Supplier Assurance Management Services

Transcription

1 Supplier Assurance Management Services Business Prospectus December 2015

2 Table of Contents Foreword 3 Introduction 4 Overview 5 The current arrangements 6 Tender package strategy 8 Business model 9 Scale 9 Indicative timescales 10 Next steps 10 2 Supplier Assurance Management Services

3 Foreword The modern British railway system is the safest and fastest growing railway in Europe. This introduces the challenges of maintaining and improving all aspects of its performance while becoming ever more cost efficient, managing increasing numbers of passengers and freight, and building new capacity. To meet these challenges, rail companies need to deploy effective management systems, competent people and engage world class suppliers. Our railway is critically dependant on its supply chain to support its daily operation, as well as deliver new investment projects and develop new innovations. This means it s crucial for each rail company to understand and have confidence in the capability of a supplier to meet its business requirements, and also obtain ongoing assurance about the maintenance of these capabilities. It is equally important that suppliers understand how to demonstrate to client rail companies their capability, efficiently and effectively. Industry leaders have endorsed a project to introduce a new cross-industry solution to address feedback. The commitment to do this is contained in Leading health and safety on Britain s railway A strategy for working together which is to be launched in 2016, and demonstrates that this is a serious, fundamental industry objective bought into by everyone, and not just another initiative. We are now ready to start talking to the market about how to do this and this brochure is designed to secure interest amongst potential service provider(s) and inform forward thinking. We would encourage you to read on, and then engage with us. This project provides a golden opportunity to establish modernised arrangements which will support the British railway for decades to come, and so we would really like to secure your input please get in touch. John Abbott Director of External Engagement RSSB John Green Chair of the Railway Industry Supplier Qualification Scheme Tim Dugher Chair of the Railway Industry Supplier Approval Scheme Supplier Assurance Management Services 3

4 Introduction We want to make a step change in the way supplier assurance works in the rail industry to help open up the rail market in Britain and make for a safer, more cost-effective and higher capacity rail network. RSSB is seeking expressions of interest and feedback on the proposed Information Platform, Verification and Assessment Services to support the delivery of the rail industry s future supplier assurance arrangements.. The rail industry is currently supported by two national assurance schemes, the Railway Industry Supplier Qualification Scheme ( and the Railway Industry Supplier Approval Scheme ( (collectively termed the schemes). Our challenge to the market is for interested organisations to tell us how they would deliver these services to best support the industry s future requirements so that they operate in a commercially viable way while encouraging full participation from the buying and supplier communities. We are seeking your views on the possible future model now and plan to follow up on responses received in early 2016, to allow decisions to be made on the future of the Schemes support elements to be made later in the year. An indicative timescale is shown on page 9 of this document. This prospectus sets out the current position and is accompanied by a questionnaire. We are seeking your response by 22 January Supplier Assurance Management Services

5 Overview The rail supply chain in Britain is both national and international, with some 250 buying organisations procuring from a common supplier base of over 6,000 companies. Over the last 20 years, since rail privatisation, the British rail industry has developed a variety of supplier assurance schemes and arrangements, supported by different organisations. However, there is considerable confusion about these arrangements, leading to duplication of effort and unnecessary cost incurred by buyers and suppliers alike with replicated information and identical assessments sought from the same companies, not related to risk or performance. This prompted us to undertake a review, and as a result we are aiming to make a series of improvements, all of which have formal endorsement from across the whole rail industry. Risk-based assurance arrangements defined for each of those products and services Core supplier information collected once with the information stored in a single central repository The ability to include supplier performance and feedback processes to enable continuous improvement We are now ready to start sharing information about what our new specification looks like, with a view to having a service delivery partner(s) in place from April 2017 onwards. This is also when current contracts for certain existing scheme services expire and we want to ensure there is continuity of service. In short, we want to develop a new specification for future supplier assurance arrangements, meaning that the GB rail industry will in the future have: - A single cross-industry assurance governance body overseeing a single industry scheme (combining both RISQS and RISAS) Unified supplier assurance and management arrangements, where key industry stakeholders define the capability and competence standards for suppliers of goods and services A single catalogue, listing and classifying all goods and services procured by GB rail (based on the current Rail Industry Commodity Classification Listing ) Supplier Assurance Management Services 5

6 The current arrangements The two national schemes currently operate in isolation and in accordance with different processes and platforms. RISQS Railway Industry Supplier Qualification Scheme The RISQS scheme was originally created to provide one of the means of meeting the requirements of Railway Group Standard GM/ RT Qualification of Suppliers of Safety Critical Engineering Products and Services available on the RSSB website ( This standard mandates that suppliers of safety critical engineering products and services, ultimately for use on the rail infrastructure, shall be qualified in order to minimise the importation of safety risks. RISAS Railway Industry Supplier Approval Scheme The RISAS Scheme is for the assessment and certification of suppliers of critical products and services, initially for traction and rolling stock requirements. Supplier assurance arrangements covered by the above schemes are as follows:- Product Codes RISQS manages a product code structure (the RICCL) that covers the products and services used in the rail industry. Products and services are assessed on the risk they pose to the industry and the level of intervention is decided based on this risk as follows. Registration Every supplier identifies the product codes that it wishes to supply to the industry and completes a questionnaire which covers the company s structure and management systems. Verification and Checking Once a supplier has completed the questionnaire, key elements of the information are reviewed and checked to agreed levels. Once this has been satisfactorily completed the supplier s information is published on the current service provider s portal where it is visible to the buying community. It is a third party, process-based, monitored assessment and certification scheme. It provides assurance that a supplier has put a system in place to comply, meaning it is a positive evaluation of capability, with the assurance that the requirements stated in a supplier s management system are met in practice. It is undertaken by approval bodies formally accredited by RSSB and is consistent with international accreditation and conformance certification requirements. 6 Supplier Assurance Management Services

