The state commerce department partnered with BidBridge to establish a print service contract. Five suppliers competed for the printing of SCENE Magazine for one year. Four of the five suppliers were sourced in state, with the remaining supplier based in a bordering state, keeping the supplier base near the distribution area.
The event lasted nearly an hour-and-a-half during which the five suppliers placed 131 bids. The event allowed for 45 first place turn-overs and 92 time extensions. At the conclusion of the event, first and second place were separated by only .63%, indicating that true market value had been achieved.
Based on the lowest, final bid, the state’s commerce department achieved a 43% savings versus budget and a 47% savings versus last years’ cost for the magazine printing cost.
- BidBridge Featured in Illinois Policy Institute Monthly Newsletter
BidBridge Featured in Illinois Policy Institute Monthly Newsletter
How online reverse auction saves tax payers millions
Jim Taylor and his family just made it through a bad storm. They’re all a bit shaken but safe. Their roof, however, wasn’t as fortunate- and now it needs to be repaired. How should Jim go about finding someone to fix his roof? Which construction company would do the best job at the best price?
After the storm, Jim wants the best roof protecting his family- and fast. So, he searches the phone book and calls various companies, asks about prices and references for quality of service, and chooses a repair service. This process, however, could be much simpler. If Jim could jump online and go to a reverse auction website where qualified roofing companies compete for his particular project, he could save a lot of money and time and still end up with his roof expertly repaired.
To read the full article, click here or follow the link below.
http://www.illinoispolicy.org/news/article.asp?ArticleSource=1377
A nationwide insurance company partnered with eBridge to purchase office furniture.
Two suppliers competed against one another to provide Steelcase furniture. The suppliers placed 50 lowering bids over the course of the 45 minute bid, generating 22 time extensions and 28 first place turnovers.
At the conclusion, the two suppliers were separated by a mere .16%, indicating that true market value was achieved for this purchase. Additionally, the winning bid came in 23.8% below the initial amount budgeted for the furniture. This budget number was established using catalog pricing given by Steelcase.
The company was unsure before this bid whether Steelcase suppliers would compete against one another, so they asked eBridge. By polling our supplier network, we were quickly able to discover that Steelcase distributors will in fact go head to head with one another. eBridge’s unique position as neutral party between buyer and supplier allows us to be such a resource.
This company typically uses negotiation with suppliers to ensure that dollars are spent effectively. The buyer, however, has found that the reverse auction format is the most effective way to maximize spend.
City Obtains Liquid Ferric Sulfate, Aluminum Chloride at Market Value, Posting .28 and .31 Percent Spreads Respectively between First and Second Place
FORT SMITH, Ark., Aug. 18- In light of a highly volatile chemical market, the city of Fort Smith, AR decided to partner with Louisville-based BidBridge this July to host a reverse auction for acquiring water treatment chemicals. The city chose to work with BidBridge because its bidding process promotes close competition, leaving the city feeling confident that they achieved true market value for their purchases.
In the end, Fort Smith was able to obtain a number of chemicals including liquid ferric sulfate and aluminum chloride at market value, posting .28 and .31 percent differences respectively between first and second place.
BidBridge facilitates a secure, real-time electronic sealed bid platform that allows suppliers to place multiple bids, providing an alternative to the public sector’s traditional process of a one price per supplier response. The July 22 bid saw nineteen suppliers competing to supply 14 different chemicals for the city.
“Our partnership with BidBridge was a success, right from the start. They were exceptional in assisting us with this bid and enabled us to tap into a vendor market that was not available to us in the past,” said Alie Bahsoon, Purchasing Manager for the City of Fort Smith. “Not only did we realize the benefits of true market value with this bid but it also enabled us to have a team of experts on our side that assured success, from beginning to end, and at no cost to the city.”
By the time the 49-minute bid was finished, the bid had logged 122 times extensions. The most competitive line items, liquid ferric sulfate and aluminum chloride, logged 107 bids with 16 first place turnovers and 16 bids with 6 first place turnovers, respectively.
