July 2009: American Public Works Reporter- Products in the News
Louisville-based BidBridge is currently offering its secure, real-time electronic sealed bid platform as a way for local governments to adhere to ARRA guidelines for stimulus spending. In accordance with these guidelines, BidBridge’s eProcurement platform helps public works agencies promote competition while fostering transparency, reporting and timely delivery of services. In place of the traditional “one price per vendor” response, reverse auctions hosted by BidBridge are helping agencies and businesses find true market value for goods and services.
Nicknamed the “Thoroughbred City,” Lexington is betting on a different kind of horse race these days- one less exciting than the real thing but with far better financial odds. It’s called a reverse auction, and municipalities can use it to purchase goods and services at a low rate.
In a traditional auction, sellers present their products and buyers outbid one another to win them. In a reverse auction, buyers request products and sellers underbid one another to score the deal. While traditional auctions tend to drive prices up for consumers, reverse auctions do, well, the reverse.
Already a routine user of “e-procurement,” the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG) jumped on the reverse-auction bandwagon in 2008 after being approached by BidBridge, a group that hosts online sales events and works with 400 public-sector entities. So far, LFUCG has purchased four street sweepers and digital photo processing equipment, for a budgeted savings of over $96,000. LFUCG currently has a third transaction pending on treated rock salt and is considering an auction for water treatment chemicals.
As municipalities are cutting costs and budgets, we can expect to see more cities turning to this form of bargaining.
The school district’s second event with BidBridge, five suppliers competed to provide a variety of vans and trucks for the upcoming school year.
On one of the trucks, a Ford F250 Utility Body, 64 bids were placed with 15 first place turnovers. The result was a mere 0.05% spread between first and second place. On a second item, a Fords F250 with a tool box, bed liner and tow package, 48 bids were places with 5 first place turnovers and 32 time extensions resulting in a 0.14% spread between first and second place.
Overall, the buyer yielded over 50% savings versus budget for the five truck and van varieties.
When a large state university needed to purchase pool covers for their swimming facility, they enlisted the expertise of eBridge and its purchasing strategy to get the job done.
Three suppliers competed on three different swimming pool covers, each varying in size and specifications.
The largest swimming pool cover in the bid yielded eight first place turnovers with 21 total bids, resulting in 26 time extensions. At the conclusion of the bid, a mere 1.8% difference between first and second place bids, indicating that true market value had been achieved. The overall savings for the three swimming pool covers combined was nearly 25% versus budget.
BidBridge partnered with this insurance company to purchase cable and wire to outfit a new office building. Six suppliers competed for a contract for cable and wire. Four of the six suppliers were sourced by BidBridge. A total of 72 bids were placed on seven line items. The 46 minute event, including 28 time extensions, resulted in a 50% savings versus budget.
The contract was awarded immediately, and thanks the competitive bidding environment and strategically sourced suppliers; the company already scheduled their next event with BidBridge.
In this school district’s fifth bid with BidBridge, 5 suppliers competed on a copy paper contract. The 5 suppliers placed a total of 76 bids over the course of the 35 minute bidding event, leading to 15 first place turnovers and a differential of only .19% between the first and second place suppliers at the conclusion of the bid.
This competition allowed this copy paper bid to beat the established state contract price by over $3.00 per case. Had the school system simply purchased their desired 18,480 cases on state contract they would have spent an extra $55,440.
PR Newswire
LOUISVILLE, Ky. July 21 /PRNewswire/ — For the first time ever this past May, the Town of Vail, CO traded in the one-time paper bid process it normally uses to acquire construction services. Instead, Vail decided to rely on a reverse auction e-procurement platform to obtain slurry seal road services for more competitive pricing and to save taxpayer dollars.
“Ultimately, Vail wanted to look at alternatives to the paper bid process,” said Chad Salli, P.E., Project Engineer for the Town of Vail. “With the emergence of more efficient technology and strategies that can help us get a fairer price for services, the decision was not a difficult one.”
