Denis Roman
PDG fondateur d’ISP

Tell us about your career path and the founding of ISP...
For nearly 15 years, working with large manufacturing corporations such as Alcatel, Alsthom, Thales and Microelectronics, I have developed genuine know-how about the reduction of purchasing costs. As I gained more and more experience, I observed that there are non or just a few global players. Most often, companies only outsource their purchases of non-strategic consumables. In 2002, I decided to create my own structure to deal with the problems of companies' purchases: a worldwide capability combined with truly local service.

How have you positioned your group in the purchasing market?
My objective was to create a high-added-value structure relying on experienced buyers and concentrating mainly on class B industrial and technical purchases. As clients, we target both large corporations and local SMEs.

What are the strengths of the ISP group?
The ISP model is built on the "think global, act local" principle. This means broad-gauge purchasing know-how relayed by subsidiaries in France, Germany, Belgium, Mexico, Ecuador, the USA, and China. Enabling us  to provide global added value  while controlling quality thanks to our local presence. Today, we are the only group able to claim this positioning with such a light and flexible structure.

Specifically, what are the benefits for a company working with ISP?
They can be summed up in one word: "Savings". It’s our goal to provide our customers savings on their purchases with the same or higher quality, in order for them to become more effective in their markets.Our goal is to be our clients' favoured purchasing partner. This requires an upstream analysis of the global purchasing portfolio in order to identify potential savings and define a customized purchasing strategy. We are an open book to our clients: the savings are known, the cost of our service is included in the savings, all perfectly transparent.

What are ISP's growth plans?
Our development depends on that of our clients. Hence our determination is to keep moving forward and to anticipate in their needs. We are for example considering new locations in countries like India and Russia. We are also capable of positioning ourselves very quickly in new markets. In 2007, we seized an opportunity to develop our know-how in the procurement of chemical products, a sector from which we were absent. Today, we are among the most competitive in the sector. In 2008, we initiated an ISO 9001 quality certification approach in France and Belgium that will be extended to the whole group. Staying a length ahead is a permanent challenge!