Tabreed – Brochure 2020

Tabreed: supply chain maturity

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Tabreed: supply chain maturity Mohamed Habib, VP of Supply Chain Management at Tabreed, tells us how at a time of crisis, procurement maturity is king WRI T T EN BY PRODUCED BY

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D al e Bent on Hey kel Ouni

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n the current procurement landscape, the dial has well and truly moved. Over the

course of the last decade the procurement conversation revolved around how procurement could be positioned more centrally towards the strategic growth of a business with major companies around the world over investing millions into restructuring their procurement and supply chain management functions.

More often than not, these investments would see organisations build from the ground up to become an organisation defined and powered by a true world class procurement function. Procurement has traditionally taken a backseat in the evaluation of an organisation thanks to a major focus on sales and business function, followed swiftly by operation. In an ideal world, the conversation would change due to natural progression, but it often takes a moment of crisis or a fluctuating market to dictate where the spotlight will shine on a business. Money

procurement evolution was born. “There

talks, and the global financial crisis of

were a lot of business cases from the

2007-2009 had forced the hands of

period of 2008, 2009 and 2010 within

many businesses the world over.

the academic circle. These success

One of the key learnings from this

stories of how businesses survived

crisis was that the strongest businesses

thanks to the agility of their supply chain

were held up by their supply chain

management really kickstarted a major

and procurement maturity, and thus a

elevation of status, so to speak, of the

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supply chain management function,” explains Mohamed Habib, Vice President

made.”

“We [procurement overall] have a good

of Supply Chain Management at Tabreed.

exposure within the high-level manage-

“Today, using my experience at Tabreed,

ment decision making and that’s a good

people appreciate technology and

thing. It’s pretty evident that this is a key

supply chain management. As a func-

component to the success of any organi-

tion we have access to many platforms

sation today.”

where a lot of key strategic decisions are

Tabreed is an organisation which 5

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“Be sure to focus on more than simply the supply chain management function. Look at the business and understand it. Only then by working handin-hand with the internal stakeholders and the suppliers can you begin to leverage on the advances in technology and processes that you are trying to implement” Mohamed Habib, VP, Supply Chain Management

not only needs a mature supply chain

a few. The company currently supplies

management function, it requires a resil-

more than 1.338 million refrigeration tons

ient one that can withstand great risk

of cooling across 83 plants and with

and crisis as well as cater to the incred-

cooling demand in the GCC expected

ible demand that rests upon its shoul-

to nearly triple by 2030, the pres-

ders. As a deliverer of award-winning,

sure placed on Tabreed’s supply chain

high quality, efficient and environmen-

management function to be able to be

tally friendly district cooling developer in

ready for that increased demand is clear

the UAE and across the GCC, Tabreed

to see.

has played a pivotal role in a number of

Joining the business in June 2019,

milestone projects that have been at the

Habib was given a clear mandate: to

heart of infrastructure development and

achieve significant maturity in supply

have set the standard for the industry.

chain management so that it is up to the

These include cooling infrastructure for

required standards in order to support

the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the

the growth required of Tabreed. “It was a

Burj Khalifa and The Dubai Mall; to name

clear message,” he says. “I had to come 7

in and gradually transform the procure-

chain management professionals face is

ment and progress the function to the

proving the credibility and speaking the

next level as part of the growth strategy.”

language of the business. “There are a

Empowered by a clear mandate, and

lot of qualified people at Tabreed who

a career spanning 15 years in supply

understand supply chain, so it was pretty

chain management, Habib’s first chal-

simple,” he says.

lenge was to change the perception

“We had to bring credibility very

surrounding procurement. As a supply

quickly, we did that by creating a lot of

chain man by trade, he understands the

awareness on what the supply chain

nuances and complexities but in order to

actually is and by changing the way

even begin thinking about achieving the

we developed our operational reports,

required level of maturity he had to work

making them more contextually inform-

to bring the wider business units into

ative. So, we’re constantly engaging

that same level of procurement conver-

with our businesses through workshops

sation. To him, the biggest component

to help them understand the impact of

and the biggest challenge that all supply

supply chain management, what are the

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market risks that we face and then we

around a topic, we bring in very objective

develop plans together to mitigate them.”

