SUPPLY CHAIN
“ We are a public service organisation having to work with private organisations whose driver is profit ”
is a boost to his entire team to be involved in such a huge procurement exercise . This is a team which many more responsibilities than simple purchasing . Most organisations would split procurement , contract management and supplier management but at NSW Trains these are integrated . “ I want my team to be responsible for an end to end process of sourcing , strategy development , contract management planning , supplier relationships and ongoing KPI management .” The person coming up with the strategy , he says , ought to be responsible for its implementation and operational and financial outcomes . “ I strongly believe procurement is a service provider . Sometimes in the public Supply Chain procurement is a tickbox activity , but it is really about how you are adding value to the business . My aspiration is to have a team of strategic people .”
The creation of a procurement board made the rethinking official . Johny sits on this subcommittee of the main board or Executive Management Committee ( EMC ), together with the CEO , CFO and the director of engineering . “ It is a reflection of the confidence of my CEO , who takes all the decisions to the EMC for sign off . This came about because he has seen over the last three years how our business unit helps the wider organisation achieve savings targets and ensure that statutory commitments are met .” Unlike the old days , he adds , numerous independent audits have thrown up precisely no issues for investigation .
And now NSW Trains is becoming a benchmark for good procurement practice . The NSW Department of Finance requested all its 33 public procurement departments
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