Connected to the chain #7 | Jonas Weilbach

Jonas Weilbach, 38, has been working for TenneT since 2012 - currently as a Lead in Supply Chain Management (SCM) for Indirect Goods & Services. He likes to spend his free time with family and friends and doing sports. In this interview, Jonas talks about his private life and, among other things, what the three core tasks within indirect supply chain management look like.

"I want to bring my whole self into the work"

What is your role within SCM? What are you responsible for?

I lead a cross-border team of 15 employees, including working students as well as interns, in the Netherlands and Germany. Our team takes care of the supply chains for indirect services and materials. In SCM jargon, indirect means everything that is not directly incorporated into the end product, or in TenneT's case, everything that is not directly used for the construction and maintenance of the grid, such as cables or substations. Three core tasks can be derived from this for us.

First, we are the central procurement point for all teams that are not involved in the construction or maintenance of the grid, such as Public Affairs & Communication, Customer & Markets, People, Legal, Facility Management, etc.

Secondly, we create strategies for indirect services and materials so that TenneT as an overall organisation can benefit when certain products or services are needed. Depending on the #strategy, this can be framework agreements with consultants, eCatalogues for personal protective equipment, but also a selection of agents offering contingent labour.

Furthermore, we are responsible for special construction projects that #TenneT does not regularly carry out. These can be #innovation projects such as the grid booster, a battery storage system for grid stabilisation, or a data centre and everything that has to do with our office locations and the respective work concepts.

How does your team support the achievement of SCM goals in its daily work?

The whole range of supply chain management issues is present in our team. We see the shortages in our specific construction projects, the price increases in #energy, the transition to sustainable supply chains, for example in workwear, but we can also add value by leveraging competition in particularly service-related categories. Mitigating these supply chain risks, but also identifying synergies and opportunities, is only possible with good relationship management. My team builds reliable relationships and a foundation of trust with both internal and external partners. This is the only way to achieve our goals.

TenneT is a pretty big organisation. How do you keep in touch with other employees?

I joined TenneT in 2012 so I can say that it was a bit easier to keep in touch with only a few hundred colleagues back then. With all our communication tools and initiatives like the Always Energy sports programme or Jong TenneT, it is still easy to stay in touch with your colleagues. So I don't think it matters how big a company is as a whole. If you personally have the drive to make and maintain #connections 🔗 with other employees, you will succeed.

Speaking of time off: How do you create a good work-life-balance for yourself?

For me, there is only "life balance". The term work-life-balance would mean that I leave part of my (private) self behind when I enter the company or switch on my laptop. But I want to bring my whole self into the work. Nevertheless, I can also understand when people strictly separate work and private life. For me, this is a very personal decision that everyone should make according to their needs. My life is balanced with the right combination of challenges and pleasure, but also with the right combination of time spent with people and time for me. Without challenges, I feel bored. On the other hand, I don't want to miss the fun. I need the combination of all three to be happy. 

Thanks Jonas for the insights and we are already looking forward to introducing our next colleague. 👋 Be curious! 😉

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If you have any questions or would like to have more information, please leave your question as a comment below the article. 👇