thinking around it by using a lot of data

Despite the title, supply chain manage-

because, to put it bluntly, data speaks.”

ment at Tabreed isn’t solely centred

Habib is creating a function that is

around managing the transactions and

truly supportive of the business and

issuing orders out to the suppliers. For

how it provides this support must be in

Tabreed, it’s a complete assessment of

a manner that is flexible and respon-

the market, the business needs and how

sive to the various requirements of the

they run together. “When it comes to the

business. Habib and his team look to

communication part, I believe people

connect through both physical and virtual

will listen to you if you have credibility,”

meetings, regular face to face conversa-

explains Habib.

tions, and through emails. This, he feels,

“One of the things we have done at

enables them to get closer to the busi-

Tabreed is improve the quality of our

ness and hence better understand the

reports and improve the quality of our

needs and eventually know how they can

data. So, every time there is a discussion

best assist them. “At the end of the day,

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we are a support function and we have to

Since he joined, Habib has been

provide services at best possible levels

blessed with very supportive manage-

to our internal stakeholders,� he says.

ment as well as a strong team around

“That shift in paradigm needs to happen

him. Tabreed has been successfully

internally first within the supply change

operating for more than twenty-two years

management, and then it would auto-

and this kind of legacy can be perceived

matically portray itself outside to other

as one with a culture that is reluctant to

departments.�

change. After all, one would think, why fix

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“My team had some really good ideas and so we decided rather than adopting a big bang approach to transformation we’d take small steps to improve our operations and to improve our mandate.”

This approach encompasses a wide number of areas of the business, including the upskilling of people and the changing of mindsets in order to bring in a culture of innovation. Habib analyzed the different policies and procedures to unveil opportunities of further optimization. “We scoured the market for new technologies that we can utilize as a company. The core idea behind it all was to bring in efficiencies to manage day to day supply chain operations”” He says. “Obviously, there’s always a challenge around how quickly you can obtain endorsements from the management to give you additional resources to spend on things like technology, consultants, or marketing.. But with a clear vision in place, you are able to sell these things to what isn’t broken? Fortunately, this was

management the right away.” he further

not the case with Tabreed. ”When I came

explains.

here, my approach was to understand

Habib notes that, sometimes profes-

what was the mindset of the company

sionals make a big mistake by embark-

and what I pleasantly found is that the

ing onto a role with the approach of

people are extremely welcoming to the

completely transforming their function

idea of change. They were open to find-

without truly understanding its current

ing new ways of doing things,” he says.

position, maturity, dependencies and the 11

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“Supply Chain management should be looked at as a vital organ. We collect, analyze, process then propose” Mohamed Habib, VP, Supply Chain Management

impact that change is going to have on

as any procurement and supply chain

a larger ecosystem i.e. the organization.

professional wishes they could, nobody

“Supply Chain management should be

can truly predict the future. There is

looked at as a vital organ. We carefully

a major element of risk management

collect, analyze, process then propose.

involved, expecting and preparing for the

If a complete change takes place too

worst as best as possible. But when the

quickly, the ripple effect could be cata-

worst hits, sometimes even the strong-

strophic. The link between the supply

est resilience cannot handle the impact.

chain and the rest of the company could

At the time of writing, the COVID-19

break resulting in a long road of synergy

pandemic has taken a huge toll on both

recovery.” He says. “Change that is

human life and the global economy. All

driven organically and in complete sync

the best laid plans have been hit hard

with other functions are the ones found

and businesses have been severely

to be the most effective.”

affected.

As Habib has noted, data and numbers speak in procurement and as much

“What’s happening right now is truly disturbing. For a lot of people, their lives 13

are going to be changed forever. They

deliveries and services and so an imme-

will be impacted financially, economically,

diate action was taken to refocus and

socially and of course medically,” says

regress the business to core operations.

