7 December 2010 | Paul Snell
The world’s first standard to support collaborative relationships was launched at the House of Lords today.
The BS11000 was itself a collaborative project, developed by the British Standards Institution (BSI), not-for-profit group PSL (Partnership Sourcing Limited) and supply chain professionals, providing a framework for collaborative working between buyers and suppliers. It includes guidance on choosing a partner, establishing contracts and how to manage relationships over time.
The Ministry of Defence recently became the sixth organisation to adopt the standard. Other organisations with the certification include NATS, EMCOR UK, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Systems and VT Group.
Speaking to SM at the launch Chris Odam, NATS’ supply chain and business services director, explained what the organisation had learnt from being part of the pilot programme.
There are hopes the standard will be taken up outside the UK, and PSL
and the BSI will meet with Pentagon officials in January to the explain
value of it. Talks have also begun with the International Organization for Standardization.
According to David Hawkins, operations director at PSL, there are
between 30 to 40 organisations that have expressed an interest in the
standard.
* You can find more details on the standard in SM’s Guide to…
Collaborative Working
