Within the orientations defined in its Industrial Project, SNCF wishes to optimise its procurement performance. In this objective, it has entered since end 2002 in an ambitious programme : the TALENT project.

TALENT's aim are savings during the next 5 years; the first convincing results are expected at the end of 2003.
Procurement will therefore be one of the biggest contributor to the improvement of SNCF's industrial performance.

The project generates an evolution in the procurement practices. Several levers have been identified and will be used progressively :

• simplification of the specifications,
• strengthening of the procurement co-ordination between the various SNCF entities,
• better management of the number and relationship with suppliers.

In this frame, the way of working with suppliers is evolving with, for example, the implementation of procurement progress schemes. SNCF wishes to associate its suppliers to a process of economic optimisation of their performance.
Thanks to a common thinking on the product or service, the supplier is more responsible of the quality aspects and this stimulates its creativity. It is able to share with SNCF its competency and to propose alternative solutions, in order to reduce the global cost, without damaging the quality.

That's what SNCF calls a win/win relationship !