WALNUT CREEK, CA December 11, 2000 The Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) has announced that it is awarding a five-year, $13.8 million contract to e-sourcing solution provider eBreviate to provide Web-based auctions to the U.S. Navy.
NAVSUP made the announcement on Dec. 4, and eBreviate confirmed the award in an announcement of its own today. In its statement regarding the award, NAVSUP noted that it was awarding a smaller contract, valued at $2.25 million, to Atlanta, Ga.-based Procuri.com to allow Navy customers to conduct auctions from their desktops.
Primary users of the eBreviate auctions will be Navy customers served by NAVSUP, although other federal agencies and divisions of the Department of Defense may take advantage of the contract as well. The contract calls for eBreviate to supply software, technology and Web hosting, as well as the services of its e-sourcing managers, to conduct more than a dozen reverse and forward auctions per month.
NAVSUP expects the use of this reverse auctioning tool will result in 10 percent to 20 percent procurement savings on average, as well as reduced procurement lead times and improvements over its traditional supplier identification techniques.
"This [award] is extraordinarily validating of eBreviate and our business model," said Sarah Pfaff, executive vice president of sales, marketing and strategy at eBreviate. Pfaff said that eBreviate has geared its offerings to be stand-alone solutions suitable for large, annual licensing contracts and to be delivered in an ASP model, whereby eBreviate hosts the software for the customer.
eBreviate had competed for the NAVSUP contract against other providers of online auctions services in what Pfaff described as an "extremely competitive selection process."
eBreviate currently provides auction services to 53 corporate and Net marketplace customers and has run auction events for goods and services totaling about $3.3 billion to date. The NAVSUP contract is the largest for eBreviate to date and the first for a government agency, according to Pfaff.
NAVSUP's primary mission is to provide U.S. naval forces with supplies and services. With headquarters in Mechanicsburg, Pa., and employing a worldwide work force of more than 9,000 military and civilian personnel, NAVSUP oversees logistics programs in the areas of supply operations, conventional ordnance, contracting, resale, fuel, transportation and security assistance. In addition, NAVSUP is responsible for quality of life issues for U.S. naval forces, including food service, postal services, Navy Exchanges and movement of household goods.
The NAVSUP announcement closely follows news of the Navy awarding in October a $6.9 billion contract to eBreviate's parent company, EDS, to streamline and improve information technology services for the Navy and Marine Corps.
NAVSUP is currently holding kick-off meetings with eBreviate, but neither the Navy nor eBreviate announced a timetable for holding the first auction.
