Middle East Broadcasting - Brochure 2018

Picture perfect procurement

Procurement excellence for the small screen WRIT TEN BY

JA MES HENDERSON PRODUCED BY

HEYKEL OUNI

w w w. m b c . n e t

MBC’s procurement division is driving real value for the flourishing Middle Eastern broadcaster

A

s the first broadcaster

the last decade. When Lorraine Black joined MBC in 2007 – as the company’s new Head of Procurement, she helped build a team numbering just four which was very transactional in its nature.

to provide a satellitebased free-to-air

Changing perceptions

24-hour television network

“There were no specific pro-

across the Arab world, The Mid-

cesses, it was a basic operation,”

dle East Broadcasting Center

says Black, who led and man-

(MBC) holds a unique place in the

aged the process of CIPS

region’s “Media & Entertainment”

Organisational Certification,

industry. Established in 1991,

which resulted in MBC being the

MBC now offers 16 channels,

first company in Dubai, UAE to

broadcasting a varied line-up of

achieve CIPS certification of

programs and series, including

excellence of its purchasing poli-

flagship shows such as: ‘Arab

cies and procedures in 2008 (a

Idol’, ‘Arabs Got Talent’, ‘theVoice’,

number of MBC’s team are work-

‘theVoice Kids’, and ‘Project Run-

ing on achieving their CIPs

way ME’… among many others.

certifications currently).

MBC is a premium content-

An analysis of the department

centric, audience-focused

was undertaken to understand

company whose success has

the skills of the existing staff and

been underpinned by a procure-

pinpoint gaps that needed to be

ment team that is setting new

filled to create an effective and

standards in the MENA region -

valuable procurement function

thus proving itself to be of real

for the business. An enterprise

added-value to the business, over

resource system (ERP) was

“ The main challenges we faced was shifting the mind-set of our key stakeholders. Now, we work closely with all of our stakeholders, understanding the business and demonstrating where we add value” — Lorraine Black, Head of Procurement, MBC Group

w w w. m b c . n e t

implemented, processes and procedures introduced, and skills added, gradually building a well-rounded team.

As all procurement professionals know, the support of key stakeholders in the business – especially in the C-Suite – is vitally important, and Black says MBC is no different.

“The main challenges we faced was shifting the mind-set of our key stakeholders. Now, we work closely with all of our stakeholders, understanding the business and demonstrating where we add value.

“We also got support from MBC CEO office which made it a lot easier to drive our ideas forward and get buy-in from the company’s senior management. That’s been really important in working with various departments in a collaborative way, rather than as a standalone function. After we showed that we can add value and leverage our relationships with suppliers, the decision was taken that departments would stop getting quotations without the support and involvement of the

“ Our revenue is largely derived from advertising, and as we have little direct control over regional ad market fluctuations, it is critical to keep our costs under control. That makes Procurement strategic to our long-term profitability and success.

Their support has been essential to our migration from in-house systems to outsourced cloud services as part of our digital transformation efforts” — Joe Igoe, Group Director of Operations, MBC Group

procurement team. This has been a real positive shift,” Black concluded.

But don’t just take the procurement team’s word for it; Joe Igoe – Group Director of Operations, comments: “Our revenue is largely derived from advertising, and as we have little direct control over regional ad market fluctuaw w w. m b c . n e t

SERVICES

THE TECHNOLOGY DRIVING A PROCUREMENT TRANSFORMATION AT MBC Business Intelligence Reports Business Intelligence reports have been the ERP solution to monitor spend managed through Procurement. The various dashboards are utilised for monitoring the compliance, category and contractual spend, procurement KPIs, procure-to-pay cycle, and supplier delivery performance.

This data analysis has been utilised by the procurement team for further discussions on process improvements/potential opportunities for savings and value addition.

E-Procurement The procurement team rolled out the E-Tendering system to modernise the procurement strategic sourcing activities. The use of this system has given a 360-degree view of the complete tendering process to all engaged parties.

Automating the system which provides quick comparison tools and reduces the scope for human

errors has helped create a more efficient sourcing platform with reduced human effort.

