In the April issue of Water World, this column provided an overview of a new E-Commerce site to be called EfficientUtilities.com. Since then, Provider Advisory and Utility Advisory Boards have been formed by AWWA and have met to review and provide input on site development.
The Provider Advisory Board (PAB) was charged with addressing the concerns of AWWA Associate members. Many Associate members have raised concerns regarding the disruption to traditional sales channels. If the site were set up as a reverse auction site or aggregation site, distributors and representatives felt that the potential existed for them to be cut out of the supply chain.
AWWA and EfficientUtilities have committed to establishing and maintaining a site that will not allow for aggregation or reverse auctions. A sub-committee was established to study this issue and make recommendations to the advisory board. Upon completion of its work, the committee recommended that when utilities sign up for the site, they provide EfficientUtilities.com with a list of their current, approved vendors. EfficientUtilities will then work with those vendors to make sure they are included on the site. When the utility enters the site, their own list of vendors will appear. The utility will of course have the opportunity to add additional vendors to their site as they chose. When issuing a request for quotation, the utility's primary vendor list will be the one they have entered and maintained.
Another issue addressed by the board is supplier rate structures for AWWA members vs. non-members. The board reviewed the issue and has recommended that non-members pay a higher fee. This follows a precedent set long ago that set higher fees for non-members when exhibiting at shows and purchasing AWWA publications.
AWWA has been encouraged by its 50,000+ utility members to move forward with the site and has made the decision to do so. The EfficientUtilities PAB and the AWWA Manufacturers/ Associates Council (MAC) provide opportunities to have input into the development of the site and we, as suppliers need to make sure that our concerns are addressed. No other site developed for our industry is likely to give us the opportunity that AWWA and EfficientUtilities have provided. Input and comments are encouraged as the work of the PAB continues.
