Shell and supplier information management company Achilles Group, create an innovative and ground breaking solution to the problems of gaining visibility of suppliers across a global business
The companies announced today that they have signed an agreement to cover Shell’s entire global operations.
Shell was one of the original drivers and co-creators of the first Achilles systems as early as 1990. Shell helped to develop solutions with Achilles to address regional requirements for supplier pre-qualification in Scandinavia and the UK. These systems have grown to become industry standards in Europe and are being replicated in many other regions round the world.
As supply chains have become increasingly complex, geographically extended and subject to greater legislative constraint over the last 20 years, Achilles has evolved to meet the challenges these issues represent to big business. Shell operates in more than 90 countries and has over 70,000 suppliers worldwide: with such a large globalised business, Shell recognised the critical business need for supply chain visibility and the mitigation of supplier risk on a much larger scale. Shell sought to put in place a supplier information management solution that would give them a holistic view of their entire supply base with the visibility of constantly updated and validated data on their suppliers.
Benefits
As a result of a huge collaborative effort, Achilles will now take responsibility for managing Shell’s global supplier information requirements. The benefits to Shell are numerous: this is a solution that mirrors the globalisation of their supply chain; providing one approach to corporate responsibility, compliance and risk management. Altogether, this approach will assist Shell in administering high quality supplier information across their supply chain and in so doing, is expected to provide a real competitive advantage.
One of Shell’s major drivers was to make the process of doing business easier. A supplier in one geographical region will now gain far greater visibility to Shell procurement departments in other regions
“Shell values its relationships with suppliers and with Achilles’ assistance we will maintain a single source of high quality information. This intelligence and insight into our supply base will enable us to continue to form and maintain strong relationships with our suppliers and together, create key competitive advantages for Shell.” Jim Pearson, General Manger CP Systems and Process’.
“This is hugely significant for Achilles and shows that Shell understand the importance of having a consistent view of their supply base, across all the regions that they operate in. We are delighted that Shell trusts in our ability to manage their supplier information on such a comprehensive basis.” Colin Maund, CEO of Achilles.
