Jewson's procurement team wins CIPS excellence award
Jewson, part of the Saint-Gobain Group, has been lauded by the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) for the excellence demonstrated during a project that transformed its procurement function.
Last year, Jewson embarked on a company-wide “Transform & Grow” programme, aimed at enhancing its customer experience, digitalising its offerings and delivering savings in its internal operations. The £2 billion company is one of the largest chains of general builders' merchants, selling to small and medium building contractors through a network of around six hundred branches located all across the United Kingdom.
As part of the strategy, Jewson set out to transform its buying function, explained Jewson’s chief executive officer Mike Newnham. “The transformation of our procurement function is a critical part of our growth strategy. It was underpinned with a clear link to our purpose, values and strategy, supported by distinct communications both with suppliers and internally.”
To realise the programme’s objectives, Jewson roped in the help of Inverto, a procurement and supply chain management consultancy part of Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The joint project team designed and implemented a range of improvements, including digitalising procurement processes, rationalising the business and supplier base, driving efficiencies in sourcing and training employees to adopt a client-centric mindset.
The team successfully delivered a “step change in profit & loss performance and a significant improvement in contribution margin for COGS both for Jewson and the Saint-Gobain Group, in a challenging environment”, according to Newnham.
Inverto supported the programme with strategic procurement expertise (identifying savings through data-driven insights), rigorous programme management covering all initiatives, and served as the linking pin between capability development of the Jewson team and technology adoption. “Inverto has been a valuable partner in helping us achieve the desired goal of this programme,” said Newnham.
Kiran Mazumdar, a Managing Director at Inverto and the firm’s co-founder (he launched the consultancy in 2000 together with Markus Bergauer and Frank Wierlemann), said: “We are very proud to have contributed to shaping the success of the programme.”
Earlier this month, Jewson won a CIPS Procurement Excellence award for its achievement, in the category ‘Best Procurement Transformation Programme’. Other companies that made the final of the category were Sainsbury, BAE Systems, Defence Infrastructure Organisation, Defra, NHS Supply Chain, Serco, The Royal British Legion and The Salvation Army.
“Congratulations to the Jewson team for winning the CIPS Excellence Award for Best Procurement Transformation Programme,” concluded Mazumdar.
