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UtILItY WEEK | 13th - 19th March 2015 | 21 Operations & Assets Clancy Docwra is installing larger sewer pipes and a new underground stormwater storage tank. The tank, which when completed will be 21m deep, will be able to hold up to one million litres of water during heavy rain and release it back into the network for treatment aer water levels have subsided. If you have an asset or project you would like to see featured in this slot, email: paul.newton@fav-house.com Pipe up Keith Hayward I would love to see the phrase "barriers to innovation" removed from the water industry lexicon forever. The question is, can we make it happen any time soon? In a recent meeting with a senior procurement executive at a UK utility, we discussed how to get its innovative rotating sludge scraper onto the framework for sludge scrapers on circular settlement tanks. The problem was that the pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) for the framework called for half-bridge scrapers. Despite the fact that the product's advantages were well- received, as it was not a half-bridge, we were knocked out of the process at pre-qualification. The procurement department advised me to go back to the technical team to discuss the circular scraper. In a supply chain rewrite of Catch-22, the message was "we can only look at it if it's already on a framework" – which of course it isn't, because it's a new product. It isn't news that a supplier didn't get its exciting new product taken up by a water company, nor is it news that procurement/framework bureaucracy is a blocker to innovation in utilities. How- ever, it is frustrating that such hurdles still stand in the way of progress as we approach AMP6. The introduction of totex was intended to deliver a culture shi in procurement decision-making. But the persistence of existing struc- tures means that new innovations are oen overlooked, even if they deliver better results in terms of totex. A technology can only be considered if it is part of a framework, but has to pre-qualify for a legacy frame- work that was developed to technical limitations that no longer pertain. For suppliers, it's a no-win situation. Bizarrely, it is now harder to get acceptance for change to an established product that takes it only slightly outside an existing framework specification, than it is to introduce a completely new concept. This is because a completely disruptive technology has the opportunity to bypass the frameworks via dedicated innovation pathways. What is needed is an outcomes-based approach for frameworks. Surely, to create a truly competitive environ- ment and efficient industry, water companies and contrac- tors should be proactively encouraging and seeking out new technologies from the supply chain that can improve the operating capability and efficiency of equipment? Through-life costs need to be pinned down by pro- curement teams if totex is to deliver on its promise of lower costs for utilities and their customers. Keith Hayward, UK sales and marketing manager, Hydro International wastewater division "Existing structures mean that new innovations are often overlooked, even if they deliver better results." "It is now harder to get acceptance for change to an established product than it is to introduce a new concept"