General information
Who or what is Procurement?
Procurement is the purchasing department of SNCB and consists of several teams:
- Direct Procurement: all train-related purchases: from a complete new train to the smallest screw for the maintenance of a train
- Indirect Procurement: all other purchases for SNCB (with the exception of works purchased by our colleagues at Stations)
- Supplier Quality Assurance: supplier management in the broad sense: creation, risk management, performance evaluation, quality process monitoring and phasing out.
In addition, we have 2 more teams that focus more on the internal functioning of Procurement: Procurement on the Move for improvement projects and Procurement Excellence with focus on people, process, tools & systems
Procurement's customers are the other SNCB directions and corporate services:
- they call on the contracts concluded by Procurement
- they receive spare parts on delivery plan
- they place themselves smaller purchase orders under the supervision of Procurement
- they follow up and execute contracts and purchase orders
Procurement roadmap
Mission
Procurement connects customer needs with supplier solutions.
Values
Procurement shares the values that form the DNA of all SNCB employees, combining expertise, modernization and change. As PROS, we tackle the future together.
Ambitions
- Business alignment : We actively contribute to achieving the strategies and goals of the business. Collaborating with the internal customer and understanding their current and future needs are primordial.
- Customer service excellence:: We aim to provide our internal clients with the best possible service thanks to a transparent process and optimal results. All our services are aimed at exceeding customer expectations.
- In-depth knowledge of supplier markets : We offer the best possible solutions to our internal customers and facilitate innovative improvements through our extensive market knowledge.
- Total cost optimization: We ensure the best value by optimizing the direct and indirect costs resulting from the purchase (Total Cost of Ownership).
- Risk & compliance management: We emphasize limiting and reducing legal, financial and operational risks throughout the acquisition process.
What do we buy?
The purchases of the SNCB are structured in a product hierarchy:
- Rolling Stock (RST)
- Spare Parts Rolling Stock (SPR)
- Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
- Technical Goods & Services (TGS)
- Corporate Goods & Services (CGS)
- Construction Works (CWO)
General Conditions of Purchase
Here, you can find the most recent "General Conditions of Purchase" applicable for all purchases executed after October 1, 2022. Please review these documents carefully to ensure compliance with our policies.
General conditions of purchase (applicable from 01/11/2024)
You can access as well the previous version of the terms and conditions:
General conditions of purchase (applicable from 01/10/2022)
General conditions of purchase (applicable from 15/07/2021)
Cross Acceptance Audit
Concerning the audits, the SNCB cooperates with Deutsche Bahn AG (DB AG), Österreichische Bundesbahnen AG (ÖBB) and Schweizerische Bundesbahnen AG (CFF). To this end, a cooperation agreement has been signed, called the Cross Acceptance Agreement (CAA). You can find the link below to
The objective is to reduce the number of audits at suppliers: only one of the four railway companies audits a common supplier and the other three take over the audit results. The supplier's agreement is requested prior to a CAA audit. Here too, an IRIS certificate is taken into account, i.e. the scope of the CAA audit is aligned with the result of the IRIS audit report and the Corrective Action Requests.
