Nextel signs up with BayanTrade

Trunk radio-telecom company Nextel Communications Phils. Inc. (Nextel) is leveraging BayanTrade’s e-Bidding service to save on costs and boost competitiveness, according to a Nextel executive.

Nextel uses Motorola’s integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN) technology which provides a two-way radio network with cellular and paging capability, ideal for companies that require instant communication access to several of their employees, like transportation companies managing large fleets.

Nextel logistics director Sam Falsis said the shift from traditional bidding to e-Bidding through BayanTrade was prompted by a management directive to explore the advantages of business-to-business (B2B) procurement.

"In these times, the only way a company can survive is by being cost-competitive. BayanTrade helps boost our competitiveness through operational efficiency, significant cost savings, and value added," Falsis said.

Falsis explained that in the traditional bidding process, "vendors take an unnecessarily long period to respond to requests for quotations (RFQs), and this is unproductive time in terms of our own operations as well as our capacity to meet the demands of our customers."

"Evaluating bids prolongs the process further. Despite this lengthy process, there is no assurance that we will receive the bids we are looking for in terms of price and specifications," he explained.

BayanTrade e-Bidding services head Cherokee Chamorro said that BayanTrade provides end-to-end facilitation of the e-Bidding process, which increases efficiency of the pre-bidding processes.

"For the pricing discovery stage to work the way it should, certain things have to happen first. These things include qualifying suppliers and tightening up specifications, so that there are no questions about what suppliers are providing," Chamorro said.

Suppliers, according to Chamorro, participate in a thorough orientation and are trained to address and resolve bid details before the actual e-Bidding event.

BayanTrade’s involvement, however, doesn’t end there. "Minutes after bidding is closed, BayanTrade submits complete lists of the bids entered by each supplier to the buyer to ensure that all the data is considered before the actual awarding takes place," Chamorro said.

Nextel’s fourth e-Bidding event took place over a three-day period from pre-bid to awarding. The bid, which was for industrial batteries, generated a 33.5-percent savings for the company.

"The initial asking price started at $197,000," said Falsis. "After about 45 minutes of dynamic bidding, we awarded the contract to a supplier who bid $131,000 — that’s a $66,000 savings that went straight to Nextel’s bottom line."

BayanTrade president and CEO Carol Carreon said results like Nextel’s are the reason the e-marketplace has grown rapidly. "We’ve done close to hundred e-Bidding events and processed well over 4,000 purchase orders in just six months of operations," she said. "Clearly, no company can afford to forego savings like those Nextel is realizing."

Falsis is also impressed with the value of being visible on BayanTrade. "We find it reassuring that BayanTrade is composed of the major consortia in the Philippines. We have increased our visibility, and can leverage ourselves in the market in terms of the extensive vendor pool now available to us. That’s something that puts us at a level playing field with everyone else."

BayanTrade’s value-added services are also an attractive component of the e-marketplace’s value proposition, according to Falsis. "BayanTrade was quick to look after our interests. They thoroughly assessed our vendors and then gave us helpful advice about them. This provided the assurance that we would be dealing with capable, serious suppliers and gave us the confidence that we were in the right hands. And that we should do more business with BayanTrade."