A group of Ontario’s local construction associations have taken a step forward by adopting a new, advanced electronic plansroom platform.
These associations have adopted the Bestbidz platform, powered by B.C. company Infinite Source — a state-of-the-art software, that acts as a one-stop procurement solution.
“It takes the procurement, business transaction and makes it completely electronic,” said London District Construction Association (LDCA) executive director Dave Baxter.
“The immediate benefit is to provide us with a state-of-the-art public plansroom so we can serve our EPR members better than where we were with the old software.”
The platform includes features such as e-Tendering, e-Bidding, e-Bonding, a goods and services construction procurement portal called SCAN 247, and On Demand which provides invitation-only construction opportunities.
The LCA’s are being exposed to its tools for the first time after using, what they acknowledge, have been outdated softwares.
“Their software will allow us to take that technological leapfrog over the existing providers of services in the marketplace today,” Baxter added.
“It’s advanced technology in terms of the speed and application — the fact that you can do queries that really define your searching so you don’t have to read through absolutely everything to find what you want,” said Grand Valley Construction Association (GVCA) president Martha George.
The LDCA, GVCA and the Barrie Construction Association are currently the only Ontario associations that have adopted the platform and expect the other nine associations to follow suit by the end of the year.
Members access the system by logging in through a dashboard and can view a range of projects and specify or personalize searches to their preferences.
“If you say you’re a masonry contractor and you do glass block you might want to search for something that has grout fill,” said George.
It also allows the user to customize a specific timeframe for when to receive notifications of search results which helps create a better workflow.
The bid calendar displays the closing dates of projects so the user can plan around that information.
The On Demand feature gives buyers, contractors and sub-contractors the chance to post their bidding opportunities and invite other bidders.
“As not for profit organizations, we are here to bridge the gap between buyers and bidders,” said Barrie Construction Association executive director Alison Smith, in a press statement.
“Among the Ontario associations, we have thousands of members who are qualified bidders that buyers of construction services can assess.”
The associations had been shopping around since last summer for a new platform and concluded that Infinite Source would be the best provider because of their industry background.
“We felt that the creators of this system had a little more affinity with the actual industry we were in,” said Baxter.
“The Infinite Source product comes from people who have come out of the construction industry as opposed to people who’ve come out of the printing industry.”
George and the GVCA had used Infinite Source in the past, and though it was a “Cadillac system”, the costs to operate were too high.
The price has become much more affordable for the associations and George describes it like “going back to the Mercedes”.
Though the new platform provides a list of new and advanced tools, Baxter says it will take some time for members to fully get familiar with the new system.
The transition period has been challenging at times, says Baxter.
“There always are challenges when you convert from a 10-year-old system to a state-of-the–art system,” he said.
“A big problem…is communicating with your members about what it is you’re intending to do. We sent out emails, we put notices in our newsletter, we talked to people and still, a large percentage of our users were unprepared for the switch.”
He said some members had difficulty logging into the system because it was a bit different from what they were used to. The transition has brought the three associations together to work closely during the initial conversions.
“The technical staff from all three associations and Infinite Source really worked tirelessly to get the problem solved before we went into the conversion,” he said.
There are still nine other associations set to adopt BestBidz before the end of the year.
Recent Comments
comments for this post are closed