eBridge News
A southern state ran a printing contract for the third consecutive year as a reverse auction bid through eBridge. There were four pre-approved bidders and because two of the bidders were willing to compete aggressively for the business, it was a very exciting auction. The low bid was reduced 37 times over the course of an hour and the price dropped about 25% from the opening bid. In the end, the taxpayers will be paying 3% less than they paid the previous year and 36% less than they paid for the same contract when it last ran as a traditional bid in 2008.
In Montgomery County, Maryland’s second event with eBridge, eight suppliers competed on an annual contract for unleaded gasoline and E85 with estimated annual usage of over 12 million gallons. For this reverse auction, Montgomery County was the lead agency in establishing the fuel contract for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. Over 20 public jurisdictions and entities from Montgomery County, Maryland, Metropolitan Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Anne Arundel County participated in the bid, which made this a very high profile event.
The County sought to establish pricing for will-call and automatic delivery of regular unleaded, midgrade unleaded, premium unleaded gasoline and E85 for the participating jurisdictions with three different options for delivery: FOB Terminal Point, Truck Transport, and Tank Wagon. All the different options resulted in over 80 line items for this bid. With the volatility of the fuel market, eBridge’s dynamic bidding platform was the best way for the participants to ensure that they arrived at true market value for the contract.
The way that eBridge approaches fuel bids of this nature is to have suppliers offer pricing that is tied to a particular OPIS (Oil Price Information Service) average, which indicates the market price based upon a specified index. The suppliers then can bid above or below the OPIS index-based pricing.
The real-time competition among the eight participants generated 73 time extensions over the course of the auction. The best measurement of success was the close competition among the suppliers. On certain line items, the spread between first and second place was a mere 0.01 which indicates that true market value has been achieved, and in this case, multiple suppliers were the lowest priced for different geographic zones and/or fuel types.
Congratulations to a Correctional Facility in South Carolina for running their 50th auction with eBridge! This auction, for sports bras, netted them a tremendous 41% savings over a five year contract. Three suppliers were approved to participate and generated 112 bids with 74 first place turnovers. They are very happy with the results. eBridge is proud to be a partner and we are looking forward to the next 50!
In their 3rd auction with eBridge, a School District in Texas ran a three year Trash and Recycling Bid. Four suppliers were approved to participate in the bid and placed a total of 425 bids. This resulted in a dramatic 11.4% savings in the overall contract. “Everyone was very impressed with the whole operation!” said a Senior Buyer. The School District was extremely pleased with both the results as well as their overall savings.
A school district serving 24,000 students in South Carolina recently ran their school food request for proposal (RFP) through eBridge and achieved estimated annual savings of 10% or $500,000. The incumbent food distributor was awarded the contract. This was an extremely complex RFP because there was far more involved with buying food for children than just lowering the cost. The school district took time to identify acceptable brands for every product category in the RFP specifications. eBridge worked closely with the district to build an RFP that took quality standards into account, while building a bidding format that encouraged competition among the vendors. A reverse auction was conducted and the vendors lowered their bids a total of 34 times to compete for the district’s $5,000,000 annual contract.
A private University recently partnered with eBridge on bid number 7. The bid was for all required furnishings for their new dormitory. The supplier list was originally restricted but the University was pleased to include many of the additional companies eBridge brought to the process. The simple response process allowed for a tight turnaround, which was a must since all furniture has to be ordered, manufactured and delivered for an April 2014 install date. Six companies were quickly identified and approved to participate. The bid event was extremely competitive bringing 362 bids with 38 first-place turnovers. The low bid price came in approximately 33% below the anticipated budget. The University is now reviewing the spec responses, bid pricing and furniture samples to determine which company offers the best overall value.
Even though it is their 4th year using eBridge for their Water Treatment Chemicals, the savings are still pouring in for a city in Illinois. This year, the reverse auction process saved them approximately $184,800 on their four chemicals. Nine suppliers placed 136 bids which allowed for true market value to be found with a spread between 1st and 2nd place of 0.76%.
The Department of Transportation for a southern State recently ran its bid for uniform services as a reverse auction. The bid was extremely competitive and the cost to the state was decreased by over $80,000 a year or 16%. Since the contract could potentially run for 5 years, that’s a savings of $400,000 to the taxpayers. eBridge was very involved with developing the specifications, participated in a pre-bid meeting and trained all of the suppliers individually on the process. There were five suppliers approved by the buyer to participate and the two lowest bidders were separated by less than half a percentage point. The reverse auction ran on eBridge’s proprietary online platform. The process not only saved the State money, but eBridge’s fees will be completely paid by the supplier that is awarded the contract.
A corrections management company recently partnered with eBridge to run their first reverse auction. This company approached eBridge to assist in obtaining competitive pricing on drug screening for a large number of correctional facilities throughout the US. The tests needed to meet the requirements of each facility for drug screening of employees and inmates (instant and lab). Due to different laws from state to state regarding drug screening of inmates, it was a little challenging deciding all the different tests and testing methods that would be bid through the reverse auction. Welcoming the challenge, eBridge assisted in each step of the bid process starting with spec research and development to monitoring the live auction.
7 of the 50 originally sourced suppliers met buyer requirements and were approved to participate in the live bid. When the auction ended, 947 lowering bids had been placed resulting in 29 time extensions! First place changed hands 124 times and the spread between 1st &2nd place suppliers was 0.08%. The end result was a happy buyer and a low bid that will provide a 17% savings against current pricing.
A water agency for a southern city ran its second reverse auction with eBridge and it produced some dramatic savings. The bid was for sodium hypochlorite and phosphoric acid. There were at least four bidders in each category and the online bidding was very active for forty minutes as vendors competed for the business.
When the event concluded, the agency calculated that they lowered their annual expenditure on sodium hypochlorite by $80,000 and phosphoric acid by $112,000, representing a savings of 35%. The reverse auction technology is important. However, at eBridge, we believe that the proprietary process that we’ve developed is what differentiates our service and enables the reverse auction to deliver maximum value.
The purchasing manager for the agency said, “eBridge brought a level of expertise to the table that minimizes public expenditures to the greatest extent possible. eBridge expands the database of qualified vendors which provides greater opportunities for offers. Prior to the bid event eBridge provides individual training to each vendor ensuring there is a complete understanding of what is required in order to submit responsible and responsive offers. eBridge also handles all the administrative duties normally assigned to the purchasing agent associated with the dissemination of bid documentation ensuring that consistency, transparency and integrity is achieved throughout the process. I would highly recommend using e-Bridge if the opportunity arose to enhance your organization’s ROI wherever possible.”