eBridge News
A Florida city engaged BidBridge to establish a one year contract price for hauling 19.25 million gallons of fertilizer and class AA residuals from two wastewater reclamation plants.
The incumbent supplier of the hauling services approached City officials and urged him to run the contract through the BidBridge process.
Seven hauling service providers competed in the one hour, 41 minute event. A total of 250 bids were placed by the seven suppliers throughout the course of the event. First place changed hands 57 times and the clock extended 86 times, allowing suppliers to continue to place residual lowering bids until the cost for hauling the materials had reached true market value.
At the conclusion of the event, the city saved 40% versus last year’s contract amount!
The Washington, DC metro area sanitation commission engaged BidBridge’ reverse auction expertise for the purchase of 15 chemicals to treat water and wastewater in the Washington DC metro area. 15 suppliers competed on a variety of chemicals.
Some of them chemicals bid are as follows:
Aluminum sulfate
Caustic soda
Chlorine
Ferric chloride
Hydrofluosilcic acid
Phosphoric acid
Potassium permanganate
Powder activated carbon
Sodium bisulfate
Sodium hypochlorite
Sulfur dioxide
Sulfuric acid
The bid lasted three hours, 22 minutes, with one chemical producing over 180 bids, causing the event to continue for several hours. However, the competition among suppliers led to 97 first place turnovers and only 0.46% between the first and second place finishers, indicating true market value had been achieved.
As any buyer knows, achieving true market value is crucial in the purchase of chemicals because of the volatility of the market.
The state engaged BidBridge for the purchase of a 5 year contract for the printing of the State’s CDL Manual and Driver Handbook.
Three suppliers participated in the 55 minute event. A total of 30 bids were placed, yielding 11 first place turnovers and 21 time extensions. First and second place vendors were separated by only 0.03%, indicating true market value for the print contract had been achieved.
The total contract value came in 49% lower than the budgeted value, delivering significant savings for the state’s transportation department.
A Kentucky city engaged BidBridge for the purchase of eight chemicals, 7 being used to treat the city’s drinking water and one for sewer treatment.
The eight line items included:
Hydrofluosilicic Acid (price per drum)
Potassium Permanganate (price per drum)
Liquid Alum (price per dry ton)
Alum (per 50 lb bag)
Mississippi Rotary Lime (price per 50 lb bag)
Powdered Activated Carbon (price per 50 lb bag)
Bulk Powder Activated Carbon (price per pound)
Sodium Aluminates Solution (price per pound)
A total of seven suppliers competed in the event, with participation ranging from three to five suppliers on each element. The most competitive element was the bulk powder activated carbon. A total of 55 bids were placed, resulting in 29 first place turnovers and 89 time extensions. At the conclusion of the two hour, three minute event, first and second place were separated by only .10%, indicating true market value was achieved.
Nearly every line item on the event produced less than 2% between first and second place. At the conclusion, the buyer felt confident she received true market value for the chemicals the city intended to purchase.
In this city’s second event with BidBridge, five suppliers competed for a toilet rental and cleaning services contract for Parks and Recreation areas, theaters and arenas. The event included 16 line items included portable toilets, ADA compliant portable toilets, a free standing hand washing unit and a trash box. In addition to the item, suppliers competed on pricing for varying frequency of toilet cleaning, including special event rates, emergency cleaning rates and standard weekly cleaning rates.
The bid lasted one hour, five minutes, with 16 time extensions. The most competitive line item was for the ADA compliant handicapped portable toilet with four weekly service cleanings. This line item yielded 26 total bids, 9 first place turn-overs and a 0.9% between first and second place.
At the conclusion of the event, the senior purchasing manager stated, “We could not have achieved these results without {BidBridge}. A very good result.”
This Midwestern state engaged BidBridge to purchase duty boots for its police force. The bid consisted of four line items: male duty boots, female duty boots, male shoes and female shoes. The bid also included an option for oversized charges for shoes over size 15.
