BUYER CENTER
BidBoardLA is Louisiana’s premier procurement destination; whether you’re purchasing industrial cleaning supplies or heavy equipment, BidBoardLA facilitates and streamlines the buying cycle with our innovative procurement tools and wrap-around consulting services. Understanding when to use these tools will help buyers achieve the most cost savings.
BUYER PROCESS
Buyer Purchasing Process:
Electronic Sealed Bids and Reverse Auctions
BidBoardLA provides users with an electronic sealed bid tool to comply with newly enacted legislative requirements for competitive sealed bids, at no cost to the buying agency. Our platform's system provides a clean and easy online environment allowing vendors and buyers a centralized location to find contract opportunities and specifications.
Electronic Sealed Bid and Reverse Auction tools can be used innovatively to purchase a wide array of goods and services, but the following factors should be considered when determining a sourcing strategy.
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Sufficient Supply Base, do enough qualified vendors exist in the market to create healthy competition?
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Appealing Business Opportunity/Spend, is the business appealing to enough qualified vendors (and not just because of the value of the spend)
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Well Defined Specifications, are the specifications well defined so as to minimize diverse supplier interpretations that result in disparate quotes
BidBoard will work with buyers to make informed sourcing strategies.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Let’s say your municipality needs to purchase manhole covers...
Analyze: The municipal buyer analyzes its current supply of manhole covers and its history of purchases to determine the quantity needed, the delivery timeframe and available budget.
Develop: Specifications are determined and provided to the BidBoardLA support team. The support team helps determines the best procurement method—reverse auction, sealed bid or contract catalog approach—and makes a recommendation to the buyer for approval.
Qualify: The support team provides the municipal buyer with a list of potential vendors.
Negotiate: In a reverse auction, for example, the support team uploads the RFQ and specifications and notifies qualified vendors of the process. Bids are received in real-time and made available to the buyer for viewing.
Evaluate: The system ranks bids automatically and provides evaluation tools to the buyer.
Award: The buyer selects the winner(s)
Buyer Purchasing Process:
BidBoardLA Shopping
BidBoardLA Shopping provides LMA members and eligible entities a simple solution to access and purchase from pre-negotiated contracts. Through the procurement portal, members can buy goods and services from certified vendors, delivering significant cost savings much faster than traditional procurement methods.
BidBoardLA pursues contracts that meet the demands of its member base. Members have the option to “pioneer” network contracts or simply purchase through existing contracts. Our centralized, user-friendly database facilitates the procurement process by increasing efficiency and access.
Contracts leverage the purchasing power of public entities to deliver best value, quality goods, and services. By aggregating the demand of its registered members, BidBoardLA Procurement Network can secure better pricing from national vendors and vendors across the state.
Here’s how it works, using an example of a registered municipal buyer looking to purchase office supplies… (description of process flow)
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First, the buyer must determine what is the annual spend for the supplies. According to the Louisiana Public Bid law, if the buy is over 30K, the purchase will require a competitive bid, if under 30K it is not required. Either way, BidBoardLA Shopping still applies.
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Next, the buyer will visit BidBoardLA Shopping to determine if a contract for office supplies has been negotiated with one or more vendors
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If yes, the buyer will compare the pricing offered and select one of the pre-existing contracts that best meets requirements
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If the buy is under 30K, the buyer may contact the vendor of choice directly, indicating they are a registered member eligible for the pre-negotiated rates and they are ready to enjoy their discount!
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If the buy is over 30K, contact BidBoardLA. Consultants will work with you to determine the best way to ensure a competitive bid (i.e. reverse auction of a sealed bid)
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Alternatively, if no contract is found under the office supply category, the buyer should contact BidBoardLA to request a shopping contract(s) be established and “pioneer” and sponsor the contract
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BidBoardLA will research and identify suitable vendors and will negotiate advantageous contracts to the benefit of the buyer and all LMA members
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As new shopping contracts are established, they will be posted and made available to all registered users of the BidBoardLA site.