Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
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UTILITY WEEK | 5TH - 11TH SEPTEMBER 2014 | 23 Operations & Assets 50 Vestas V-90 3MW turbines. Sherbino 2 started generating in 2012. It uses 60 Clipper Windpower C-96 wind turbines, each with a rated capacity of 2.5MW, to generate 150MW peak. It is owned and operated by BP Wind Energy. If you have an asset or project you would like to see featured in this slot, please send your pictures and details of the project to: paul.newton@fav-house.com Pipe up Tony Hague S having a few quid off retail recommended price gives you a buzz and I defy anyone not to enjoy a "two for the price of one" offer. However, deals and discounts are not always what they seem. This is certainly true when it comes to bargains bagged when sourcing critical equipment and infrastruc- ture in the utilities supply chain. It starts with the purchasing team, who are incen- tivised to secure price reductions on existing contracts. This is oen their primary focus, with issues of qual- ity, technical expertise and logistics taking a back seat. I don't blame the purchasing department. It's what they are told to do. The problem is that when they leave the negotiating table so does the responsibility for the supplier and the product they've chosen. It's then down to production, or quite oen service staff, to deal with and rectify costly machine downtime. The real issue is that these kinds of costs are almost never linked back and attributed to a purchasing or material selection metric. Utilities have, in the past, had a reputation for being fierce negotiators, with price being the key driver. But I doubt the thriving offshore wind market could stomach the cost of avoidable downtime for a turbine positioned somewhere out at sea. I would suggest a new approach to procurement. First, there needs to be a more strategic approach to procurement, and companies need to ensure that every part of the supply chain process talks to each other and understands the total cost of acquisition and how down- time and service calls affect true value. The second element should focus on the level of automation involved. Is your chosen supplier investing in new technology, the best components and, impor- tantly, the skills of its staff? We have invested more than £1 million in new machinery and typically deliver over 200 hours of training per employee per annum. This is not done for marketing rhetoric, it's in direct response to our belief that all customers should benefit from connectivity that is 100 per cent reliable, so they can offer their customers peace of mind and maximum machine up-time. The utilities sector has many challenges and oppor- tunities before it. To face them, it will have to make a conscious decision to replace the bargain mentality with a long-term, best-fit solution. Tony Hague, managing director, Power Panels Electrical Systems We all like a bargain, but squeezing purchasing costs too tightly can prove expensive in the long run. Purchasing wants price reductions, but the service staff have to deal with costly machine downtime