMA], IAE Grenoble): "How can procurement be structured and integrated into the company's internal organisation to promote innovation? ".
3. Morgane Pierrot (Master in Management of Procurement and Supplier Quality [MAQF], University of Paris-Saclay): "The relationship between suppliers and CSR — To what extent can the relationship with suppliers contribute to the company's performance by building on the leverage of CSR? A case study of Europcar France".
As is the case every year, the Décision Achats/CNA Awards announce some incredibly inspiring winners. Come back in a year to discover new initiatives and new careers that demonstrate the best of France!
*Based on psychology and behavioural economics, the Nudge principle aims to influence behaviour in subtle ways.