Emma Betts-Gray

Country of origin: United Kingdom

Placement: EDF Energy

The first section of my placement was spent working in the Operations and Governance team within the Nuclear Generation Central Supply Chain team. This work was very much focused around supplier development.

My role involved working on a variety of projects such as ensuring supplier compliance with the United Nations Global Compact, management of the department Risk Log, monthly reporting of the materials key performance indicators, contacting suppliers to ensure that they notify EDF Energy of any changes to materials and design specifications (essential part of ensuring safety in the nuclear industry), and working towards the achievement of the CIPS Corporate Certification for the department.

For the second section of my placement I worked in the Commercial team, gaining some experience of tactical procurement which covers a wide range of areas within the organisation from training to security to facilities management. Some of the tasks I was involved in include processing requisitions and turning them into purchase orders using SAP (the online purchasing system), compiling and issuing contract letters, and processing tasks that require tenders right from the beginning when requests for quotes are sent out through to the end when contracts are issued.

One of the things I enjoyed most about working at EDF was going out to the power stations and meeting the Station Supply Chain teams. It is always helpful to meet the people you are emailing as it helps to develop relationships and prevents messages being misconstrued. It was also a great opportunity to develop a better understanding of the industry and really helps to embed the message of ‘nuclear safety as the overriding priority’.

In April I was fortunate enough to spend three weeks working as a member of the Supply Chain team at Sizewell power station in the run up to their maintenance outage. It was my role to provide extra support with expediting any of the outstanding orders for parts required for the outage.