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Supplying to Sydney Water
Staying connected with our supply partners
Our service area stretches across Sydney, the Illawarra and the Blue Mountains. We rely on you, our supply partners to help us plan, build and maintain our vast network. Our procurement approach helps us deliver high-quality water and wastewater services to our customers.
At Sydney Water, we are committed to building strong relationships with our suppliers. To support potential and existing supply partners in understanding our supplier processes, we have put together Supplying to Sydney Water one-pager. We also developed a range of support resources to guide you at each step of the process, from onboarding through to transacting with us. We strongly encourage you to access these self-help materials in the first instance. These will help you get started and enable you to easily do business with us.
1. Expressing an interest to be a supply partner
We use a third-party system, SAP Ariba, as our digital platform for sourcing and supplier management. If your organisation is interested in becoming a supply partner, you must submit an expression of interest through our platform.
| Guide |
What it's about |
|---|---|
Expressing an interest to be a supply partner |
Follow this guide for steps on how to express your interest to be a supply partner by completing our Supplier self-registration. This is applicable to potential new suppliers or existing suppliers whose ABN has changed. |
2. Becoming eligible to participate in sourcing events
Once a supplier profile has been created for your organisation, you will be invited to register as a bidder contact.;
| Guide |
What it's about |
|---|---|
Logging in or signing up to SAP Ariba |
Follow this guide for steps on how to action the registration invitation. This includes the basics of logging in or signing up, as well as choosing the appropriate account type to use with Sydney Water. This process will connect your Ariba sourcing and supplier management account with us. |
Reviewing our policies and completing registration |
To be registered as a bidder contact, suppliers need to read, understand and agree to comply with our policies and Supplier Code of Conduct. |
3. Managing your Sydney Water supplier account
Once registered and subject to business requirements, you will be able to respond to any additional supplier questionnaires and participate in sourcing activities (e.g. a simple request for quote or a request for tender). Refer to the following general functionality guides for steps on how to access, respond and manage access to further supplier questionnaires and sourcing opportunities.
| Guide |
What it's about |
|---|---|
Accessing supplier questionnaires and sourcing opportunities |
This guide covers how to access succeeding supplier questionnaires and sourcing opportunities after successfully linking your SAP Ariba sourcing and supplier management account with us. |
Responding to supplier questionnaires and sourcing opportunities |
This guide covers general functionality available to suppliers to be able to provide responses to supplier questionnaires (e.g. registration, prequalification, onboarding) or sourcing opportunities. |
It is your account administrator's responsibility to manage your SAP Ariba account. This includes updating responses to questionnaires, creating users and assigning permissions, and setting up electronic order routing. As the supplier's account administrator, use this guide to manage your SAP Ariba account. Important: ABN numbers cannot be updated for tax reasons, and a new supplier account must be created. If your ABN has changed, submit a new supplier self-registration request. |
4. Responding to sourcing events
We publish our open tenders on the following sites:
- buy NSW
- Sydney Water
- Supply Nation (accessible to Supply Nation members only)
Follow the instructions in the sourcing event advertisement for event-specific requirements. For system instructions on how to submit a response, refer to Responding to supplier questionnaires and sourcing opportunities.
Based on the pre-established award criteria, participating suppliers will be thoroughly evaluated and informed of the outcome. For sourcing activities that result in a contract award, we execute our contracts via digital signatures using DocuSign. Refer to this video for steps on how to sign a document via DocuSign.
5. Getting set up as a supply partner
| Guide |
What it's about |
|---|---|
We require all potential suppliers who wish to trade with us to undergo prequalification so we can assess suppliers against minimum competency and capability requirements based on the associated risk of the good or service offering. |
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Completing our onboarding questionnaire |
Suppliers who are successfully awarded work need to complete the onboarding questionnaire to confirm banking and transactional details to get activated in our financial system (SAP S/4Hana) and get set up as our trading partner in the SAP Business Network ('network'), our primary platform for exchanging procurement transactional documents with our suppliers. |
6. Getting ready to transact with us
We use 2 main channels for transacting with our supply partners: purchase order (PO) or credit card which is governed by our Procurement Policy. In general, suppliers will be engaged through a PO, with credit card only allowed within set tolerances and business rules.
