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Purch-lympics Entry #3 - Round #4
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Lynn Hoover
Senior Buyer, Missouri, USA
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"In North America, 40% of the bulk liquid Hydrogen is supplied by Air Products. When the plant in New Orleans was flooded due to Hurricane Katrina, we were faced with a possible shutdown. The Air Products plant in Canada had just been taken offline, and was in the middle of a rebuild, so their capacity was severely limited to storage tanks, tanker trucks.
We assembled a team to discuss the scope and depth of our problem, potential solutions, and made a short term and long term plan. We explored our potential solutions which would serve us best. We met daily, reviewed our plan, communicated findings, and revised our plans as needed. Then we identified who could supply quickest along with the costs. Air Liquide, BOC, and Praxair could either not help or only help partially due to commitments to their own customers. And, the allotment from Air Products was inadequate. One solution was a Hydrogen generator, but the costs were high and the lead time was long. We found another solution: a used Demo unit, available now, that would supply the 40% that Air Products could not provide. We quickly assessed the costs, the demand, the required tie-ins, and the contract adjustment to allow this tie-in. This was a cost effective and quick solution for only $500,000. A purchase request was sent for project approval from our corporate office and we were able to quickly purchase the unit, installation, testing, and training.
The ultimate result was we avoided a shutdown. Further, we achieved a cost savings after a ROI within 1.5 year. Also, due to the need to access other ways to save, we found we could get by with 20% less consumption in our process. At the next company meeting, the team was recognized and awarded for their efforts."
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