To run the reverse auctions, Vail called upon Louisville-based BidBridge, an eProcurement services provider for the public and private sectors that has worked with more than 400 public agencies. BidBridge facilitates a secure, real-time electronic sealed bid platform that allows suppliers to place multiple bids on a project, replacing the public sector’s traditional process of a one price per supplier response.
On May 27, the electronic bid took place between three construction service suppliers and helped save the town 19 percent against budget. The auction process lasted 58 minutes, producing 14 first place turnovers and 35 total bids.
“Vail was able to achieve a 1.44 percent difference between first and second place bidders – a solid indicator that market value was achieved,” remarked BidBridge CEO Jim Headlee. “BidBridge’s visibility and reporting capabilities allowed Vail officials to monitor the entire process while empowering them with a simple means to record the auction for future reference.”
Chad Salli added, “BidBridge provides a service that is truly crucial to efficient spending for local governments. Especially in a time of such economic uncertainty, the public sector has to use every means available to make sure money is spent wisely.”
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.
About BidBridge
Founded in 2002, Louisville-based BidBridge provides e-procurement services to both the public and private sectors, including cities, towns, municipalities and the medical, educational and corporate sectors. Through its competitive sourcing and online procurement system, BidBridge assists its buyers in achieving true-market value for the goods and services needed for ongoing business operations. Significant cost reductions and procurement efficiencies have allowed BidBridge’s buyers to save millions of tax payer, corporate and investor dollars, ultimately producing a positive effect on compressed budgets.
The university sought BidBridge to assist in the purchase of IT equipment. Four suppliers placed 128 competitive bids over the course of the 1 hour 7 minute auction. The competition of the four suppliers led to 52 time extensions and 34 total first place turnovers across the three items of the bid.
The second line item was an Enterprise Tape Library, and on this item alone there were 23 first place turnovers resulting in a 0.18% difference between first and second place. The end result was $18,000 savings versus budget, and a compelling case for the university to award.
To Provide Reverse Auction Services for Cities, Towns, Municipalities, Schools
LOUISVILLE, Ky., July 14 /PRNewswire/ — BidBridge, an eProcurement services provider for the public and private sectors, today announced it has been awarded the reverse auction provider contract for procurement services for government entities in the State of South Carolina.
The agreement positions BidBridge as the statewide reverse auction platform in procurement of goods and services for state government entities like cities, towns, municipalities, schools and other government-sponsored organizations. An experienced provider of state and local government e-procurement services, the company has worked with more than 400 public agencies nationwide.
BidBridge works by facilitating 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.
BidBridge CEO Jim Headlee remarked, “The State of South Carolina is positioning itself as a progressive leader in responsible procurement. This partnership stands to encourage state leadership to provide innovative methods like BidBridge to be the best stewards of their state’s tax dollars.”
BidBridge agreement with the State of South Carolina is just the latest example of a partnership between a high profile purchasing organization and BidBridge (from CNBC). The State of Indiana has used BidBridge’s reverse auction platform to run more than $40 million dollars of sealed bids, resulting in millions of dollars of savings during a time when budgets are tight.
Additionally, the City and County of Denver, Colorado and the City of Chicago have begun to realize the rewards of utilizing BidBridge’s proven procurement strategies.
“…Indiana is a rare island of solvency in a national sea of red ink,” [Governor Mitch] Daniels said in a written statement. “As the auditor’s report shows, that’s true for only one reason, because we have been far more careful about spending than other states. Staying above water will require daily vigilance and continued innovation to stretch every dollar and keep spending down.”
The State of Indiana’s efforts to “look for efficiencies and cost savings” has led to a partnership with BidBridge starting in 2007 when the State of Indiana ran its first event with BidBridge. Since then, BidBridge has hosted over $50 million of purchases through its procurement process, producing a total savings of nearly $5 million to the State’s bottom line. BidBridge is proud of its partnership with a state that takes it upon itself to continually innovate.
Rob Wynkoop, State Procurement Officer stated, “BidBridge understands the procurement process. Their proven leadership and expertise continues to produce tangible savings for the tax payers of Indiana.”