Keep it Clean: Hospital Uses Reverse Auction for Linen and Laundry Service Contract

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Keep it Clean: Hospital Uses Reverse Auction for Linen and Laundry Service Contract

A large hospital system engaged eBridge to help establish a three year contract for laundry and linen services.   eBridge worked with their procurement team to first identify purchases over the next year that would be appropriate for the reverse auction process.  Next, eBridge’s team helped the group develop a set of specifications for the bid.

“It had been several years since the hospital had opened this item up for competitive bidding so they didn’t have a set of specifications that appropriately appealed to a wide group of suppliers,” said Rebecca Flaherty, Senior Procurement Manager at eBridge.  “My team collected the requirements as directed by the hospitals’ team and then helped write specifications that were both thorough and clearly defined, positioning the bid to be highly competitive and fair.”

A total of eight suppliers were approved by the hospital’s team and included in the bid opportunity.  eBridge’s strategic sourcing efforts brought 6 new suppliers to the table for this event.

The suppliers placed 140 bids with first place changing hands 11 times.  At the conclusion of the bid, the hospital had saved 28% versus budget, with the three lowest bidders within a close margin.