Data-driven, frictionless, insights and creating value DIGITAL REPORT 2021
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DATA-DRIVEN, FRICTIONLESS, INSIGHTS AND CREATING VALUE
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SSE’s Ronnie Fleming and Chris Platts discuss SSE’s digital transformation agenda and its commitment to a net zero transition and sustainability that makes a difference
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ogether, Ronnie Fleming, Chief Procurement Officer and Chris Platts, Head of Procurement Operations, have worked for SSE for more than 15 years. The two have deep roots in the procurement sector working for the likes of Wimpey Construction, Leighton Contractors (Malaysia / Middle East ) Mace Group, United Utilities, Accenture and DHL Supply Chain. “I am a Chartered Quantity Surveyor by profession,” says Fleming. “I have been in the construction and utility industry for over 40 years, the last 12 have been with SSE. As well as overseeing the procurement for all third party spend across the SSE Group (around £3bn per annum), I’m also responsible for a team delivering post contract commercial support across our large capital projects portfolio. In addition, I look after Property & FM, Logistics, Fleet, and Travel with a team of c460 highly talented people.” Chris Platts, on the other hand, heads up the procurement operations team at SSE, “I have the pleasure of looking after about 80 people across UK and Ireland which includes our sourcing teams, purchase to pay, data analytics, system support, sustainability, SRM, and innovation. I also lead our large change programmes for the Procurement & Commercial , such as digital transformation and some broader group change programmes.” Being a leading generator of renewable energy in the UK and Ireland, as well as one sse.com
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Data-driven, frictionless, insights and creating value
of the largest electricity networks in the UK, SSE develops, owns and operates low carbon infrastructure for the net-zero transition, including onshore and offshore wind, hydropower, electricity transmission and distribution to grid, efficient gas generation, alongside providing energy products and services for businesses. Data-driven, frictionless, insights and creating value The mission: ‘A data-driven strategic partner, providing a frictionless procurement and commercial experience with insightful market and supplier information that delivers significant value for each SSE business.’ Making a significant, multi-million-pound investment in new processes, tools, and skills over the next few years, SSE aims to achieve its mission creating a world-class procurement function, by focusing on four core themes: 1) optimising the core 6
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2) data, analytics and insight 3) customer experience and 4) automation. “This programme is one of many across the group. Our CEO wants to create an upper quartile digital business by 2023, which was set last year,” said Platts. “We’re one year into our three-year programme and we’ve had two big deliveries focused on optimising the core. We have implemented a new source to contract system and a new system to control contingent workers and professional services engagements in SSE. “We’ve also completed a data strategy that sets the foundations for the digital change; we’re also in the middle of some proof of concepts and trials to introduce machine learning and analytics on commodity pricing impacts, and in the early stages of a mobile app for catalogue procurement.” Despite this, being successful with a strategy of this magnitude doesn’t come without its challenges. “Big deliveries are
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EXECUTIVE BIO CHRIS PLATTS TITLE: HEAD OF PROCUREMENT OPERATIONS LOCATION: MANCHESTER, UK Chris graduated from Lancaster University in 2003 and began life in procurement at United Utilities in 2004. In 2007 he joined DHL Supply Chain and spent several years in a number of project management, business development, and product development roles. In 2013 he joined Accenture and spent his time working on various procurement and supply chain projects including SSE as a client, which led him joining SSE as Head of Transformation in 2015. Chris is now Head of Procurement Operations and oversees all group procurement and major change programmes on behalf of Procurement & Commercial and leads on some broader programmes across the group. Chris is married with 3 children. He enjoys cooking, football and cycling.
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Balfour Beatty builds new, sustainable futures Through the targets and ambitions set out in its sustainability strategy, Building New Futures, combined with its commitment to constant innovation, Balfour Beatty is committed to reducing its environmental footprint and having a positive impact wherever it works.
Leading the charge towards a Net Zero Future, together At Balfour Beatty, sustainability has always been at the heart of what we do. We’ve already reduced our direct carbon emissions by 55% over the last decade and last year, we further bolstered our commitment to driving a Net Zero Future, launching our refreshed sustainability strategy, Building New Futures. We’re focused on three core areas which are the most important to our business – the environment, materials and communities, and have set bold 2030 targets and 2040 ambitions to help us go Beyond Net Zero Carbon, Generate Zero Waste and Positively Impact More Than 1 Million People. Across all of our operations, we’re already taking action. We have successfully diverted 98.15% of our waste from landfill in the UK and Hong Kong, we’ve joined the United Nations Race To Zero campaign and are also in the process of setting science based targets to reduce our carbon emissions. We have upped the ante in driving innovative solutions – those that can make the biggest, positive impact on our day-to-day operations. Last year, we launched EcoNet, developed in partnership with our valued supply chain partner, Sunbelt Rentals. EcoNet runs silently, in the background of our construction site accommodation to effectively manage the energy demand of appliances, reducing emissions across sites by up to 80%. At St Fergus in North East Scotland, we are working with SSEN Transmission on the construction of a new 132kV substation. On this project, EcoNet has allowed us to significantly reduce the volume and frequency of fuel deliveries needed for temporary power supply generators during the construction phase.
