The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Last Updated: 29 May 2012

The supply chain comprises all the companies and organisations that provide goods or services to the NDA and our sites. Development of the supply chain is essential to

• deliver value for money
• identify risks and
• help to eliminate duplication of costs across the NDA estate.

Providing greater consistency of processes across the NDA estate also aligns with best practice and Government supply chain initiatives.

 Supply Chain Development Strategy August 2010 (500kb) 

• More supporting documentation

Objective

To ensure the optimum use of the supply chain available to the NDA estate to enable a safe, affordable, cost effective, innovative and dynamic market for clean up and decommissioning.

Scope and Boundaries

Our Supply chain development strategy covers the NDA's and Site Licence Companies' (SLCs) direct supply chain activities, focussing on

• communications
• procurement processes and
• relations.

It links with other nuclear clients (or those with requirements that have appropriate synergies) and looks at further improvements and developments across the wider supply chain.

Interfaces

The supply chain strategy interfaces with a number of other topics including:

• Decommissioning strategy is related because that affects the delivery of our mission
• Non-NDA liability management strategy is related because of the links with the rest of the nuclear industry
• Health, Safety, Security, Safeguards, Environment and Quality (HSSSEQ) strategy is related because of the need to comply with statutory requirements
• People (incorporating skills and capability) strategy is related because of the need to support nuclear industry requirements
• Research and Development strategy is related because of the capability that exists in the supply chain
• Socio-Economic strategy is related because of the impact of supply chain activity on local communities
• Competition strategy is related because of the need for the supply chain to compete for work
• Contracting and incentivisation strategy with regard to site competitions

Credible Options

The credible strategic options that relate to supply chain development are: 

1 NDA only considers supply chain development for Parent Body Organisation (PBO) competitions, and allows the SLCs to set their own policies and procedures.

2 NDA works with and seeks to influence with other parts of Government and sets a policy framework across the SLCs developing where appropriate common aspects and tools but with implementation the clear responsibility of the SLCs.

3 NDA performs supply chain development on behalf of the whole estate.

Current Position

Option 2 is preferred as the NDA is uniquely positioned to take a strategic view of supply chain issues across its estate, encouraging consistency and best practice and establishing links with the wider nuclear clients (recognising that implementation sits with the SLCs).

The supply chain development strategy is broken down into four key areas. Each area has a set of detailed principles supporting it:

• open, transparent, timely and consistent communications at all levels (including those that assist Tier 2/4 and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs);
• optimised supply chain processes;
• optimised supply chain relationships; and
• exploring synergies with other nuclear clients and industries.

The strategy seeks to build on existing supply chain development initiatives, including collaborative procurement. Whilst some of the detailed strategy principles are aspirational in nature, some are already in the process of being implemented, and others will lead to specific programmes of work being defined to secure their delivery such as: 

• NDA/SLC Collaborative Procurements
• NDA use of Government contracts
• Use of Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) as a key body for engagement
• Supply chain mapping to identify critical suppliers
• Lead a workshop with key members of the supply chain to jointly develop approaches to assist Tier ¾ and SMEs.

The SLCs have their own procurement processes and supply chain initiatives, e.g. Supplier Days, Meet the Buyer events, Knowledge Markets. Our strategy seeks to optimise these processes across the estate where appropriate.

Feedback indicates that there are areas where we need to improve engagement and make the market more attractive to the supply chain, e.g. procurement processes are seen as needing improvement.  If these issues are not addressed the main risk is that good suppliers withdraw from the NDA market, with a subsequent reduction in competition and potential for increased costs.  The implementation of the strategy seeks to mitigate this risk.