RWE Offshore takes big ‘STEPs’ towards improved supplier engagement

RWE is proud to announce that our UK & Ireland Supply Chain Transparency & Engagement Programme (STEP) programme has been nominated for Renewable UK's prestigious Supply Chain Impact Award at the Global Offshore Wind Awards coming up on 15 October in London.

In addition, RWE recently announced the expansion of STEP to include a focus on the Operations & Maintenance (O&M) phase, with the launch of O&M STEP. This will assist RWE with a fuller awareness of O&M supplier capabilities, in an evolving market with new solutions and efficiencies to take advantage of.

RWE STEP Initiative was launched by Offshore Development UK & Ireland in March 2023 and has now expanded to include the O&M Phase. STEP is RWE's proactive approach to fostering awareness, knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and innovation with the supply chain. Since this time, we have been successfully enacting our four initial ‘steps’ (you can learn more about these here). These have improved our awareness of innovative supplier capabilities in the market, increased supplier transparency around project timelines and opportunities, enabled discussion around solutions to industry challenges, and provided a direct and open channel for engagement.

Over the last 18 months since its launch, STEP has gained over 400 registered suppliers (Tiers 1-3 and SMEs), hosted over 200 online 121 supplier meetings, hosted 5 Supplier Engagement Days and a workshop on future Secondary Steel capability, across the UK and Ireland. The latest of these welcomed over 200 companies to our East Coast Engagement Day in Grimsby.

STEP’s significant contribution to the ongoing development of a robust and sustainable supply chain, has now been recognised through its nomination to Renewable UK's Supply Chain Impact Award.

As a dedicated continuous improvement programme, RWE continues to grow and evolve the initiative, ‘stepping up’ our efforts and responding to the growing needs of our projects, of suppliers and the wider industry too. Our continuous improvements have driven the launch of O&M STEP, expanding the STEP initiative to the critical O&M phase.

The long-term nature of this phase and the opportunities it offers is well-matched with robust O&M supply chain capabilities, making it an ideal area for us to apply the successful principles of STEP - to continue fostering strong relationships with suppliers, supporting growth and innovation, whilst encouraging local content where possible.

O&M suppliers can now register their interest via the STEP Engagement Platform to learn more about our operational sites and associated opportunities, as well as offering a channel for highlighting their O&M-related capabilities.

In her own words, Philippa Warren from RWE’s O&M Design & Implementation Team said that “O&M STEP will provide the teams that devise and shape ongoing O&M strategies, in addition to O&M Procurement, with better visibility of new and innovative solutions and providers, as well as continuing to build relationships with those who are already well-experienced in the sector. This in-turn will allow RWE to engage more broadly with the supply chain, at the right times and in a more effective way.”

“RWE's UK & Ireland STEP initiative exemplifies proactive supplier engagement within the offshore wind industry and we aim to continue our success within the O&M STEP initiative.”

Learn more about STEP (Supplier Transparency Engagement Programme (STEP) via our website.

You can register with RWE’s STEP initiative using the online Supplier Registration form.

Don't just take our word for it. Here's what our suppliers participating in STEP say:

“It was great to support the latest STEP Supplier Engagement Day at Grimsby, showcasing 3Q Industrial Supplies expertise, networking and learning about RWE's opportunities in the East Coast. We were also pleased to learn launch about the launch of O&M STEP.

“We are eager to see how O&M STEP builds on the success of the existing STEP initiative, providing greater exposure to opportunities for O&M suppliers. We believe this initiative will be valuable for companies like ours to continue engaging with RWE and to increase our visibility.”

Jack Groom - 3Q Industrial Supplies Ltd.

"It’s beneficial to be involved with RWE’s STEP. It’s a refreshingly different initiative that opens up the dialogue needed to understand the challenges we face, and more importantly the opportunities for growing UK capabilities in offshore wind – something Severfield is actively looking to do’.”

Dave Oswin, Severfield

“The STEP initiative allowed Gatemaster Offshore to showcase our specialist products and capabilities at the recent Rampion2 Supplier Engagement Day in Worthing. It proved to be a successful and insightful day, allowing us to connect with a multitude of different suppliers across all tiers. We look forward to taking part in more STEP events to grow our business and collaborate with others in the offshore wind sector.”