A similar site without our EcoNet system installed requires delivery volumes of 1,000 litres of diesel per week, on average. By utilising EcoNet, we’ve reduced our consumption to approximately half this amount - saving 130 tCO2e over the St Fergus project lifecycle. We’re stepping up. We will play our part, moving our business forward, sustainably, and in doing so we will help build a better future for everyone.
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EXECUTIVE BIO RONNIE FLEMING TITLE: CHIEF PROCUREMENT OFFICER LOCATION: SCOTLAND Ronnie qualified as a Chartered Quantity Surveyor in 1991 and comes from a background in construction, where prior to joining SSE, he spent 28 years in various main contracting and construction management organisations working on a wide range of civil engineering and construction projects in both the UK and SE Asia / Middle East. He was previously Director of Procurement & Commercial Operations for SSE Group and in April 2018 assumed the role of Group Director of Procurement & Logistics responsible
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for all procurement and post contract commercial management services across SSE Group. In addition to his Procurement and Commercial responsibilities he also manages our Group Logistics function which entails the control of stock, inventory and distribution of goods from two main distribution centres as well as a network of nationwide depots. In April 2019, Group Property and FM, along with Fleet and Travel were added to his area of responsibility as Chief Procurement Officer. Ronnie lives in Biggar on the edge of the Scottish Borders (SW of Edinburgh) and is married with three grown up children, 2 cats. In his spare time, he is a keen golfer and has recently taken up cycling.
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obviously complex,” says Platts. “Having a large number of users in procurement and the wider business means that business change and adoption needs to be carefully through, but we have managed to deliver them on time and under budget. More broadly we recognise that digital isn’t just about the shiny new technology, it’s a cultural change in the function and the wider organisation to consider new ways of working to become more agile in what we do. “Another challenge has been on the recruitment side. We are looking for resources in some key roles at the moment, but so are a lot of other procurement functions. Labour markets are becoming buoyant post-COVID so we have to consider how we attract and importantly retain talent in the team,” adds Platts. SSE and its relationship with sustainability When it comes to sustainability at SSE, the utility company is deep-rooted in making a difference. “Our purpose is to provide the energy needed today, while building a better world of energy for tomorrow.. Our vision
“ This programme is one of many across the group. Our CEO wants to create a quartile digital business by 2023, which was set last year” CHRIS PLATTS
HEAD OF PROCUREMENT OPERATIONS, SSE
is to be a leading energy company in a net-zero world. Our strategy is to create value for shareholders and society in a sustainable way by developing, building, operating and investing in the electricity infrastructure and businesses needed in the transition to net-zero. And our Goals by 2030 are to cut carbon intensity by 60%, treble our renewable energy output to 30TWH/annum, help accommodate 10 million electric vehicles onto the electricity network, and be the leading company in the UK and Ireland championing fair tax and a real living wage,” says Fleming. sse.com
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Focusing on the company’s sustainable procurement strategy, Platts emphasises how proud SSE is of what it has achieved over the last 18 months. “SSE has aligned to the ISO 20400 Sustainable Procurement Guidance Standard as well as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals,”says Platts. “We have a new Sustainable Procurement Code, which sets out the requirements and expectations for our supply chain – from paying a real living wage to setting sciencebased carbon targets. “We have also carried out detailed risk and opportunity assessments across our 12
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“ Our purpose is to provide the energy needed today, while building a better world of energy for tomorrow” RONNIE FLEMING
CHIEF PROCUREMENT OFFICER, SSE
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SSE and It's Partners “We’re fortunate enough at SSE to have a rich, diverse and highly capable supply chain, which extends to some 10,000 suppliers across the group. We have a significant number of deep and mutually beneficial relationships with our top suppliers including GE , Balfour Beatty, Siemens, Hitachi Energy & Vestas. All of these key suppliers participate in a tailor-made supplier relationship management forum that focuses on safety, delivery, excellence, innovation, and B2B opportunities in the spirit of openness, trust, and collaboration. “Healthy, sustainable, and highly capable supply chain partners are essential to the delivery of our ambition. The relationships we have and will continue to develop are founded on the principles of integrity, honesty, and mutual trust. We recognise that without our supply chain would not be able to deliver our strategy and targets, and that is why we devote so much time and energy into developing and managing these critical B2B relationships” – Ronnie Fleming, Chief Procurement Officer
entire purchasing categories, allowing us to directly link our sustainable tender criteria and performance metrics to material risks and opportunities, as well as apply proportionally for our suppliers. We also publish a compliant Modern Slavery Statement each year, dating back to 2016.” Reflecting on SSE’s digital transformation strategy, Platts explains that the challenges from a digital/sustainability perspective have included, "How we can digitally enable our sustainable procurement strategy? How can we assess and track supply chain risk? How do we provide supply chain insight that will
add value to the ESG story? This is why we are currently piloting things like supply chain reporting tools.” “It’s an extremely exciting time to be a part of SSE. We’re a principal sponsor to COP26 and our purpose is to help to address the climate emergency. Having a sustainable supply chain, which is managed by a digitally enabled, world-class Procurement & Commercial function will be key to delivering our net zero ambition,” concludes Platts.
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