A total of 5 suppliers competed on the four line items, totaling 1050 pairs of both shoes and boots. Four of the five suppliers were in state vendors with the fifth supplier being located in the neighboring state.
The 44 minute event yielded 40 bids placed for the male and female boots and 50 total bids for the male and female shoes. The lace up duty boots (male and female) proved to be the most competitive elements of the bid, both resulting in 25 first place turnovers and 42 time extensions.
At the conclusion of the event, the state had saved nearly 34% versus budget for the 1050 pairs of police boots. With a 0.02% and 0.3% difference between first and second place for the duty boots and shoes, respectively, the state can feel confident true market value was achieved through partnering with BidBridge for this purchase.
A state Department of Transportation partnered with BidBridge to purchase a self-propelled milling machine.
This piece of equipment is produced in three sizes: small, medium and large. The DOT wanted to purchase a medium-sized milling machine, of which only three suppliers exist in the US. For this piece of equipment only two of the three suppliers were capable of meeting the specifications.
In the 57 minute event, the two suppliers placed 86 bids, yielding 34 first place turn-overs and 38 time extensions. At the conclusion of the event, the two suppliers were separated by a mere 0.05%, indicating to the DOT that true market value had been achieved. The final savings was 9% versus budget.
This Indiana city hosted its first event with BidBridge for the purchase of a portable trommel screening machine.
BidBridge sourced 9 suppliers, with two being approved by the buyer. The event lasted 38 minutes, yielding 42 bids, 15 first place turn-overs and 17 time extensions.
Due to the high unemployment rates and depressed local economy, this Indiana city received a great amount of media attention this year, and was profiled in the New York Times late last year as the “white-hot center of the meltdown of the American economy”.
By engaging BidBridge, the city has proven that its leadership is making strides to save tax payer dollars and cut costs. BidBridge has a proven track record of 10-15% savings on hosted events and was able to deliver significant savings for the city and ultimately the tax payers of Indiana.
In the town’s first event with eBridge, 3 suppliers competed in an effort to earn the contract for a slurry seal road project.
The 3 suppliers placed 35 bids over the course of the 58 minute event. Contrast that with the paper process, in which the same 3 suppliers would have only placed a single bid each.
The result was 14 first place turnovers and 19% savings versus budget. Just as importantly, the first and second suppliers were separated by only 1.44% at the conclusion of the bid, ensuring the town that they had achieved true market value for this project.
Save 12 Percent Against State Contract
ST. CHARLES, Ill., Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ – Prior to the start of the school year, the St. Charles Community Unit School District (CUSD 303) took time to reevaluate its existing state contract price for copy paper. Cathy Koch, Director of Business Services for CUSD 303, recognized the potential for savings and sought out Louisville-based BidBridge, a proven eProcurement services provider for the public and private sectors.
In order to provide an alternative to the public sector’s traditional process of a one price per supplier response, BidBridge facilitates a secure, real-time electronic sealed bid platform that allows suppliers to place multiple bids. In CUSD 303’s copy paper bid, five suppliers competed for a copy paper contract to supply 7,132 cases of paper consisting of six total line items, varying products based on coloring, size, and recycled/non-recycled factors.
“With help from BidBridge’s expert support team, we were able to complete the bid in an efficient, professional manner,” said Ms. Koch. “The electronic reverse auction process that BidBridge provides is truly a step forward in public procurement across the country, especially for schools and school districts.”
Over the course of the 52-minute bid event, the 8.5×11 white copy paper line item logged 50 total bids, resulting in 20 first place turnovers and 21 time extensions. CUSD 303 saw a 20 percent overall savings against budget for non-recycled product and a four percent savings for recycled paper. Accounting for all line items, CUSD 303 saw a final low bid price that was 12 percent lower than its existing contract.
“The St. Charles bid serves as further proof that public entities can beat state contracts if they give suppliers the opportunity to compete in a dynamic purchasing environment,” said BidBridge CEO Jim Headlee. “Education is the backbone of this country, and the more money we can save for our schools, the more money they have to allocate towards areas of greater need.”