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A purchasing strategy that is both human and responsible, by Dominique Chanteau
LACROIX Electronics
We give Carte Blanche to Dominique Chanteau, who has been the Vice-President of Purchasing for the Electronics activity of LACROIX since 2006.
Together with him, we enter the company’s purchasing department. He explains the importance that we place on human relationships with suppliers, as well as the issues related to international alliances with different partners, and environmentally responsible thinking within the company.
We develop relationships with our suppliers that are true partnerships, where everyone wins. This is how we get the best from the stakeholders.
A purchasing strategy that is both human and responsible
A purchasing department that is divided into 3 complementary activities:
- The family purchasing activity, which builds the company’s purchasing strategy for each family of technologies
- The costing activity, which is in charge of product costing
- The project purchasing activity, which participates in the development and production of products
Human relations at the heart of the partnership
Beyond the expected requirements in terms of performance, service, quality and price, partnership is also about people. For Dominique Chanteau, a good partnership can only function if the relationships between the people who make it work are good. The human aspect is therefore key.
An international alliance between Firstronic, Maxway and LACROIX
Three years ago, LACROIX opened a purchasing office in Shenzhen, China with our partner Firstronic and its partner Maxway. This alliance allows us to optimise purchasing conditions and identify the best suppliers.
Supplying more than 50% of the printed circuit boards sold worldwide, China cannot be avoided. The city of Shenzhen, in particular, is home to a large proportion of the world’s electronic suppliers. At the same time, we are also working with local suppliers in relation to issues regarding strategic independence on the one hand, and environmental independence on the other.
Sourcing locally means that the planet suffers less than if we source 10,000 km away.
Committed, environmentally responsible thinking
Today, relocation is an important issue for companies, and the national purchasing council has understood this. This organisation has created a working group, which Dominique is a member of. It aims to identify products that are candidates for relocation (mechanical components and printed circuit boards, for example) and thus implement a local sourcing strategy.
As Dominique Chanteau points out, “The movement has started!” The equation balances different criteria:
- Environmental criteria, particularly in relation to transport
- Competitiveness criteria, with total cost of ownership (known as TCO)
- Responsiveness and sourcing criteria
Testimony
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If LACROIX were an animal, what would it be?
DC :A tiger!
We’re doing a tough job… So we have to be strong, we have to be tough too: we have to hunt, like a tiger.
Dominique Chanteau, the purchasing strategist: a short profile
Trained as an electronics engineer, he built his career by first taking on the role of an engineer, and then a purchaser. He joined the Electronics activity of LACROIX in 2006 as Purchasing Director, after having spent several years at the Thales, Valeo and Faiveley Transport groups.
This article is available in a French podcast.
Enjoy your listening!
About Carte Blanche
In Carte Blanche, the LACROIX podcast that connects you to the electronics industry of the future, guests share their vision of the Smart Industry and the future of the industrial IoT, taking us behind the scenes of electronic design and production. They will share their own experiences and talk all about this 4.0 company.
What will the industry of the future look like? How can we support this major transformation? What are the key industrial challenges of tomorrow? All these questions will be answered by the employees of the Electronics activity of LACROIX, given Carte Blanche in this podcast.
Carte Blanche is available in French on the usual platforms: Deezer, Spotify, Youtube, Google Podcasts, Ausha and SoundCloud.
Carte Blanche – Season 1
Carte Blanche #1 – Stéphane Klajzyngier – On our way to 2020!
Carte Blanche #2 – Emmanuel Thommerel – Industry in the age of data
Carte Blanche #3 – Dominique Maisonneuve – A look at the Smart Industry
Carte Blanche #4 – Emmanuelle Landru – Thoughts from an engaged plant manager
Carte Blanche #5 – Stéphane Henry – The electronics industry: research and science fiction
Carte Blanche #6 – Benjamin Gauchenot – A passion for operational excellence
Carte Blanche – Season 2
In this new season, we are placing a special emphasis on our customers, our suppliers and our business ecosystem as a whole. You will also discover unexpected answers to a game of twenty questions…
The Carte Blanche format remains the same: engaged the employees of the Electronics activity of LACROIX who spend 7 minutes sharing their experiences.
Carte Blanche #7 – Jérôme Rouland – Customers relations above all else
Carte Blanche #8 – Dominique Chanteau – A purchasing strategy that is both human and responsible
Carte Blanche #9 – Alban-Thomas Beduneau – The future alongside our customers
Carte Blanche (upcoming episode)
Bear with us… We are still working on the next episode.
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