Building Stronger, More Strategic Vendor Relationships

These days, when Russ Beasley, the maintenance manager at Imperial Sugar’s Port Wentworth refinery, hires a contractor to do pipe repair during maintenance shutdowns, he follows a new set of procedures: First he fully scopes out the job. He glances through rate sheets that outline how much each component of the job should cost. He determines the cost of doing the work on-site at overtime rates vs. off-site at regular rates. Then he puts the job out to bid with at least three approved suppliers.

Yvette Woodard, senior procurement manager, Imperial Sugar

That’s a procedural change put in place by Yvette Woodard, the senior procurement manager who oversees purchasing at the Port Wentworth and Gramercy refineries, as well as at headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas. “The process lets us determine the best route and gives us the option of saving money,” she says.

Setting up a bidding process — the opposite of a hurry-up-and-get-it-done process — is just one way the procurement department can bring value to an organization, she says.

“People often feel that requiring bids slows down the process,” she says. “The fact is, the process can go quickly and it drives saving. After Russ went through it the first time, he discovered that it was actually much easier. And he’s been a big proponent of the process ever since.”

Woodard brings over 20 years of procurement experience to her role, which entails thinking strategically about Imperial Sugar’s relationships with vendors.

“We’re putting contracts in place with vendors to establish a level of expectation, so that it’s more advantageous to Imperial Sugar and our customers,” she says. For example, an advantageous relationship for Imperial might provide more storage for consignment inventory, a different delivery schedule, or a higher quality of product arriving on site.

Yvette Woodard keeps in touch with vendors and suppliers during manager's meeting.

With the help of Human Resource Manager Ginger Faulconer, Vice President George Muller and Assistant General Counsel Kirsten Cohoon, Woodard has crafted new contracts with higher expectations for existing Port Wentworth and Gramercy vendors, and put them in vendors’ hands.

In some cases, she may forge new relationships with suppliers who can be strategic partners. “We want vendors who can bring something to the table,” she explains. “A partner who might say, ‘We’ve been making this package for you for years, but we’ve thought of a way to do it better.’”

Managing supplier relationships is something Woodard did in her previous life in the pharmaceuticals industry. When her former employer, Wyeth, introduced a new arthritic cap on Advil bottles, it was a vendor who brought the idea to the company. “Those are the kinds of things you want your supplier to do — bring you ideas in ways to save money in your order pattern or to package something differently, or to tell you about the latest, greatest thing.”

For example, Woodard says, she wants to know what the company’s suppliers are doing now to go green and what their sustainability plan is. “Do they have certification programs and standard operating procedures in place? Our customers are asking us about it,” she says, “so I’ll be asking about it.”

“The procurement department is ripe for opportunities. The challenge is going to be picking and choosing which opportunities we want to tackle first.”