The MOD saves £750K on Mosquito Nets
Category: Mosquito Nets
Savings: £750,000
The Ministry of Defence buys thousands of mosquito nets every year. An eAuction enabled the MOD to cut the price it pays for mosquito nets in half. Mosquito nets are an essential piece of equipment to protect soldiers on missions in tropical countries against malaria and other insect-borne diseases. A three year contract for the supply of 45,000 mosquito nets came up for renewal, an eAuction was selected as the best tender process. Eight pan-European suppliers were invited to tender, after product testing three proved able to meet MOD specifications.
Backbround
The MOD had previously used the traditional sealed bid system to tender for anything from tins of soup to tank engine parts. However they were seeking a more innovative approach that would ensure they secure the best possible value for money. The MOD was one of the first public sector organisations to use eAuctions when they set up a specialist team to run them in 2002. At the time of this eAuction they had run over 35 events representing more than £70 million of goods in total and saving an average of 20 per cent on historic prices.
Guy Hargreaves said there was an initial suspicion about using eAuctions at the MOD, but this soon started disappearing as people began to see the benefits. “eAuctions were very new in the public sector and we were one of the first to use them. People weren’t sure they would be legal under the EU procurement legislation and eAuctions had suffered some negative publicity in the private sector. “But resistance has gradually faded as more and more eAuctions have been successfully run. People realised that there were clear benefi ts to be had and that their doubts were unfounded.”
The Results
The price of the mosquito nets fell as a total of 237 bids were made throughout the eAuction event. The final successful bid - to supply the mosquito nets for circa. £750,000, compared with the previous deal for £1.5 million, created a saving of about 50 per cent. Guy Hargreaves, Auctions Manager at the MOD Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO), said “This was a fantastic result. “We made a tremendous saving and we’re encouraging the further use of eAuctions throughout the organisation because they are practical and much more effective than the old way of doing things.”
The mosquito nets event was the latest of hundreds TradingPartners has run for a wide range of organisations in the public and private sectors.
TradingPartners’ General Manager, Gary Robinson, said it was a good example of how a lot of money can be saved in public sector procurement by taking advantage of eAuctions. “This was a very successful outcome with an excellent saving for the MoD and ultimately the UK taxpayers”, he says. “It showed how simple and effective eAuctions can be. “Buyers can be confi dent they are buying top quality goods at the best possible market price. Suppliers know they are taking part in a totally transparent process which gives them the chance to put their best offer on the table.”