Become an SNCF supplier
Want to become an SNCF supplier? Learn more here about our requirements, selection criteria and qualification process.
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Log on to the e@si portal
The e@si portal is exclusively for SNCF buyers and suppliers—an all-in-one platform designed to simplify our information systems and improve our relationship with you. With e@si, you can:
- learn about tender notices
- respond to invitations to tender
- work on line with the buyer for each invitation to tender
Find out how simple it is to log onto e@si—whether you’re already an SNCF supplier or not.
Core requirements
To become an SNCF Group supplier, you must meet certain requirements, designed to optimize our supplier portfolio and made available to all.
The resources you need
To become an SNCF supplier, you must:
- have access to appropriate human, technical and technological resources
- show proof that your company can meet deadlines and quality requirements, and agree to quality oversight at your production facilities
- comply with national and international manufacturing standards
- present a healthy financial position and provide financial statements on request
Compliance
Under our primary regulatory requirements, you must also:
- meet legal requirements (Commercial Register, VAT)
- comply with tax requirements (income tax, VAT, financial statements), make social security contributions as required by your host country, and produce the necessary documentation
- comply with current requirements on workplace safety and working conditions
- show proof of adequate liability insurance
- have no history of criminal convictions or disqualification from public procurement contracts
Language
To become an SNCF supplier, you must use the French language in your contract and in all communication with us.
General terms & conditions by sector
You must also agree to comply with the General terms and conditions (GTC) for your sector.
Our seven evaluation criteria
The Group Procurement Division rates candidates based on each of these seven criteria:
- quality
- cost and competitiveness
- logistics
- finance
- management
- product and/or project development
- sustainable development
To be selected, you must earn the minimum score required for selected criteria and a minimum score for all of the criteria combined.
Continuing requirements
Once you’re selected, keep up the good work! The Group Procurement Division will continue to evaluate your performance under your contract and may reconsider your approved supplier status at any time.
Our quality requirements
To keep our operations and the French rail network safe, we constantly monitor the quality of the products and services we buy, so you must meet a certain number of requirements, as provided in our contracts.
Quality control
Under some contracts, our partner businesses must have a quality management system that complies with the NF EN ISO 9001 standard.
Quality requirements appear in our Quality Specifications.
View the list of approved laboratories for ratings I and F (available on the Certifer
Suppliers of manufactured goods for the rail industry
SNCF Certificate of Excellence
If you become a regular supplier, we may issue an SNCF Certificate of Excellence to your company. This means that you are performing at a very high level and that all of the affected people at SNCF—buyers, specifiers, project leaders and more—are satisfied with every aspect of your service.
How to earn a Certificate of Excellence
Our Supplier Quality Division evaluates the effectiveness of your work and issues the certificate based on all of the sites that contributed to delivering your product.
For builders of rolling stock, certificates may be issued independently to each integrator site based on evaluations for the period under review.
Suppliers of engineering work and design studies
For suppliers of engineering works and design studies that exceed a specified value, quality surveillance includes an evaluation form to be completed by both parties at the end of the project.
This allows service providers to improve their performance and gives ISO 9000-certified suppliers a customer evaluation form.
Do you need to be a qualified supplier?
Our qualification process ensures that your company has the legal, financial, technical and organizational capacity to deliver a specific product or service.
For some products, services and engineering works, we require advance qualification. For others, we don’t. To find out whether your project requires qualification or not, see the instructions below. And at the bottom of this page, you’ll find links to all of our qualification documents, organized by industry.
SNCF qualification: How it works
Some products, services and engineering works require advance qualification, which involves three key steps:
- you submit a qualification application to SNCF
- SNCF processes the application in four months, dating from our receipt of the complete application
- once qualification has been granted, we may withdraw it at any time if the basis for issuing it are no longer valid.
Exemple d'avis de qualification TRV
Published on 6 August 2019 at 16:18
Procedure
Apply by e-mail and register on our e@si portal
E-mail your application to:
- supplies: qualification.fournitures@sncf.fr
- road passenger transport: qualification.prestations@sncf.fr
- services (cleaning, private security, rolling stock): qualification.prestations@sncf.fr
- engineering, consulting and safety services for infrastructure works: qualification.travaux@sncf.fr
Your qualification application
Your qualification application allows us to determine whether you have the necessary legal, financial, professional and technical capabilities for the product(s) to be provided. The application consists of administrative information, a targeted product evaluation questionnaire, and related documentation.
Important
Please remember that:
- if you’re a subsidiary, you can’t rely on your parent company’s qualification. You must apply independently.
- we issue invitations to tender to a limited number of companies, based on the specifications for each contract.
Purchases which do not require qualification
Our selection criteria are tailored to each purchasing project and are defined for each invitation to tender.
This ensures that the contract will be properly performed, without risk of default, and enables us to assess your company’s key capabilities:
- administrative and legal
- economic and financial (solvency, profitability)
We also use the selection criteria to assess your company’s technical capabilities, including:
- whether your company holds a professional qualification certificate (such as Qualibat) or quality assurance certificate
- whether your company has the necessary technical and human resources to ensure that you can meet quality requirements and deadlines
- whether your company has relevant, up-to-date references for similar projects
Important
SNCF solicits tenders from as many candidate companies as required by the nature of each contract. Responding to a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union does not guarantee that your company will be invited to tender.
Applying for qualification
For some products, services and engineering works, we require suppliers to qualify in advance. The various types of qualification documents are listed below.