You must not provide goods/services until you have received a PO from us. If you have not received a PO and are ready to supply, request your Sydney Water contact to get a PO raised.
| Guide |
What it's about |
|---|---|
Processing your first Sydney Water network PO |
The first PO transmitted through the network is our vehicle to request a trading relationship with most of our suppliers. Follow this guide for steps on how to process your first Sydney Water network PO via interactive email, complete the mandatory one-time set-up and establish a trading relationship with us. See also the System administration guide for general information on managing your account. |
Follow this guide to understand the factors that can affect how you process our POs and learn how to navigate the POs we send, and the fulfilment documents you submit through the network. |
7. Processing purchase orders and getting paid
We encourage our suppliers to make sure that those who process our POs register for on-demand training. The teams who will benefit from this training include, but are not limited to:
- network account administrator
- sales administrators
- warehouse and logistics personnel
- accounts receivable team members.
| Guide |
What it's about |
|---|---|
Submitting order confirmations |
Upon receipt of the PO, we request that you review it. Acknowledge receipt or notify us of any errors on the PO by following this guide. |
Use this guide for steps on how to submit ship notices (required for 47* POs). |
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Use this guide for steps on how to submit service sheets (required for 48* POs with at least one line of type 'Service'). |
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Use this guide for steps on how to submit invoices. Payment will be made in accordance with the relevant payment terms. |
We will pay suppliers based on:
- the terms and conditions as per the contractual agreement
- the terms and conditions as listed on our website and in the PO, when a contract does not exist
- confirmation that goods and/or services have been delivered/provided in accordance with a valid contract or PO
- Security of Payments Act (SOPA) and NSW Small Business legislation.
Otherwise, our standard payment term is 30 days from date of a compliant invoice. The preferred and highly recommended method of payment is Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). Credit cards (referred to as purchasing cards) can also be utilised as per our internal process. Cheques are only issued on an exceptional basis and by prior arrangement with your Sydney Water business contact.
If you are a supplier from a Shared Purchasing Panel supplying to a Regional Delivery Consortia (RDC), there is an additional requirement to provide itemised details of transactions for which payment is being claimed for on your invoice/payment claim. This applies to all suppliers that have been granted access to the Shared Purchasing Directory. The details required must include a Shared Purchasing (SP) Item number, description and to which RDC you have provided goods or services to.
8. Leaving your company (transferring your Ariba admin rights)
| Guide |
What it's about |
|---|---|
Transferring account administrator rights |
Use this guide to ensure uninterrupted access to your Ariba account. Proper handing over of Ariba administration duties for suppliers is imperative. Your ability to access Sydney Water sourcing opportunities and manage POs is dependent on a stable connection between our Ariba account and your Ariba account. |
9. Frequently asked questions
Check our responses to the most common questions asked by suppliers.
10. Points of contact and enquiries
We are committed to responding promptly to queries from suppliers. Knowing who to contact and providing the required information will help us respond in a timely manner.
If the information we have provided in the supplier quick reference guides do not address your concern, be aware that your point of contact depends on where you are in the supplier lifecycle and the nature of your query. Points of contact have been provided in the supplier guides and summarised below:
- Suppliers are expected to manage their supplier information records by logging in to their SAP Ariba account. For supplier prequalification, registration and onboarding queries, you may contact Business Connect at businessconnect@sydneywater.com.au or +61 (0)2 8849 6900 9am–5pm Monday to Friday (except public holidays).
- For any queries relating to POs and invoices, contact the email provided in the PO and quote the PO number. We encourage suppliers to seek a resolution with the party listed on the PO in the first instance. If there is a need to escalate an issue, contact your Sydney Water Contract Manager (if applicable) or other business contacts.
- For SAP Ariba product documentation and supplier support, visit the SAP Help Centre.