Contract Management System Effectively managing and monitoring the financial and operational performance is critical to every organisation. Bearing this underlying factor in mind, the manual contract administrative and management process was assessed and an in-house Contract Management System was customised and developed to meet our requirements. This system has been effective and efficient in: Automating and accelerating the contract administration and management; managing all procurement contracts and related milestones; Strengthening governance/compliance; stakeholder engagement and collaboration; better visibility through reports; and complete transparency of contract process.

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Click to watch: Middle East Broadcasting video: Studio City

tions, it is critical to keep our costs

and drive forward efforts to grow the

under control. That makes Procure-

business sustainably. These included:

ment strategic to our long-term

spend analysis across the group,

profitability and success. Their support

encompassing various categories, sup-

has been essential to our migration

plier segmentation using the Krajlic

from in-house systems to outsourced

Model, assessment of procurement

cloud services as part of our digital

technologies and the alignment of

transformation efforts.�

MBC’s corporate and business strategy with that of the procurement depart-

Driving growth As part of its effort to shift attitudes

ment.

On the benefits of the thorough

about the role of procurement, the team

research and planning that has been

at MBC carried out detailed analysis of

undertaken, Black comments: “With the

key strategic activities to understand

development of the procurement techw w w. m b c . n e t

MIDDLE EAST BROADCASTING GROUP (MBC)

“ As a team we were at the centre of a lot of conflict resolution, so we had to be skilled at providing solutions for the site. It took all of our expertise to make the project a cohesive one, pulling everybody together, making sure that all of the elements and all of the pieces of the puzzle actually fell down at the right time, in the right location” — Durdana Farid, Procurement Manager at MBC Group

nologies, we have been able to cater for

notably MBC’s $20mn facility in Dubai’s

the growing needs of business and ena-

Studio City district.

bling the shift from the cost only to the cost-plus-value model.

Completed in May 2017, the state-ofthe-art studios used for programming

“Efficient use of technology through

for MBC’s satellite network, primarily

effective collaboration with stakehold-

MBC1 and MBC3, and online portals,

ers has been leveraged for operational

complement its headquarters in Dubai

excellence and alignment of strategies,

Media City. At least seven shows are

while collaborative negotiation plans

produced at the studios, which the com-

have brought the best of industry knowl-

pany says are key to being able to

edge and commercial leverage on the

attract top talent, the right expertise,

table enabling multitude of benefits in

and bright, creative minds of the various

securing interruptive value propositions.

disciplines that are related to the crea-

“In addition, supplier value management is imperative to the success of

tive and production fields.

The nature of TV schedules meant

procurement. So, a 360 degree view of

that the deadline was tight, with a pleth-

supplier positioning and business per-

ora of stakeholders to manage. In the

spective has been used to align our

absence of a contracting consultant,

critical suppliers with business strategy

the procurement team worked to

and growth.”

ensure all the elements that were needed to being the project in on time

Building the future

were in place.

With the company fully bought in to the

“A lot of the detail on a project like this

value offered by a skilled and dynamic

are small, but really important to its suc-

procurement function, the team has

cess,” says Durdana Farid, Procurement

grown, and now numbers 26 profes-

Manager at MBC. “The timeline was

sionals across MBC offices.

very demanding, and to hit our tight

As well as the best-and-braces work

deadline we had to ensure we were

the department oversees, it has proven

accurate with all of the detail, such as

invaluable on some major projects,

ensuring all elements of the project w w w. m b c . n e t

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were compliant to their timelines, from authority approvals to contractors meeting their milestones, to the equipment being delivered on the right time and all the way down to the carpet and furniture for the studios.

The deadline – four months, to be exact – meant that the procurement team had to be a highly effective conduit to bring together all stakeholders working on the project.

“There was a lot of back and forth; and a lot of input from the procurement department,” Farid continues. “As a team we were at the centre of a lot of conflict resolution, so we had to be skilled at providing solutions for the site.

