Contracts Offer a Faster, Easier Way to Procure Equipment
For public agencies, the bid process can be long and time-consuming. Balancing strict procurement procedures with the bid responses of several suppliers can make it difficult to know which company is offering the best value. In addition, a lengthy procurement cycle often results in lost productivity during the time it takes to replace aging, less reliable equipment.
The good news is that in many cases, it’s possible to “piggyback” on existing state or cooperative contracts to purchase equipment. This is a great way to make the buying process faster and easier while taking advantage of competitive pricing. Here are some of the reasons why you may want to consider leveraging an existing state or cooperative contract:
- Save time and resources.
You gain efficiencies by not having to go through a formal bid process on your own. Prospective suppliers must complete a competitive application and selection process before the contract is awarded, so the work has already been done for you. - Increase your purchasing power.
Through Toro’s existing contracts, municipalities, educational institutions and non-profit organizations across North America can take advantage of competitive pricing on a wide range of Toro® and BOSS® products. Precompeted contracts also give you the opportunity to purchase from quality brands like Toro, so you get the equipment and support you want. - Keep your cost of ownership down by standardizing your fleet.
Filling your inventory with the same brands and types of products can help you reduce your parts inventory, gain service efficiencies, increase operator safety and reduce training time and costs. State, local and cooperative contracts can help you achieve that goal sooner by reducing the time it takes to procure new and replacement products. - Simplify procurement and budgeting.
Contracts help simplify the equipment selection process as well as ongoing budgeting. By “piggybacking” on existing contracts, you won’t have to start from scratch in each procurement situation. You can spend more time on high-impact initiatives rather than reviewing the same equipment bids over and over. In addition, procurement time is shortened, so you are better equipped to plan your equipment replacement schedule to ensure availability and minimize downtime.
Getting Started
Once you choose the equipment that meets your specs and delivers the best value, research to see if there is an existing state contract or cooperative contract that could be utilized to fulfill your purchasing requirements. There may already be a contract in place that has been competitively bid for the products or services you are seeking.
An excellent place to start your search is at our website: torogov.com. You’ll find more information about Toro’s federal GSA contracts, as well as national, state, local and cooperative contracts with organizations such as Sourcewell (formerly NJPA) and National IPA.
