10 insights to optimize the fleet procurement bidding process

procurement bidding process

Whether you’re a brand-new procurement specialist or a seasoned industry veteran, you know how time consuming fleet procurement bidding can be, especially considering how long it takes to write the RFP, evaluate suppliers, and communicate with stakeholders.

Fortunately, you can still optimize the traditional fleet procurement bidding process to meet your needs. With cooperative contracts, you can fulfill the process in advance and simply select the contract that makes the most sense for you.

An overview of the traditional fleet procurement bidding process

The conventional fleet procurement bidding process has remained unchanged for decades, leading to inefficiencies and poorly optimized timelines. The wait for traditional bidding rarely falls below six months. In fact, the average time is nine to thirty-six months, or roughly 180 to 720 days, just to acquire a new piece of equipment.

The traditional fleet procurement bidding process can be improved with better, more efficient solutions. You can eliminate many inherent inefficiencies just by upgrading your procedures, starting with the following optimizations.

Ten easy ways to optimize your fleet procurement bidding process

Armed with the right tools and tricks, you can optimize your fleet procurement bidding processes virtually right away.

1. Build better lines of communication

Communication can make or break the efficiency of your procurement process. By defining communication channels or digitizing outreach tools, you can reach essential stakeholders more effectively and make decisions as a group. You can also implement modernized solutions with tools like Slack, Google Chat, or Microsoft Teams.

2. Turn to procurement software

Organizations can streamline a significant portion of their bidding process with help from specialized procurement software. The best ones can help automate routine tasks and preserve time to focus on human-centric jobs (such as evaluating bids). Be sure to ask targeted questions while evaluating potential providers.

3. Budget enough time for the job

In public procurement, to under-promise and over-deliver is to succeed. Make sure you budget enough time for stakeholders to evaluate your bids, and give your evaluators a set amount of time to assign scores (if applicable). A timeline of several weeks may be enough, though large organizations may want to budget for several months.

4. Make a shortlist of suppliers

Create a set of criteria to shortlist suppliers quickly and efficiently. If you have multiple evaluators handling RFPs, give them a standardized rubric with cohesive language. This will reduce unnecessary emails and lengthy procurement meetings and save an abundance of time while still properly scoring the best possible supplier.

5. Set your budget in advance

Know exactly how much you can pay for specific goods before requesting any bids. This way, you can quickly sort through less-optimal suppliers and make an informed decision for your organization.

6. Establish a legally binding paper trail

To ensure the legitimacy of your procurement process, create a paper trail to prove that you have conducted all activities ethically and in accordance with regulations. Switching more of your reporting processes to digital platforms (including email and e-procurement) may be helpful at this stage.

7. Look ahead to the future

It's impossible to predict the future perfectly, but it is possible to plan ahead. You can account for unexpected changes or objectives by adding wiggle room to your fleet procurement process. This may require you to allow extra time, budget more money, or create redundancies that protect against inefficiencies.

8. Double-check compliance regulations

Compliance is key to a properly functioning procurement bidding process. As such, it's critical to double-check your requirements to ensure that no oversights affect your organization. Keep in mind that if you use cooperative contracts in place of RFPs, you won't have to spend as much time worrying about this step.

9. Hire an RFP expert

If you can afford it, consider hiring an RFP process pro to help optimize your writing, editing, and submission process. An expert could also provide valuable insights into how to speed up your RFP bidding window. That said, this is not needed if you choose to leverage cooperative contracts.

10. Use cooperative contracts

Cooperative contracts combine the buying power of multiple organizations into a single purchasing agreement. The goal is to create timely, efficient, and cost-effective contracts sourced from national suppliers.

There are several reasons that cooperative contracts have taken the place of traditional RFPs:

  • Agencies assess high-quality bids from increased competition, leading to better procurement.
  • Since the bidding process is performed in advance, your organization can lower admin costs.
  • Any labor shortages faced by your organization can be mitigated by a faster process.
  • Cooperative contracts accommodate low-volume pricing and save your organization money.

Best of all, organizations within the United States can browse cooperative contracts for free with Sourcewell.

Fulfill the traditional fleet procurement bidding process with cooperative contracts

Cooperative contracts are powerful solutions for public organizations, as they combat rising costs, slower timelines, and inefficient RFP processes. Sourcewell provides access to hundreds of cooperative contracts from all over the US, many of which are catered just to public fleet procurement professionals.

If you are interested in getting started, you’ll need to answer three questions. Are you:

If you answer yes to these questions, you will soon have fast access to cooperative contracts with zero obligation.

Here at Sourcewell, we help public agency buyers procure fleet vehicles faster by fulfilling the time-consuming bid process for them. Through cooperative contracts, we expedite the fleet vehicle procurement process so you can better serve your teams.

Want a faster procurement process? Contact one of our specialists today to buy the fleet solutions you need!