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VendorPanel
This innovation initially came to life when…
I was responsible for managing access to a “preferred supplier panel” for one of the big banks. It was a debacle. Suppliers worked really hard to get onto the panel and got little for it. Staff just used the same suppliers as always because they didn’t have time to do a better comparison. Procurement had little visibility of what was going on. When I realised these issues were common, and even more complex when probity and governance was considered, I started Magnetized Markets. Our goal: make it easier to do business with preferred suppliers with less time and risk.
WHAT & HOW
The purpose of this innovation is to…
Bring “preferred supplier panel” arrangements to life! Make it easier for staff to work out which of their preferred suppliers is best for each project. Give procurement better visibility with less risk. And give preferred suppliers access to more opportunities.
It does this by…
Providing a powerful web-based marketplace that is controlled by organisational procurement. Staff get personalised accounts with a range of tools to help them create requests, compare proposals, select suppliers, and provide feedback. They can even access Panels from other organisations in the one place.
A big part of its success has been its simplicity and ease of use.
PURPOSE & BENEFITS
This innovation improves on what came before because…
It’s really easy to use.
It’s a real-time dynamic marketplace that pro-actively helps connect the right buyers and suppliers for each project.
All relevant panels can be accessed in one place.
Smart simple tools help staff create and manage requests, select suppliers and provide feedback.
Real-time reporting and end-to-end tracking makes it easy to demonstrate procurement probity and governance.
Its various benefits to the customer/end-user include…
Staff get the right supplier for each project, and can be confident they have used an appropriate process.
Procurement reduces cost and risk, and increases value and control, with less effort.
Preferred Suppliers get fairer access to more opportunities.
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
In the past, this problem was solved by…
A list, buyer’s guide, or matrix of suppliers, usually a PDF.
How staff got quotes, selected preferred suppliers and provided feedback was inconsistent, spread across multiple systems, and not transparent. This was compounded in government where staff can access panels from multiple sources — department panels, whole of government panels, regional panels. They had policies, but few tools for success.
Its predecessors/competitors include…
Static lists, Buyer Guides or Matrices (PDF, Excel).
A number of ERP’s and tender systems also have quotation modules, but they are limited to internal supplier lists and do not easily support multi-organisational collaborative procurement arrangements.
TARGET MARKET
It is made for…
Organisations that utilise “preferred supplier panels” as part of their procurement process, especially where products or services are purchased based on a quote or proposal.
This includes government, universities, utilities and medium-to-large companies.
For example: NSW Local Government Procurement (LGP) uses VendorPanel to give 152 Councils better access to suppliers on whole-of-local-government panels. In the first nine months over $26M in requests were managed. Councils can also use these tools to manage their local suppliers.
It has been selected to give Flood Affected Councils in QLD access to panels for road reconstruction, bridge reconstruction, telecommunications, and general re-construction.
DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY
It is available for sale through…
www.MagnetizedMarkets.com after experiencing an online demo.
It is a low-cost/high-value SaaS solution that can be implemented quickly and easily.
In the case of Local Government, Councils can simply purchase an ‘upgrade’ for greater functionality.
Our marketing strategy is to…
Partner with high-profile strategic clients such as the peak procurement bodies for local government procurement in each state. This gives significant exposure and access, and offers a simple upgrade path for each Council to use in managing local suppliers.
Brand building is centered on speaking at conferences, third-party articles, and contributing to procurement discussion forums.
SUPPORTING IMAGES
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Melbourne: 1 June 2012
Sydney: 30 June 2012
Normal Price: $39.
