Suppliers

At BAE Systems we recognise that our ability to meet our customer's needs and to be the premier global defence company is dependent on the Extended Enterprise of the Supply Chain.

In today's competitive global economy we require agile, reliable, innovative and competitive suppliers. We believe strong and resilient relationships with our suppliers, at every level, are critical for us to succeed in meeting our customers' expectations and to continuously improve as a company.

We strive to conduct our business in a principled manner maintaining the utmost integrity and respect for our supply partners.

We are proud to work with a diverse range of companies both large and small. At BAE Systems increasingly emphasis is placed on open architecture, systems integration and through life capability management. We need suppliers who are flexible and open to adapting the way we interact and work together, to deliver a through life service to our customers.

 

Matching Technological Capability to Customer Requirements is Key

We recognise that a wealth of innovative technological capability can be found at every level of the supply base and we want to maximise the value added by the skills and capability that exist. We need to work with our suppliers to match innovative capabilities with our customers' requirements. We welcome companies from any background or industry where there is a clear opportunity for them to add value and help us provide solutions to our customers.

 

Supplier Management in BAE Systems

Within BAE Systems we take a tiered approach to supplier management, ranging from full strategic and operational performance partnerships with our most strategic major suppliers to performance management with our general supply base. We use the SBAC 21st Century Supply Chain Programme - SC21 tools and techniques for operational performance management and improvement with our suppliers.

We recognise improvement in performance is dependent upon open communication and clear improvement plans which must be two way to be effective.