Saipol’s supply chain, from commercial promise to value creation

How do you fulfil a commercial promise or a contract to buy or sell a product?

The Supply Chain provides a practical response to this request. At the heart of the company’s performance, its connects all the professions in the value chain : sales administration, purchasing, customer service, invoicing, factory production planning, flow management, transport, etc. In total, around fifty employees work at the Rouen head office and around eighty at the plants to fulfil contracts. “Our mission is to turn a ‘commercial promise’ into reality and convert it into a product delivered to customers or factories. We transform business goals into real physical and financial flows,” explains Estelle Bregetzer, Saipol’s Supply Chain Director.

This department is both operational and functional, horizontally, from supplier to customer, and vertically, from strategic vision to day-to-day operational execution.

“To achieve this, the Supply Chain team works together and is well-versed in a variety of operational situations, she says. This means that communication with all Saipol departments is essential. We have clearly established channels and a well-defined scope of action. Teamwork is essential to bring it all to life.” But make no mistake! The Supply Chain does not simply execute tasks; it is a department that works in the field on its own. Above all, we work in anticipation and co-construction! We need to pick up signals throughout the value chain, manage risks within our scope and anticipate alternative scenarios.

Everything is organised to help Saipol achieve its goals. “We do a wide variety of things, remaining available to serve the company’s objectives and our customers’ interests”, adds the manager. She adds: “Without Supply Chain, there is no value creation”.

The recent flow for liquid biomass is an example of this value creation. Saipol opened this flow for EDF-PEI in April 2023. With the aim of decarbonising its power station on Reunion Island, the energy company is switching from fuel oil to renewable liquid biomass. Upstream, Supply Chain is involved in all stages of project implementation. “We helped EDF-PEI understand the product, integrate customer requirements and cover the flow, establishing a logistics solution that met its needs, from providing the product at our production site to delivery to its containers,” says Estelle Bregetzer. To fill this order, all the parameters in the supply chain need to be taken into account.

The operational hazards we take into account may be internal or external to our business. For example, for delivering liquid biomass, we use large-capacity ships, managing maritime logistics with partners from our plants. At the beginning of the year, we had to adapt our logistics to sail around the Cape of Good Hope.” This route, which takes 10 days longer than the Red Sea route, ensures the supply arrives safely.

“Our work is very hands-on with a lot of geopolitical, meteorological, social and industrial issues to take into account, she adds. However, the challenges we face on a day-to-day basis keep us moving forward.”

Depending on the context, Supply Chain’s work is highly varied and cross-functional, and we only operate in partnership with other Saipol departments, either at headquarters or the plants, and with our partners in logistics.