Procurement Services

Bechtel’s global spend, exceeding $16 billion in 2010 alone, carries a lot of clout in the marketplace.  Management of related downstream activities for this volume of materials and equipment is provided by an organization of more than 1,900 procurement personnel worldwide. The ability to leverage our buying power in the service of our customers is a major benefit we can bring to your organization.  As evidenced below, the services of our Procurement group are readily available on an unbundled basis, using specialists in each area of responsibility.

PURCHASING
Our buyers, acting alone or integrated with a customer’s team, can provide a full range of purchasing services, including supplier prequalifications, preparation of bid requests, commercial bid evaluations, vendor negotiations, and preparation and issue of purchase orders and requisitions.

SUPPLIER QUALITY
Bechtel’s international team of supplier quality personnel can perform quality surveillance activities around the world. Services include shop inspections and facility audits, review of welding procedures and welder qualifications, work process verifications, NDE witnessing and results verifications, test witnessing and evaluations, in-process and final inspections to confirm adherence to specification requirements, and documentation review.

SUBCONTRACTS
Although primarily a direct-hire construction company, Bechtel does subcontract certain specialty services (soil borings, critical pipe radiography, chemical cleaning) and packaged work scopes where the supplier can bring unique expertise to the site.  A good example of this is the construction of large concrete chimneys.  Our subcontracts group also is a specialized team with the specific expertise required for successful management of all elements of this type of work.  In performing its duties, the group relies on:

  • Proven processes for prequalification, bid cycles, commercial and technical evaluations, and post-award administration
  • Established control tools for execution, invoicing and payment, and correspondence control
  • Formal procedures and guidelines for process oversight and change management

The professionals in our subcontracts group can work independently or as part of a customer’s team to provide any or all of these capabilities to meet a specific need.

EXPEDITING
Expediting is a specialty function within the Procurement organization. It begins in the home office with a preventative approach, addressing vendors’ order entries, drawing and data submittal requirements, and manufacturing schedules, and continues through manufacturing, testing, packing, and shipping, with follow-up for spare parts and O&M manuals as required.  Bechtel uses area expeditors to visit supplier shops and assembly sites to assess the status of manufacturing and fabrication and confirm adherence to invoicing requirements and shipment schedules.

TRAFFIC & LOGISTICS
Our traffic and logistics specialists assess every element of infrastructure necessary to ensure safe, timely, and economical delivery of equipment and materials to jobsites. Their work can range from a detailed delivery plan for a single large component, such as a replacement transformer, to the preparation of a complete T&L plan, which would address road, rail, and water accessibility and load capability, for a new site.  A complete inventory of the materials and equipment to be brought to the site would identify special requirements for oversize or overweight components, as well as the need for unusually large volumes of materials (such as structural fill) that would burden local roads or transportation routes.

BECHTEL PROCUREMENT SYSTEM
tHE BPS is the automated system used for acquisition strategy and planning.  It is the primary management tool for execution of all procurement work processes, throughout the life of a project, for both office and site procurement of engineered equipment and construction materials.

The multiple modules that compose BPS, listed below, can also function independently to manage smaller elements of procurement. For example, the last three modules in the list could be used for material management purposes at an individual plant or on a fleet-wide basis.  The BPS modules are:

  • Acquisition Planning
  • Materials Planning
  • Supplier/Subcontractor Knowledge Base
  • Requisitioning
  • Purchasing
  • Subcontracting
  • Expediting
  • Inspection
  • Traffic & Logistics
  • Receiving
  • Inventory
  • Issuing

BPS is used by the various functions and departments within Bechtel as well as by our suppliers, JV partners, and customers. It can manage data and monitor work status across multiple projects, even when projects have their own separate database.

 

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