Business Breakfast: Best practices and business cases in procurement and project- and construction management

11/27/2018

Recently, a Business Breakfast was held in our Moscow office on the topic ‘procurement in project- and construction management: best practices and business cases’. The purpose of the event was to discuss the main current trends in procurement and to talk about the services in demand among the customers and to identify clients' key needs.

The meeting was attended by procurement professionals of international and Russian companies. Amongst them were: Henkel, Cargill, Danone, Miratorg, Saint-Gobain and APPM. One of the expert speakers was Mikaela Novakova, Director Procurement of Bilfinger Tebodin in Central & Eastern Europe.

The specifics of procurement at different stages of the project and possible risks that may be faced in each of them were discussed. Globalization of services in the internal processes of companies was defined as a current trend, as well as the need for independent project control by a professional procurement manager.

After a lively discussion the participants concluded that project results are very much dependent on the quality of the provided tender. This makes the procurement process even more crucial. The impact on the budget is the largest in the earliest stages of the project, so it is important to start the procedure at the phase of preliminary design in order to minimize costs.

A few participants shared their opinion: 

Dmitry Mironov, Category team member Technical supply Henkel: ‘The most important thing I want to emphasize is the interactive format of the event, when you have an opportunity to discuss and exchange practices. It was also interesting to see the scope of services that Bilfinger Tebodin provides, P+ detail design, in particular – not all suppliers offer such service.’

Dmitry Kolpakov, Operational purchasing manager Cargill: ‘We have been extremely glad to join the event, to share our vision and gather others’ opinions on the topic. We have not only touched the Russian market trends and situation, but also had an opportunity to discuss international practices. As a result of the discussion, I should mention that all companies have the similar pressure points: choosing qualified suppliers, pricing the services and budget estimation. We are really looking forward to repeating the meeting in such format!’

Eduard Khakimov, Director business development of Bilfinger Tebodin in Russia and CIS: ‘Bilfinger Tebodin holds such events in order to be closer to its customers and share its experience in the implementation of projects. We are pleased to create such a platform for mutually beneficial exchange: to talk with customers about their needs, to give an access to our knowledges and an opportunity to evaluate the benefits of partnership with us.’