Habib. “To look at it from a supply chain

Thanks to a move towards virtual plat-

perspective, this is the ultimate test. This

forms, Tabreed has been able to work

is the time where we shine. This is where

remotely without disrupting the business.

we put our best foot forward and say,

Being an existing transaction-based func-

“Yes we’ve been ready for this for years

tion, the supply chain is readily prepared

now.” This for me is where we can look,

for this change as it often reacts to the

as best as we can, at the positives.”

business needs by utilising this virtual

And shine Tabreed has. “Resilience is

system. “Our policies and procedures

one of the five core values of Tabreed,

allow us to find creative ways of doing

and one we cascade to all levels in our

things,” says Habib. “Yes, processes can

day to day work.” Given the nature of

be prescriptive in some areas, but we are

the business, Supply Chain Management

not completely shackled by them. Hence,

knew that there would be delays on

we were able to move quickly on to the

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virtual platforms.” This is but one exam-

relationship and network that would

ple that highlights the internal readiness

assist in withstanding challenges of all

of Tabreed and Habib believes that the

scales.”

business has only been able to respond

At a time of crisis, Habib believes, it is

and continue to operate to the best of its

only then you truly realise, and indeed

abilities thanks to the culture it has at the

appreciate, how good a relationship one

organisational level where people under-

has with their suppliers can help weather

stand each other’s limitations. “They

the storm.. He can point to firsthand

understand the direction of the organi-

examples where the suppliers proac-

sation and it makes it very easy for us to

tively reached out to his team to address

then accommodate for gaps and chal-

the situation and commit to full collab-

lenges,” he says.

oration. “You have to realise that at the

“At the same time from our supply

end of day what really matters is your

point of view, when I joined Tabreed I

relationship in the organisation and in the

immediately arranged meetings with

market,” he says. “It speaks to the way in

our key suppliers in order to build that

which Tabreed establishes and maintains

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relationships with its suppliers so that we can collaboratively understand what is changing from their perspective, within their organisation and within their sector and market. We can then be quick to react, but the key component should always be that we are proactively looking at our suppliers and the changes in the market that might impact them; and they respect that.”

A key part of this successful response to such an unprecedented crisis, and indeed a key part of a modern-day maturity journey, has been Tabreed’s implementation of digital tools. Technology has of course created greater collaboration and a more seamless way of operating and there is surely no greater time for that to come good than now. “One thing that this crisis has highlighted was the importance of investing in technology ahead of time to upgrade our systems to be at maximum potential. We are now utilising that potential so that we can maximize our business operations,” he says. “As a result of that the management is more appreciative of these steps as we’ve been able to build a really strong case to move us very quickly to look at cloud systems for document management and knowledge management.”

While Habib admits that there is still 16

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much more that he can do and use in the future, having a management team that is highly supportive of the idea allows him and his teams to assess different technologies on the corporate level to see how they can mature their systems and procedures moving forward.

Habib is a firm believer of using this as an opportunity to reflect not only on the response to a crisis but as a way of showing how far Tabreed has come on this journey of procurement maturity.

Mohamed Habib, VP, Supply Chain Management

After all, he believes it is a time to walk the walk, in procurement. To that end, he has been able to identify and highlight key successes as part of this maturity journey as well as looking at potential gaps and room for further improvement. “I think the most important thing for me has been the way in which my team has been and are extremely adhesive, so everyone is right there whenever there is a need, whether they are in operations or in projects or the finances or legal, we are always accessible. As a business, this has allowed us to stay composed and be able to tackle the situation head-on, instead of panicking,� he says. “Obviously, there are so many other things and gaps and challenges that we are dealing with one day-to-day basis.

Because what we are going through right 17

now is abnormal. There are lessons to be learned and it’s only going to help contribute to the maturity of the people in the organisation.”

This journey into maturity will never truly end and the same applies to anyone in procurement and supply chain management. Habib believes that the key to succeeding, while not guaranteeing success, rests in the hands of the supply chain management professional.

“The most important thing working in supply chain management is to understand where you stand internally within the business,” he says.

“Be sure to focus on more than simply the supply chain management function.

Look at the business and understand it.

Only then by working hand-in-hand with the internal stakeholders and the suppliers can you begin to leverage on the advances in technology and processes that you are trying to implement.”

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“ We’re constantly communicating with our businesses through workshops to help them understand how supply chain management works, what are the risks that we face and then we try to mitigate them�

Mohamed Habib, VP, Supply Chain Management 19

www.tabreed.ae