Sharp framework contracts thanks to collective purchasing

The condition is that, as a contractor, you use as many of the suppliers with whom the NiCW makes agreements as possible. The knife then cuts both ways: financial savings for participants and economies of scale for suppliers. And that's not the only thing...

NiCW was founded almost 20 years ago with the aim of giving SMEs in the infrastructure sector more clout by using the combined volume to create purchasing advantages. It now includes 71 infrastructure companies and 78 contract suppliers. "We work primarily with A-quality suppliers and have contracts with the industry leaders," says Robert Priem, director and co-owner of the Dutch Procurement Combination for Road Construction (NiCW). "In doing so, we use an average of two to three suppliers per product group so that a participant retains their freedom of choice. On the other hand, this allows us to guarantee the suppliers a certain volume."

Digitizing

NiCW is progressive when it comes to data and IT. Priem: "Via a digital platform, our participants have direct access to all framework contracts and can even digitally read them into their calculation systems. This saves an enormous amount of time. Participants don't have to keep asking for prices everywhere. They can rest assured that we have framed things well and negotiated good conditions. Soon we will launch the invoice scan. This will allow participants to read invoices down to line level. At the touch of a button, it will become clear how many pavement strips, for example, have been purchased for a particular project and how the price is structured in relation to the framework contract price. Thus, there is always insight into the average price. With the digital platform, which incidentally offers many more functionalities, we help our participants to further digitalize the business." 

NiCW's services go much further. "If required, we can provide our participants with procurement advice, support and project procurement, where we place and handle orders from the participant," Priem explains. "We then act as an extension of the business office. Cutting edge for us, as the entire NiCW team has a road construction background." NiCW's concept has since been successfully copied to other industries in the construction column with its own labels. "Where there are synergies to be gained, we try to deploy suppliers across the board. And so we continue to constantly innovate, digitize and further optimize in order to continue to add value for both our participants and suppliers. This is how we distinguish ourselves emphatically from purchasing organizations in cooperative form.