“The BidBridge platform was created for robust, dynamic electronic procurement, fostering competition in an environment based on the most efficient technology available,” remarked BidBridge CEO Jim Headlee. “Our team is there for cities like Fort Smith to help make the process as seamless and painless as possible.”
On August 24-25 purchasing agents from across the country will gather for he 2009 NIFP Forum. As the leader in procurement consulting, BidBridge is proud to represent the reverse auction industry at the NIGP Forum next week.
Members of the BidBridge team will be in attendance at booth # 728. Be sure to “swing” by. We’ll have a free gift those who mention this article. (Remember, we are the home of the Louisville Slugger!) We’ll also be showcasing an auction demonstration! You won’t want to miss it!
See you in St. Louis!
In this city’s second event with BidBridge, 3 suppliers competed on a bid for 1,000 96-gallon and 100 64-gallon garbage carts. The city needed the items to upgrade their current supply and add additional to compensate for the increased number of residents.
During the 34 minute event, a total of 10 bids were placed, resulting in 4 time extensions. At the conclusion of the event, the City had saved over 11% versus their initial budgeted amount for both the 64 gallon and the 96 gallon garbage carts.
eProcurement Services Provider Drives Price of Runway Snow Removal Units to Market Value
CHICAGO, IL – (August 6th, 2009) – eBridge, an eProcurement services provider for the public and private sectors, announced today that it worked with the City of Chicago to save nearly $1 million in a reverse auction. With the help of eBridge, the City of Chicago successfully implemented an eProcurement system in place of the traditional sealed bid auction.
eBridge facilitates a secure, real-time electronic sealed bid platform that allows vendors to place multiple bids on a project, replacing the public sector’s traditional process of a one price per vendor response. In Chicago’s recent reverse auction for high speed runway snow removal units, the first and second place vendor bids were separated by a mere one-half percent – a strong indicator that Chicago found true market value for the product, simultaneously saving more than one million taxpayer dollars.
The City of Chicago’s first reverse auction took place between four vendors who placed 42 bids, overturning the first place bid 17 times. The winning bid stood at $19,586,940 – nearly $1 million dollars less than a contested one-price formal bid that occurred several months before with the same four suppliers.
eBridge’s proprietary web-based event viewer gives the buyer a unique perspective on the bidding process. The buyer can monitor every updated bid in real-time for full transparency. Suppliers only see their own bid amounts and rankings and lower the bid if they wish in an effort to secure first place, providing a truly competitive environment that helps drive prices to market value.
“eBridge is a tool designed to increase transaction efficiency, transparency and cost controls by using strategies shown to deliver an average of 13 percent in savings,” said Jim Headlee, CEO of eBridge. “The program was developed to help both the buyers and suppliers – the former through transparency and cost control and the latter through the creation of a better opportunity to earn the business.”
Headlee also said that eBridge’s management is well-versed in making sure the program is utilized in compliance with state and municipal procurement laws.
To read the full article, click here.
Starting today, we will begin a feature in which we update our readers on the latest happenings here at BidBridge. We will talk about some the successes we have shared with our buyers, the latest news about the company, and other items of interest. Without further ado…
Press release for our event with the City of Chicago
To view the release, simply click the link above. The release was picked up by outlets like AOL Money News, Forbes.com, MarketWatch, and Reuters. In brief, the City purchased Runway Snow Removal Units and saved nearly $1 million in partnering with BidBridge.
2009 NIGP Conference
BidBridge is excited to announce that we will be attending the 2009 NIGP conference in St. Louis. We can be found at booth 728, so make sure stop by and say hello! We will have special giveaway items for some our visitors. Look for more details next week here at the BidBridge Procurement Strategies Blog.
Event Summary – Daphne, AL – Various Trucks
In the City of Daphne, Alabama’s second event with BidBridge, three suppliers competed to supply a variety of heavy duty trucks including garbage trucks, street sweepers and knuckle booms. The bidding lasted for 1 hour 32 minutes thanks to 110 time extensions and a combined 84 total bids.
The most competitive element of the event was for a dual side-loading recycling truck, receiving 54 bids with 32 first place turnovers throughout the course of the event.
The City of Daphne was thrilled with the event and plans to not only award quickly, but purchase additional vehicles based on the competitive pricing they received through the BidBridge event.
