Abstract
In the winter of 2010 in Shanghai, Dr. Zeb Feng, procurement director for Asia at British Petroleum (BP), was acutely aware of the growing burden that quality control imposed over his company’s global operations. Chinese suppliers were masters of cost-cutting, but quality often suffered as a result, which led in turn to an increased need for inspection and development efforts. Almost five years ago, Feng’s company had established an international procurement office (IPO) in Shanghai, which served as a shared service centre for internal customers throughout BP worldwide. Since that time, the IPO had been mainly sourcing non-hydrocarbon goods and services. After a corporate board meeting with Christina De Luca, the vice president of procurement and supply chain management for BP’s downstream operations, it had been decided that the company would start to enhance its global competitive sourcing. As the number-one supplier market in the world, China was a high priority for further oil exploration. The pressing point that concerned Feng was whether Chinese suppliers were sufficiently ready to supply mission-critical supplies for oil drilling, extraction, and refining. During a recent conference call, De Luca had reiterated, “Zeb, our competitors are way ahead of us in their sourcing operations, and they have achieved much lower costs. We’ve got to do something!” Feng had to gather his team for a planning meeting. He knew that supply quality was the key issue, but how could it be resolved?
Translated title of the contribution | Quality Management in the Oil Industry: How BP Greases Its Machinery for Frictionless Sourcing |
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Original language | Chinese (Simplified) |
Number of pages | 10 |
Publication status | Published - 19 Mar 2013 |
Case number
9B12DC006Case normative number
9B12DC006-CCCase type
Field CaseUpdate date
22/09/2021Supplement
For more details, please visit www.chinacases.orgPublished by
China Europe International Business SchoolKeywords
- International Procurement Office
- Quality Management
- China
Case studies discipline
- Entrepreneurship
- International Business
- Operations & Management Science
Case studies industry
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