Reverse Auctions Programs

CKS is one of the European leaders in the organisation and administration of electronic auctions.

Our CKS Auctions Business Unit has been managing the reverse auction programmes of major European industrial groups and large public organisations for fifteen years.

Key figures 2019

700 Auctions organized

50 Customers located in 50 countries

€3 Bn Amount of purchases negotiated on behalf of our customers

CKS has a team entirely dedicated to the conduct of auctions that will accompany you from start to finish:

Support in tender structure and sourcing assistance
Analysis of the relevance of the use of auctions
Upstream advice on appropriate strategy
Setup help
Legal framework of the auction process
Regular communication with the purchasing team
Setting up of an auction platform
Supplier training
Administration of the event on D-Day
Follow-up of post-bidding actions

Scope of the auctions

The scope of reverse auctions is relatively broad. CKS has feedback from several thousands of auctions organized on numerous purchasing families.

This expertise enables the approach to be adapted to the specificities and constraints linked to the nature of the products or services purchased. Our consultants regularly carry out audits of the Purchasing portfolio to identify the Purchasing families most suitable for the reverse auction methodology.

Examples of reverse auction negotiation events organised by CKS:

COMPONENTS SUPPLY

Manufactured components: industrial processing of steel, other metals or plastics, ...
Electronics and electromechanics: bare printed circuits, capacitors, assembled printed circuits, cable harnesses, control panels, ...
Industrial supplies: bearings, screws, nuts, bolts, fasteners, cutting tools, industrial hardware, protective equipment, plastic packaging.…

INVESTMENTS / CAPEX

Facility equipment (assembly lines, robots, industrial printers)
Building work (site construction, fitting-out)

GENERAL FEES

Energy (electricity, natural gas)
Transport (air, sea, road)
Supplies (office furniture and supplies)
IT / IS (telephony, workstations, application maintenance, software distribution and maintenance of production and management IT applications)
Facility Management (guarding of sensitive sites, outsourced catering service, cleaning of premises)

Customer/supplier benefits

Conducted at the end of a phase of analysis and equalization of the offers, the reverse auction process implemented by CKS brings very interesting economic and productivity gains.

The benefits cited by our Clients are of several kinds:

Shortening of negotiation schedules
Significant productivity gains in the negotiation process
Additional rigour in the comparison and technical equalization of offers
Refocusing buyers on their core business by relieving them of the iterative and tedious process of negotiation rounds.
Ability to exploit the opportunities of a market situation at a given moment allowing significant economic gains

Electronic reverse auctions also have advantages for suppliers:

Increased transparency on the negotiation and competitive field, allowing the supplier to improve its knowledge of market prices
Shorter time spent on the various negotiation meetings and substantial savings on travel costs
Ensuring fairness of treatment between suppliers through the involvement of CKS as a trusted third party

The regulatory framework for auctions

The use of reverse auctions is, in some cases, governed by rules of law.

The framework for the use of reverse auctions is set out in a number of international law standards, including the texts of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law and several European Directives (in particular Directive 2014/24/EU and Directive 2014/25/EU).

Several countries have also legislated on reverse auctions, specifying the scope and legal framework within which they are to be conducted. France, for example, has recently incorporated a number of requirements in this area into both the Commercial Code and the Public Procurement Code.

CKS will be pleased to provide you with a legal analysis.

Case studies and testimonials

"CKS is a real partner for our Purchasing Department. The ability of the CKS teams to take charge of all the actions to be carried out is very appreciable. The gains recorded are very convincing and the ROI is particularly interesting: the implementation of the approach has enabled us to make real savings and has contributed to the reliability of our tendering processes."
Purchasing Director - Investments, international industrial group
"CKS's intervention enabled us to quickly launch our reverse auction program. CKS consultants have a combination of expertise in Purchasing, Public Procurement and Reverse Auctions that has enabled us to produce significant and sustainable gains. The service provided by CKS also allows our buyers to focus on their purchasing objectives without wasting time."
Purchasing Director of a major French public organisation

Upon request, we can provide you with case studies and the contact details of our Clients who will be able to testify about our services.

Added value

Our Clients rely on our services at a critical stage of their consultation processes. Our consultants fully adhere to the standards of integrity and anti-corruption required by our Clients.

English is the working language at CKS Auctions. Our consultants are all polyglot and are trained according to our internal standards to be able to support all suppliers in many languages but also those who have difficulties with the platform or IT in general. Languages spoken include French, English, Spanish, Italian, German, Dutch, Arabic, Russian and Chinese.
At least one consultant is fully dedicated to training, which allows him to have all the necessary patience and provides you with the assurance that the suppliers will be fully operational on auction day.
CKS is accustomed to determining the most suitable auction strategy based on the type of good or service, the number of suppliers and the bids of the suppliers. CKS will discuss with you to optimize and set up the best auction according to your objectives.
You will be able to attend the auction as an observer and thus follow the evolution of prices and supplier behaviour live.

Case studies and Publications

FEBRUARY 2023

Training buyers of an automotive manufacturer on reverse auction strategies

In 2022 & 2023, CKS Auctions consultants supported a Swiss Tier-1 autoparts manufacturer deploy best practices about reverse auctions on its new procurement suite. [...]

FEBRUARY 2020

Resourcing of transport flows using e-auctions

A major equipment manufacturer has reaped many benefits from organizing the resourcing of its main transport flows using e-auctions. Discover how. [...]

VIEW MORE CASE STUDIES

For more details and for a more precise diagnosis of your situation and your possibilities