2024 GLOBAL SRM RESEARCH REPORT
CASE STUDY: INEOS - YOU HAVE TO BE COMFORTABLE WITH UNCERTAINTY
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INEOS Automotive’s CPO and Chief Supply Chain Officer Marcus Bjorn on establishing a start-up vehicle manufacturer and getting supplier management going You have to be comfortable with uncertainty
Building from the bottom up INEOS Automotive had initially planned to manufacture in Wales, before acquiring a former Mercedes-Benz site and settling into the facility at Hambach on the French-German border, within reach of engineering and automotive talent in Stuttgart. While it would like to source goods and services closer to home – “Covid taught us that,” says Bjorn – its current 250-strong supply base spans Europe, South Africa, the US, Australia, China and Mexico. Like most start ups it must first build a reputation and brand awareness to get suppliers on board and when it began sourcing a few years ago, INEOS Automotive was a complete unknown as a car manufacturer, which made it very challenging from a sourcing perspective. It has since partnered with some giants in the sector. Its top 10 suppliers cover 70% of spend, with the main 2-3 accounting for 40%. And while it works with some massive players from the automotive world, others – even within its top 10 – have been less financially secure and left INEOS searching for others to have some “plan Bs and back-ups”. It is a challenging market for some suppliers to enter, with new technology providers, like battery and software vendors, coming on board.
INEOS Group is a business powerhouse. Headed by CEO Sir Jim Ratcliffe who founded it in 1998, it now comprises 36 companies at 194 sites in 29 countries staffed by 28,000 employees. What began as a chemicals business established by a chemical engineer is a brand that now spans an array of markets including construction, cosmetics, food and pharmaceuticals. British billionaire Sir Jim is also co-owner of Manchester United Football Club, and INEOS partners with a number of sports teams from the worlds of Formula One, sailing, cycling and rugby. INEOS Automotive is one of a growing number of consumer businesses to be added to the INEOS stable, and has been effectively running as a start up under the umbrella of the overall group. After years in development and more than a million miles of testing, the Grenadier – a 4x4 first dreamt up over a pint in a London pub – was launched in 2022. Marcus Bjorn joined the business the following year in September 2023 to head up its end-to-end supply chain function. He currently oversees around 200 people who work in three teams Procurement, Supplier Quality and Supply Chain. He’s excited rather than daunted by the prospect of working somewhere
that has had to start from scratch. Bjorn has more than two decades’ experience in the sector, and previously helped to make a similar vision a reality at McLaren Automotive after it decided to move into the production of luxury cars. “I like the chaos,” he says, “I could have gone back to work for one of the big OEMs, but at a start-up you can really see the impact you’re making. You have to be comfortable with uncertainty, however, if you get stressed about the things you don’t know, it’s going to kill you. You have to trust yourself, prioritise the right things and establish a culture that means that if people aren’t sure, they ask for help.” This kind of fresh yet challenging atmosphere brings a team close together, he says, because they quickly learn they have to depend on one another. “You have so many issues to overcome together, you become interlinked, like a family. When I started here, I said the key three things were ‘Transparency Trust, and Fun’. If you live by these, don’t hide things and are transparent so people trust you, it can be quite fun. And you can implement that with suppliers too – with trust and transparency, it’s a proper two-way street.”
“We hope to be able to work with fewer suppliers in future and find ways of working together as partners where the supplier has skin in the game.” Marcus Bjorn , CPO and Chief Supply Chain Officer, INEOS
Photos supplied by INEOS Automotive
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