The Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA), a leading provider of water and wastewater services in the United States, supplies water to 40 percent of the state of Michigan’s population, as well as wastewater services to nearly 30 percent of Michigan’s population. With such a large scope, it was becoming increasingly difficult to manage paper-based workflows.
The time-consuming and error-prone nature of these workflows caused a lot of frustration for both internal stakeholders and suppliers. Implementing Euna Procurement led to faster evaluation times, improved stakeholder engagement, and the ability to engage more small-business suppliers.
Challenges: Lengthy Evaluations, Lack of Stakeholder Visibility, and Strained Supplier Relationships
With 21 GLWA buyers who oversee purchases that include numerous internal stakeholders and evaluators per project, and a supplier pool of more
than 2,400 suppliers, complex paper-based practices were no longer sustainable. Internal stakeholders were frustrated because evaluation times were long and contract statuses felt like a black box. GLWA was also concerned that these project delays and lack of visibility would jeopardize supplier relationships, which are critical to project success.
“We had a lot of missed opportunities for improving evaluation timelines and managing contracts. GLWA quickly realized these could be addressed with software.”
-Sonya Collins, Procurement Director at GLWA
“Previously we completed all of our procurements via paper, which was painstakingly difficult,” explained Collins. “We had a lot of missed opportunities for improving evaluation timelines and managing contracts, and we quickly realized these could be addressed with software.”
Solution: Executing Existing Processes in a Way Buyers and Suppliers Love
GLWA had strong foundational processes in place but needed a way to execute efficiently. “I really didn’t want to see a software purchase that would turn all of our processes upside down,” said Joan Byrne, Management Professional, Financial Services at GLWA.
GLWA required an eSourcing solution that would:
- Reduce evaluation timelines
- Increase stakeholder engagement and effectiveness
- Improve supplier communications and relationships
Euna Procurement was able to digitize GLWA’s existing workflow, from solicitation to award, and then through contract management and supplier performance.
GLWA understood that a more efficient and stakeholder-friendly process would result in more satisfied customers and partners. “It’s not just GLWA—it’s GLWA and its customers…Euna Procurement is a tremendous improvement over what it was before,” commented Jeff McKeen, GLWA Member Partner.
Results: Centralization and Ease-of-use Lead to Satisfied Stakeholders and Suppliers
GLWA’s stakeholders and suppliers started using Euna Procurement immediately and without formal training. The smooth implementation for both buyers and suppliers was due to the easy-to-use and intuitive tools, as well as a simplified layout of information within the eSourcing platform.
Stakeholders can now see all the solicitation details in Euna Procurement, allowing evaluators and project managers to see the status of any project. GLWA embraced Euna Procurement tools that helped them more efficiently collect quantitative and qualitative data, run evaluation and scoring online, and manage active spend and supplier databases. Subsequently, GLWA was able to introduce a new level of consistency in their procurement process, without sacrificing their established processes. Evaluation times improved by five to seven days.
With the added transparency and efficiency, Collins explained, “We’re now able to structure our buyers in more strategic positions so they can be more effective in their jobs.”
Implementing Euna Procurement has made GLWA’s suppliers happier, too. Suppliers can submit proposals and keep related materials updated in a more efficient and cost-effective manner. “Euna Procurement is our tool to communicate with our client,” said Dennis Tinkler, Preconstruction Manager at Kokosing Industrial, a GLWA supplier. “Euna Procurement is really straightforward, and really easy to work with.”
GLWA launched a small business initiative, with the goal of reaching out to small suppliers and bringing them into the bid process. By managing competitive events and collaborating with the market through eSourcing, it was easier for GLWA to engage more suppliers, increase their supplier pool, and manage relationships with those suppliers.
If you’re interested in learning how you can reduce evaluation times, improve stakeholder relationships, and grow your supplier pool with eProcurement—contact us today.