Nextenders’ customer the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board (PPADB) in Botswana recently announced a major revision to their contractor registration system. To be rolled-out between March and August this year, the change is a major change that demonstrates the power and flexibility of the NexProcure system.

More efficient bidder registration

PPADB have been working with Nextenders since 2012 to increase the efficiency of their eProcurement and increase participation by bidders. Having implemented their Integrated Procurement Management System (IPMS) on NexProcure, the bidder registration process was designed, reviewed and implemented.

Updating classification codes

PPADB is now turning its attention to the vendor classification codes and bidder registration. It found that the existing codes it was using were outdated and did not encompass the full range of services that bidders wished to offer. A consultation was launched with the bidder community and an improved version of the codes was approved for use in eProcurement.

Seamless migration

In order to support the change, Nextenders delivered a code migration tool to deal with the challenge of migrated already-registered bidders. As well as moving them from old codes to new codes, it was necessary to give them the option to add new codes to their registration and cope with a range of scenarios on a live system – registrations in different states of completion or awaiting payment, for example.

Flexible eProcurement technology

The system was also required to support a transition period where both the old and new classifications were usable so that bidders who hadn’t yet made the transition would not be disadvantaged. Nextenders and NexProcure were able to support the change and migration because of its data-centric architecture. It also means that the code migration tool can be used in the future should the classifications need to be adapted or augmented again.

Adapting to meet new challenges

The transition to new codes is being supported by PPADB with workshops across the country and the opening of a new office. The six-month transition period will allow bidders to participate in tendering at the same time as transitioning to the new codes and regenerating their certificates.