TNK-BP makes the business of its contractors more efficient

28.02.2013       

Any business seeks to reduce costs while maintaining quality. This is the written truth. This can be achieved in different ways. Entire volumes of specialized literature have been written about this, it is taught from the student (if not school) bench. But despite the abundance of formulas and recipes, business is constantly striving to discover new ways to improve efficiency. Some of these "recipes" short-lived, some become classics of business management.

For three years TNK-BP has been running regional councils for interaction with suppliers and contractors. Created as a tool for dialogue with contractors, today this institution has turned into a full-fledged mechanism that makes the business of the parties more efficient. The composition of the Councils, along with representatives of the Company’s divisions responsible for procurement and independent specialists, includes representatives of key suppliers and contractors.

Councils meet once every six months in the regions where the company operates. At the dawn of their existence, the councils discussed general issues: contracting policy, feedback scheme, control system. It was relevant at the time. But very soon it became clear that it was more important for contractors to discuss not market problems in general, but work on a specific problem, within the framework of individual topics. So it was decided to hold thematic and sectoral meetings of the Regional Councils, to which contractors are invited, related to one sector, and sometimes competing with each other. But even competitors have common problems and questions.

"At the meetings, we discuss topical issues that concern both the management of TNK-BP enterprises, and contractors, – notes Oleg Dimov, Vice President of TNK-BP, director of the TNK-BP Orenburg branch. – For example, the central topic of one of the meetings of the Orenburg RS was the issues of contracting in the "capital construction" sector. Heads of contractors, such as Orenburg Drilling Company LLC, Orenburgneftegeofizika LLC and others, expressed a number of topical problems and wishes. First of all, the questions concerned changes and additions to the contractual work, the shortcomings of feedback between contractors and the customer, the procedure for conducting tenders were discussed.

The new format of work of regional councils quickly justified its need, affected with contractors: the number of claims of the company to organizations has decreased, the time for approval has decreased. "The new format of meetings of the Regional Councils made it possible to attract new bidders, and also allows you to give targeted recommendations to counterparties,", – noted Anatoly Temkin, Executive Vice President for Business Support at TNK-BP Management in September 2012 at the third Annual Meeting of Suppliers and Contractors.

It is these targeted recommendations, exchange of opinions and experience that help the company's counterparties to make their own business more efficient. It is here that they get ideas on what optimal solutions to apply in production, logistics, service, in order to meet the stringent requirements of the Company, deliver high quality goods and services at the best price for both TNCs and contractors, become more innovative, – that is, more sustainable and efficient.

ANGI