Our Road to World-Class Procurement: A Four-Year Transformation

In 2019, we embarked on an ambitious journey: transforming our procurement department to a world-class level. Now, four years later, we are nearing the end of this intensive project. By the end of this year, we hope to have achieved our goals and to reap the rewards of our hard work.

But are we world-class? Claiming that status is challenging because the pursuit of excellence is a continuous process. A recent benchmark earlier this year pointed out significant areas for improvement. Therefore, we need to push hard until the end of the year to take those final steps.

A New Beginning: From Transactional to Value-Driven

The transformation began with the realization that a traditional procurement organization, based solely on an efficient process and transactional relationships, was no longer sufficient in a turbulent and changing market. To succeed in the energy transition, our approach needed to be much more solution-oriented and value-creating. This led to the development of a new operating model based on four themes:

1. Know the Market

2. Understand the Business

3. Act Commercially

4. Excellence in Execution

In addition, we formulated eleven principles that provide guidelines on how procurement should act within the organization.

Phasing of the Implementation

For the implementation of this new model, we defined three phases:

1. From Informal to In Control (Clean Up)

2. From Control to Integration (Improve)

3. Further Optimization (Optimize)

Concrete Results and Improvements

Our role within the organization has changed significantly. Whereas we were previously mainly seen as a supporting function, we are now increasingly recognized as a valuable business partner. This has been achieved through active involvement in strategic decision-making and early engagement in project initiatives. For example, we have played an important role in formulating the strategy for the energy transition focused on partnering with contractors, bringing our expertise to find sustainable solutions for sustainable problems.

We work intensively with Procurement Leaders and Sustainable Leaders, sharing our growth and development on various (international) platforms. We are regular speakers at their conferences and webinars, where we share our experiences and insights, especially in the areas of strategy and sustainability. These collaborations have helped us learn and implement best practices, continuously improving our processes.

Although a recent benchmark has shown that we are not yet fully world-class, we are well on our way. We have made significant progress, but there is still work to be done in the areas of business partnering, data, and our governance model. These final development points will be crucial to consolidating our status as a valuable business partner and challenging our 2019 operating model.

The Final Push: From Changing to Running the Business

Our road to world-class procurement has been filled with many challenges, but also with remarkable milestones and successes. The coming months will be crucial to achieving our goals and successfully completing the transformation. The journey was not always easy, but the outlook is promising. Ultimately, as with any major change, the new normal will take hold, and the established organization with a new procurement mission, as a valued business partner, will be ready to move forward as a world-class procurement organization.

With determination and a shared vision, we continue on this exciting journey, determined to bring out the best in ourselves and our procurement organization.

I look forward to the future and the next challenge that comes my way.

Bas Zuiderent, Procurement Development Manager