7 Assessment Where a supplier delivers product codes that import higher levels of risk into the industry then the supplier is required to undergo a systems type assessment at their premises. This assessment is split into a number of modules depending on where a supplier works on the infrastructure and what they deliver: - Industry Minimum Requirements (IMR) industry minimum requirements for infrastructure suppliers Sentinel For Suppliers that go trackside Railway Interface Planning (RIPS) For Suppliers that plan safe access of workforce onto Network Rail Managed Infrastructure (NRMI) Plant Operation Scheme (POS) for those that operate On-track Plant on NRMI Non-trackside Sponsor (Random assessment of suppliers with a risk based percentage being assessed each year) Railway Industry Supplier Approval Scheme (RISAS) - assessment and certification of suppliers of critical products, initially for traction and rolling stock requirements and a positive evaluation of capability providing assurance that the procedures detailed in a supplier s management system are met in practice. Buyer information The information from the questionnaire and the results of any assessments is held on a searchable database managed by the RISQS scheme and those for critical products and services for traction and rolling stock by RISAS, which buyers use to aid the selection and ongoing monitoring of suppliers. Buyers can use the RISQS Scheme to assist in complying with EU procurement law. As part of the new arrangements both the RISQS and RISAS schemes will be combined into one industry scheme to assist in delivering supplier assurance for the rail industry. Supplier Assurance Management Services 7

8 Tender package strategy The required activities split into the following elements A - IT Package Including: Dynamic Internet Based Questionnaire Database for Information Storage and Retrieval Search Facility for Buyers Ability to pass information to buyer s supplier management systems via API Agile change management B - Customer Handling and Data Verification Service On Boarding Questionnaire Verification Publication of Questionnaire to portal Customer Support Customer Communications Feedback and Appeals management C - Assessment Scheduling Assessment delivery, including audits Processing & Publication of results to portal Technical Development of Protocols D - Customer Control Initial Registration Billing Credit Control For RISAS, the IT package is provided by a third party, customer handling and control is currently undertaken by RSSB, whilst suppliers invite approval bodies, accredited by RSSB, to competitively tender to undertake an assessment of the adequacy of their procedures, practices and competence to manage the risks in the supply of their products or services. If approval is achieved then that continues to be monitored throughout its validity period by the approval body, which may be from one to three years. The current Service Provider for RISQS provides all of the above services as a single package and RSSB is interested to understand the appetite and ability for potential providers to bid for discrete elements of the above, or as a single provider for all elements of both RISQS and RISAS. We may decide to include additional services within the scope of any procurement which would not be commissioned on commencement of any contract, but which may be commissioned during the lifetime of the contract. 8 Supplier Assurance Management Services

9 Business model There are a number of options for the future and we welcome all suggestions from interested parties. All options should take cognisance of the need for the scheme to: Be financially self sustaining Be cost effective for all buyers, suppliers and other stakeholders of the scheme Be flexible to meet future requirements Be capable of supporting other rail operations including Light Rail, TfL and others Scale The rail industry spends several million pounds with various providers, with significant costs of supporting these arrangements borne by the supplier community. There are currently approximately 4,300 suppliers registered in the schemes searchable by 150+ buying organisations with an opportunity to further increase the number of buying organisations who subscribe to them. Each of the suppliers have a questionnaire/ assessment which requires regular update and verification. The Buyers carry out in excess of 10,000 searches monthly to find suppliers for specific product codes. The current providers undertake approximately 160 assessments per month with durations of between 1 and 5 assessment days, with the majority of these being of 1 or 2-day duration. There are currently 65 RISAS approved supplier locations and typically 45 assessments undertaken annually. Supplier Assurance Management Services 9

10 Indicative timescales PIN & Brochure Issued 16 December 2015 Questionnaire issued: 16 December 2015 Questionnaire response deadline: 22 January 2016 Detailed market engagement 29 January to 26 February 2016 Call for Competition Spring 2016 Contract award Autumn 2016 System Go Live 30 April 2017 Depending on IT build timescales there is the ability to extend the current contract for up to 24 months. Next steps Please read the attached, associated document, which provides information on how to complete and submit the questionnaire by the specified date. We will then be holding meetings with interested parties to explore options further, and this may be in a group or on a one to one basis. If you need to contact us, please get in touch with us at enquirydesk@rssb.co.uk or telephone us on Supplier Assurance Management Services

11 About RSSB The railway is a complex system with multiple interfaces delivered by many different organisations. At RSSB we bring these different organisations together to make collective decisions. Through research, risk modelling and analysis we help the rail industry in the areas of safety, standards, knowledge, and innovation. We support the railway too across a wide range of cross-industry topics requiring our knowledge and independence. And we provide a constant point of reference in a changing environment. Our work involves close collaboration, but as technical experts we re also able to step back and provide an informed view. And because we can see both the big picture and the detail, we re able to furnish the industry with the information and tools it needs to continuously improve. We re an expert body with a wide compass of knowledge, skills and experience. We re owned by the industry but are non profit-making and independent of any commercial interests. We span the whole system, including in our membership infrastructure companies, train and freight operators, rolling stock owners and suppliers to the industry. Supplier Assurance Management Services 11

12 Tel +44 (0) Web RSSB The Helicon One South Place London EC2M 2RB 12 Supplier Assurance Management Services