It took all of our expertise to make the project a cohesive one, pulling everybody together, making sure that all of the elements and all of

budget target. We spoke to hun-

the pieces of the puzzle actually fell down at

dreds of parties, leveraging the

the right time, in the right location.”

relationships we have built over

The procurement department’s established

the years, both within the com-

relationships with suppliers that have been

pany and with external partners,

developed and nourished over the years were

and were able to bring them

critical to the project’s overall success.

together to agree on really impor-

“The budgets were very tight, with minimum contingency,” says Farid. “So, despite of the

tant issues for the good of the project.”

fact that we had contracted system integrator and contractors, we went to each manufac-

Procurement never sleeps

turer, we have built relationships with and

The business of round-the-clock

negotiated with them directly, which helped

television means MBC’s procure-

the contractor bring down costs and hit the

ment team is not perhaps typical of w w w. m b c . n e t

“ We’re not working in a manufacturing plant, or for a bank; we’re working in a fast-paced and competitive creative industry. It means we have to be really dynamic, versatile and slick at what we do” — Lorraine Black, Head of Procurement, MBC Group

w w w. m b c . n e t

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have our budgets and ensuring we’re onboarding the correct partners and suppliers, and we also know that we have a duty to make sure the end product is a

1991

Year founded

high-quality one.”

Again, says Farid, the work that the procurement team has put in over the years to build relation-

1,800 Approximate number of employees

ships is paying dividends. “We often work in a live environment, so we need people who we can call in to come in and fix an issue at 2am, or ensure a delivery is made in the middle of the night.

We need to have that flexibility and

those working in other industries.

As Black puts it: “We’re not working in a

that’s when we need something to be free of charge or if some-

manufacturing plant, or for a bank; we’re

thing goes wrong and we need a

working in a fast-paced and competitive crea-

new camera, so it’s important our

tive industry. It means we have to be really

suppliers understand our needs.

dynamic, versatile and slick at what we do.

“We cannot have suppliers that

“Procurement in this region can often be

we don’t have that kind of relation-

very fast, transactional and functional, so it’s

ship with, because the outcome

often about pricing structures and cutting

or the effect that it could have on

costs. But, we work in an environment where

one of our shows on the commer-

the content and quality that we put on-screen

cial impact it could have could

has to be good. The production values on

be huge. So, we ought to be very

shows such as Arab Idol, The Voice and Top

careful when we deal with our

Chef have to be first-class, so on one hand we

suppliers, that we are getting w w w. m b c . n e t

“ MBC procurement team has not only saved us a lot of money in a challenging market, but has helped us get closer to our most important suppliers and partners, at a time of major industry changes” — Sam Barnett, CEO, MBC Group

suppliers who actually understand our business and what our requirements are.”

value,” she says.

“Even with the big productions, we need the buyer there so they

The efforts have been recog-

understand any problems and

nised across the company, right

are able to resolve issues. That

to the very top, says MBC’s CEO,

relationship with the supplier on

Sam Barnett, who comments:

the ground is really key.

“Our procurement team has not

“As a department, our people

only saved us a lot of money in a

have to be versatile and have

challenging market, but has

really good communication

helped us get closer to our most

skills. We can teach buying

important suppliers and part-

skills and negotiation, but the

ners, at a time of major industry

ability to adapt to situations and

changes.”

communicate effectively is what we want.

Buying power

It is a strategy that appears to

In a bid to improve the procure-

be paying dividends, says Farid:

ment function yet further, Black

“I deal with a lot of suppliers and

says MBC is changing the behav-

one constant feedback that we

iour of its buyers to ensure they

always receive is that MBC pro-

are recognised as influencers

curement is one of the most

within the business. The days of

engaged procurement depart-

buyers sitting at their desks,

ments in the industry.”

removed from stakeholders, are gone – it’s all about engagement and interaction.

“We need our buyers to be on the ground and understand the dynamics of the business if we want to continue to add real w w w. m b c . n e t

Middle East Broadcasting Group (MBC) MBC Building No. 3, Dubai Media City, Dubai 72627 T +971 4 391 9999 | www.mbc.net