Supplier Engagement Process Guide

DECADE-X is a trans-company project which purpose is to set-up a digital ecosystem which includes all tiers within your supply chain. As a buyer or any similar professional activity, if one of your suppliers or any company in your supply – or delivery – chain shows interest in joining the DECADE-X association, you may wonder how to onboard or inform the company. Please follow these steps to facilitate the introduction.

Initial contact with the supplier/company

If a company shows interest in joining the DECADE-X association:

➡ Acknowledge their interest,
 ➡  Introduce them to the project, with the help of the Communication Kit (ask your DECADE-X contact if you don’t have it). By the way, this communication kit will be soon updated with relevant videos inside,
 ➡ Verify their level of engagement by considering:

  • Is the company primarily interested in staying informed, or do they wish to engage as a partner, a user, or both?
  • What specific level of contribution or involvement are they looking for in the project?

This will help you to understand their expectations and determine the appropriate approach for the next step.

Meeting with the NextErA / DECADE-X project team

Once the interest is confirmed, you can schedule a meeting with your supplier and the NextErA team. This step is crucial to discuss how the company can get involved in the project / association.

To arrange a meeting please contact :

➡ Either your named contact in your company
 ➡ Or, send out an information request to nextera.project@airbus.com 

Meeting objectives:

➡ Review the company capabilities and potential contributions to the project,
 ➡ Explore areas of collaboration and determine the best approach for integration,
 ➡ Discuss next steps and any additional requirements needed to move forward.

Next steps

Once the meeting has taken place, depending on the discussions and outcomes, you will encounter different scenarios that will guide your next steps with the supplier / company. These scenarios include:

➡ The company just wants to be kept informed,
 ➡ The company is interested in engaging as a user,
 ➡ The company wants to collaborate as a partner,
 ➡ The company is interested in engaging as a user AND wants to collaborate as a partner.

You should now be aware of which scenario is meeting your supplier expectations and how to fulfill the latter.

As the project progresses, new scenarios may arise, and your approach will remain flexible, adjusting to the supplier’s level of involvement and the evolving needs of the project.