Employee Spotlight
As we are growing, we want you all to feel connected. Each weekly post will include a short bio on a member of our team. This week we are featuring Jacquelyn Campbell.
Jacquelyn Campbell joined the BidBrdge team in July 2009. She is serving as an Operations Assistant, working to source additional suppliers and assist the Operations Coordinators in managing events and ensuring we continue to drive the results we historically have achieved for our buyers.
Jacquelyn comes to BidBridge after three years of management experience at Enterprise Rent-A-Car. There she worked in a variety of roles, most recently serving in Human Resource Management. Jacquelyn is a graduate of the University of Louisville, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication.
We are proud to have Jacquelyn as the newest member of our team!
BidBridge featured in Dean and Provost magazine
There is no online version of the article available, but look for an article entitled “Save money on major purchases with reverse auctions” on page 6 of this month’s issue.
The article introduces the concept of reverse auction to universities nationwide, saying:
“When you make major purchases using a traditional sealed-bid process, sellers don’t always offer their lowest possible price. But if they could revise their bids to underprice their competition, you could save a lot of money.”
We couldn’t agree more!
The article cites recent successes that San Diego State University has had in partnering with BidBridge over the past few months. The article is further evidence that the reverse auction concept is gaining more and more momentum in the purchasing world. BidBridge is proud of its role in helping to build that momentum!
City in Oklahoma Plans to Use Residual Funds to Purchase More Electronic Equipment for Police Force
Broken Arrow, OK – (7/28/09) – When the City of Broken Arrow, OK recognized the need to equip its police force with electronic ticket writers; there was no doubt in purchasing manager Pat Harrison’s mind that the city would be working with Louisville-based BidBridge, an eProcurement services provider for the public and private sectors, to obtain the devices.
In the past, Broken Arrow had collaborated with BidBridge on several successful bids, including trash bags, an excavator and a rotary mower. In order to help the city attain market value for goods and services, BidBridge facilitates a secure, real-time electronic sealed bid platform that allows suppliers to place multiple bids, replacing the public sector’s traditional process of a one price per supplier response.
The electronic ticket writers the city wanted to purchase would enable police officers to scan the back of an offender’s driver’s license, rather than manually writing down the offender’s information. Procurement of the devices would promote efficiency and expedite the ticket-writing process.
On June 30, the tenth BidBridge-Broken Arrow bid event took place between four suppliers, lasting 37 minutes and logging 46 total bids, 16 time extensions and five first place turnovers. At the conclusion of the event, Broken Arrow saved 27 percent against budget, with a .39 percent gap between first and second place indicating they received market value.
“Our original pricing research for the project returned quotes as high as $240,000, so we amended our budget for the project to reflect that. With BidBridge, the City of Broken Arrow was able to secure a low bid of $174,000,” said Harrison. “Now, we’ll be able to allocate residual funds towards other projects that were put on the shelf due to compressed budgets, including more electronic equipment to keep our police force technologically efficient.”
Peter Langlois, BidBridge Director of Operations, commented: “Broken Arrow’s repeated success is a strong indicator that the BidBridge model is instrumental in saving taxpayer dollars, and we look forward to our continued relationship for future bids.”
BidBridge provides adherence to crucial stimulus spending factors like promoting competition and transparency through audit trails. For more information on how BidBridge is helping local governments, please visit: www.bidbridge.com.
A large hospital system in Ohio partnered with eBridge to establish a for a contract to renovate the Hospital’s surgical center. The 9 participating suppliers placed a total of 438 competitive bids resulting in 314 time extensions. The supplier competition and interest caused the bid to last for 6 hours, the longest in eBridge’s history!
Even though there were only 2 first place turnovers during the course of the event, the first and second place suppliers were separated by only .15% and the lowest bid at the conclusion of the event demonstrated 7.14% savings versus budget. Additionally, the first through fourth place suppliers were only separated by .31%. Based on such close competition between the top 4 suppliers, the hospital can be assured that the pricing they received demonstrates true market value and the Hospital has the flexibility to award to multiple qualified suppliers.