Building Connections Across the Enterprise at SCMC Supplier Industry Day

December 2022

"Connection" was the central theme of the Supply Chain Management Center's (SCMC) recent Supplier Industry Day. Scott Bissen, Senior Director of the SCMC, delivered opening remarks on the importance of connecting to a packed room on a chilly December morning. Attendees came together from across the country with a single purpose - to build connections and reignite relationships within the Department of Energy's (DOE) supply chain and bolster the SCMC's mission of being a hedge against rising costs within the enterprise.

The SCMC's Supplier Industry Day was held December 6-7, 2022, in Overland Park, KS. More than 250 guests participated in the two-day event, including supply chain representatives from 17 sites across the DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration and Environmental Management, and teams from 68 existing SCMC agreement holders.

The SCMC was founded in 2006 to streamline supply chain processes and cut down on redundant procurement activities within the DOE enterprise. Shared commodity agreements are a key element of the SCMC program, with a library of 119 agreements for commonly used commodities, covering operating supplies, professional services, and IT. These can be used by multiple sites, saving time, funding, and effort at the site level.

"After three years of working remotely during the pandemic, we felt there was a real need to come together in person to reconnect and rebuild relationships," said Bissen. "The SCMC's commodity agreements present a great opportunity for cost savings and cost avoidance, so this meeting gave our partner sites and agreement holders a chance to meet and discuss ways to partner in the future."

The meeting featured an outstanding lineup of panel discussions. On the first day of the meeting, the SCMC team unveiled a new Source-to-Pay platform, a cloud-based procurement platform that will begin rolling out to sites and suppliers later this year. Another session focused on changes to the Buy American Act and it's impact to suppliers and contractors, while a third explained the "Golden Ticket" and how to best utilize an SCMC agreement. 

The audience participated in a lively discussion on the second day of the event, which included two unique panel sessions - one featuring SCMC agreement holders sharing insights into their business during the "Voice of the Industry" panel, and a second that featured representatives from SCMC partner sites sharing their perspectives in a "Voice of the Enterprise" session.

Each afternoon was reserved for one-on-one meetings between sites and suppliers, which allowed them to talk in greater detail about future needs and business opportunities.

"At the end of the day, it is our strong relationships that helped us weather the storm during the pandemic," said Bissen. "I hope everyone who participated in this meeting walked away having made new, meaningful connections."