As a student at KEDGE Business School's Paris campus from October 2020 to December 2021, I followed the MAI work-study program. Right from the start, when I arrived at KEDGE BS, I noticed the big difference in the relationship between the teaching staff and the students compared with my previous experience in engineering school. We (the students) were no longer the learners and they (the teachers) the knowers. From the outset, a relationship of trust, equality and mutual respect was established .

Despite the difficult Covid context, KEDGE was able to maintain a stimulating learning environment.

What do I particularly remember?

• 🚀 A team of supervisors and teachers whose dynamism is infectious in all circumstances.
• ✨ High-quality lecturers who know how to combine sharing their personal and professional experiences with tried-and-tested methodologies.

Looking to strengthen my credentials in purchasing after a technical background, KEDGE gave me much more than just training. It's almost impressive how many former Kedgers there are in the purchasing departments I've worked with.

At KEDGE, the lecturers teach us to see beyond the obvious, to adopt a "Big Picture" - a global and strategic vision- and I think many alumni can see who I'm talking about. When I first listened to it, I had the impression that it was just a slogan, a mantra that sounded good. But as the course progressed, these words took on their full meaning. When a teacher or speaker tells us about his or her experiences, it's not to make the lesson go by faster. Similarly, when we applied the methodologies we'd learned to case studies, it wasn't just for the sake of theory. On the other hand, the sharing of experience combined with theory enabled us to be not just good students but future professionals who know how to take a bird's eye view of a situation and understand their environment. 🤝

Today, I'm working as anon-production buyer at Safran SA in the field of specific tooling. Safran is an international high-technology group operating in the aerospace and defense sectors. Present on every continent, the Group employs 92,000 people. And today, I'm lucky enough to be able to combine my two skills: technical and purchasing.

The role of buyer at Safran Purchasing (Non-Production Purchasing Department) revolves around 4 major missions:

• 🤝Steering the supplier panel: Rationalizing the panel and carrying out continuous monitoring of the companies within its scope via social networks, the internet or by taking part in specific events (trade shows, aeronautical demonstration / gathering). It also involves managing contractual relations through NDAs, CGAs, framework contracts and even more for military or defense subjects.
• 📝Supporting specifiers : By definition, the purchasing department is a shared service center. As such, we have to listen to and challenge their needs, and adapt purchasing strategies to changing requirements and new technologies. Hold regular COPIL meetings to anticipate upcoming consultations. This medium- and long-term vision enables us to identify complex consultations (such as those requiring a pre-project and a more mature technology), and to anticipate the capacity load to be expected from suppliers.
• 🧑‍💻 Guaranteeing purchasing processes: The more professional purchasing becomes, the more processes there will be. As buyers, we are the guarantors of proper compliance with processes, from prospecting to payment, including the confidentiality of consultations and the management of disputes.
• 🗣️ Negotiating with stakeholders: In the course of a "typical" day, there are bound to be phases of negotiation. Either with a supplier, or a specifier, or your management, or whoever else is involved (finance department, HR department, etc.). This is true in many professions, but it's even more true in purchasing positions. There are pleasant negotiations which are an integral part of the job, and others which can be a little less so. In all cases, it's important to keep calm, be diplomatic and remember that points of contention are ALWAYS independent of the person arguing in front of you.

This is the theory that sums up my daily activities. As you can see, there's a "but". The reality is that, between these major missions, the buyer's job is almost as varied as the imagination might suggest. We're called in to deal with emergencies of all kinds, or entangled in ever more diverse situations, having to organize a trip at the last minute to defuse an explosive situation. In short, being a buyer at Safran also means knowing how to adapt and accepting that your daily routine will never be routine.

"I don't really have any advice, other than to make the most of the experiences shared by the teachers and lecturers, it's "gold in bars".

To conclude, whatever your purchasing speciality, if you are attracted by the aeronautical world or simply curious to discover it, there is bound to be a position for you in one of Safran's purchasing departments. Especially since KEDGE BS is No. 1 on Safran's list of schools for recruiting young buyers, especially since the introduction of the ambassador program."