District solicitations are set up in the e-procurement portal using commodity codes for requested goods and services; the solicitations are then matched to vendors with the same commodity codes.
Before we implemented our current e-procurement system, the district solicited bids through its web page and used Google Drive to manage bids and proposals for those solicitations. That was a manual, labor-intensive process that was complicated by problems for vendors, who encountered issues with their network firewalls blocking access to Google, which made it impossible for them to upload their bid packets to the Google Drive bid folders.
Some vendors launched last-minute efforts to hand-deliver hard copies of their bid packets to the District Operational Center before the bid deadline; the district staff then found themselves simultaneously managing the receipt of digital bid packets and hard copies for some bids.
School districts today can choose from a wide variety of e-procurement systems or solutions on the market. It is wise to invest time in choosing the e-procurement system that best meets your school district’s solicitation needs and budget.
An effective e-procurement system can manage and improve solicitation efficiency by providing the following benefits.
An e-procurement system can centralize the procurement process, making it easier for school districts to manage and control their solicitations.
Centralized Procurement
An e-procurement system can centralize the procurement process, making it easier for school districts to manage and control their solicitations. It can standardize solicitation processes and reduce the likelihood of errors and inconsistencies.
For example, all potential bidders who are following our solicitation through our e-procurement system receive any and all related documents and addenda; no potential bidder is omitted.
In addition, copies of all previous successful bids and requests for proposals that were conducted through the e-procurement system can be saved as templates so the district is not reinventing the wheel for every new solicitation.
Better Transparency
All stakeholders involved in the process can access the e-procurement portal through the district’s purchasing web page, making it easier to manage and monitor solicitation activities. As an example, our e-procurement portal notifies potential bidders of new district-initiated activity related to an open, published bid.
The public can also view the status of a bid, whether opened, closed, canceled, or awarded, through the e-procurement portal; project details, district contact information, important bid events, supporting bid documentation, public notices or vendor discussions, and vendor award notices are displayed.
Increased Efficiency
By automating the solicitation process through an e-procurement system, school districts can save time and reduce costs. With an e-procurement system, our district receives and processes bids and proposals more quickly, reduces manual data entry errors, and lowers administrative costs associated with solicitation activities.
Manual tasks — like opening bid packets or proposal envelopes or boxes — are no longer required. Now, our district maintains no physical contract files or folders; all information regarding a bid can be kept securely in the cloud in our e-procurement portal, saving us physical storage space.
Improved Vendor Relationships
An e-procurement system can help school districts develop better relationships with their vendors. A school district may customize the vendor registration experience to ensure that information pertinent to the school district is collected from each vendor according to its industry and the products and services it offers.
For example, when vendors register within our e-procurement portal, they are first asked whether they are a construction or non-construction vendor. The registration questions then drill further by asking for a doing-business-as name, business classification, whether they have a local office or branch located within Ventura County, whether their company is a certified small business, and whether their company is a certified Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise. By collecting this vendor information, a school district can track vendors by specific criteria or qualifications and invite select vendors to future solicitations.
For reporting purposes, this e-procurement portal is configured so that new vendors must provide a signed and completed W-9 form when registering. An e-procurement system also streamlines communication between a school district and vendors, improving the accuracy of the information exchanged.
Efficiency and Effectiveness
An e-procurement system is an electronic platform that automates and streamlines the solicitation process for requested goods and services. Overall, an e-procurement system can help school districts improve the efficiency of their solicitation process, reduce costs, increase transparency, and foster vendor relationships.