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.
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.