Cooperative Procurement: CPC & Express PRESENTED BY COOPERATIVE PURCHASING CONNECTION
Who A ho Are W e We? 9 Service Cooperatives in Minnesota & North Dakota serving MN, ND, SD ◦ Est. by legislature, 40 years (MN - 123A.21) ◦ Receive no direct state funding ◦ Services to Schools (public & private), Cities, Counties, Gov’t. Agencies, Nonprofit Organizations
Connection Through Cooperatives SESC Sarah Ness SCSC Cindy Ehlers
• Cooperative Purchasing Connection is a service of 8 service coops • Approximately 90 Contracts in place • Member of AEPA - Association of Educational Purchasing Agencies
Convenient. Competitive. Cooperative. Convenient . ◦ Accessible competitive process and program ◦ Save resources ◦ Discounts, quality service, and transparency Competitive . ◦ Free and open competitive process available to all Cooperative . ◦ Negotiated volume discounts ◦ Powered by your local service cooperative
Purchas asingConnec ection.org - Mee eet t Ou Our V Ven endors
Purchas asingConnec ection.org - Mee eet t Ou Our V Ven endors
PurchasingConnection.org Member Profile Page
Cooperative Purchasing Connection ◦ Vendors are mix of national, state and regional companies ◦ Supplies, Services and Capital Project Categories
In 2013, we began looking for ways to modernize procurement services for members. From this discussion arose Express, an online marketplace of supply contracts.
Challen enges es Neede Ne ded S d Sol olut utions Suppliers may not always provide the contracted price to Ensure each buyer accesses the correct punch-out and members. catalog files. A purchasing structure that would help maintain District/Agency Staff place orders on non-approved contracts or for items that aren’t approved. on-contract spend and provide admin oversight. Purchasing across multiple contracts can be cumbersome. Often A Single Sign-on web portal that contains many requiring multiple usernames/passwords. suppliers.
• Powered by software built by EqualLevel • Shopping, checkout and payment capable • Accessible to national suppliers regionally awarded suppliers • Built for public procurement needs with approval chain capability (customizable) ! • Integrates with SMARTFinance
Integrates with SMARTeR
Integrates with Skyward
Does it make a difference?
“Working for a small city with “The system is “Express has limited resources, I am always fabulous! It made it so trying to keep the cost of reduced the much easier than last government in check and keep year. I probably had my amount of costs reasonable. Easy entire order done comparison shopping from paperwork and within half an hour.” several sources with a keystroke time our district allowed me to reduce the time Elementary School Teacher spent and ensure good value for office spends on the supplies we can purchase order approval.” through Express.” City Clerk-Treasurer Superintendent
What Have We Learned So Far? PROS Streamlined access to supply contracts One stop, one password access Ensures discounts Saves time for teacher/employee shopping Easy comparison, shopping lists can be tracked and shared Easy to use – truly provides value to members Provides valuable data Service Cooperative has access to reports Customizable New features added regularly to enhance customer experience
1,800 agencies 13,000 users 300,000+ products
What’s N Next? We Are! • Express is ahead of the curve in offering convenient and compliant online ordering • We preserve competition and compliance while giving members choice • Members love the shopping experience • We will only become more efficient, saves much more on soft costs It‘s another valuable service provided by the Service Cooperative to members
Questions? Contact: Jerome Evans 651-371-1258 Jerome@purchasingconnection.org
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