Cooperative Procurement: CPC & Express PRESENTED BY - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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

SCSC Cindy Ehlers SESC Sarah Ness

• 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

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Purchas asingConnec ection.org

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PurchasingConnection.org Member Profile Page

• Vendors are mix of national, state and regional companies
• Supplies, Services and Capital Project Categories

Cooperative Purchasing Connection

In 2013, we began looking for ways to modernize procurement services for members. From this discussion arose Express, an online marketplace

• f supply contracts.

Challen enges es

Purchasing across multiple contracts can be cumbersome. Often requiring multiple usernames/passwords. A Single Sign-on web portal that contains many suppliers. District/Agency Staff place orders on non-approved contracts

• r for items that aren’t approved.

A purchasing structure that would help maintain

• n-contract spend and provide admin oversight.

Suppliers may not always provide the contracted price to members. Ensure each buyer accesses the correct punch-out and catalog files.

Ne Neede ded S d Sol

• lut

utions

• 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?

“The system is fabulous! It made it so much easier than last

• year. I probably had my

entire order done within half an hour.”

Elementary School Teacher

“Working for a small city with limited resources, I am always trying to keep the cost of government in check and keep costs reasonable. Easy comparison shopping from several sources with a keystroke allowed me to reduce the time spent and ensure good value for the supplies we can purchase through Express.” City Clerk-Treasurer

“Express has reduced the amount of paperwork and time our district

• ffice spends on
• rder approval.”

Superintendent

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

What Have We Learned So Far?

1,800 agencies 300,000+ products 13,000 users

What’s N Next?

• 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

We Are!

Questions? Contact: Jerome Evans 651-371-1258 Jerome@purchasingconnection.org