Formed 11 years ago by the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV), the aggregating of the buying power of all Victorian Councils has resulted in better prices, terms and conditions of supply.
“We have had some name changes,” said Ian Holden, General Manager of CPS. “In 1996 we changed from the MAV Cooperative Purchasing Scheme to Purchasing Victoria and then in 1998 when we moved office location, and became Cooperative Purchasing Services Ltd (CPS).
“We now service Local Government and a range of statutory authorities, not for profit and community groups in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia and have a national network through the State Local Government Associations. However, our core business and emphasis is Victoria.”
In 1992, CPS moved from manual hard copy catalogues to electronic, via the MAV dial up information service. This was the first online service of its kind in Victoria. Three years ago CPS developed a CD and browser version that can be viewed by members via the CPS web site.
“Two years ago we established an interactive web site with an e-commerce function enabling our tenders to go online,” Ian Holden said. “With up to 50 contracts advertised at a time and tender documents running to over 50 pages there was a significant production cost to satisfy the demand for multiple copies for various suppliers.
“Hard copy was cut by 95 percent using our web facility and suppliers obtained a document they could use for their response.”
Mindful that even the web version of the CPS catalogue has only been an information source and that members needed a ‘one stop shop’,CPS decided to develop an e-procurement system. This will enable Councils to browse a supplier’s total catalogue of goods and services, make selections, confirm with a purchase order and capture the transaction in their own accounting system.
To achieve this, CPS selected Exchange Solutions as a partner, providing a complete package in terms of e-commerce functionality as well as value added services to assist members and suppliers in participation. This is a state of the art system, based in part on an earlier system used by the Queensland Dept of Public Works.
The most difficult step in procurement through an online marketplace is integrating the process into a Council’s own Financial Management Information System.
“While this needs to be addressed on a system by system basis, a technology partnership between Exchange Solutions and AXS One Pty Ltd, a major international systems provider to Victorian Councils, will provide the ability to speed up the opportunities for full integration,” Ian Holden said.
Whitehorse City Council is set to become the first fully integrated Council in the CPS Member Market using the AXS-One solution.
“Whitehorse has demonstrated their belief in the benefits of being a fully committed participant in the CPS Member Market and is to be congratulated in being a market leader in this respect,” Ian Holden said.
A number of CPS members across Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania are also actively examining the options for full integration to optimise their own e-commerce strategy.
Initial participants include Greater Geelong, Northern Grampians, Surf Coast, Greater Dandenong, Frankston, Mildura, Knox, Horsham, Whitehorse and Hobart.
For further information on CPS contact Ian Holden, telephone (03) 9801 2811 or visit the web site at www.cps.asn.au.
