New South Wales Government
NSW Department of Commerce

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Frequently Asked Buyer Questions

1. You are here:
2. Home
3. Buyers
4. Frequently Asked Buyer Questions

1. Why has smartbuy® been developed?
2. What solutions does smartbuy® offer?
3. What benefits does smartbuy® offer Government organisations (buyers)?
4. What benefits does smartbuy® offer suppliers?
5. What is Integration?
6. Are there any costs associated with smartbuy®?
7. What are the hardware and software requirements?

Why has smartbuy® been developed?

The Smarter Buying for Government Strategy (2000) was designed to provide the framework for the NSW Government Procurement Council to drive procurement reform and to realise procurement savings through:

• Enhancing Procurement Capability and Practice
• Procurement Discipline
• Achieving Excellence in Procurement
• Advancing the take-up of e-Procurement
• Improving Purchasing Advantage

This combination of procurement reforms was designed to potentially generate annual savings.

smartbuy® plays a key role in assisting with achieving the overall saving by providing a complete electronic procurement and communication tool with which to purchase through, assisting with the framework development from the Smarter Buying for Government Strategy (2000) by offering an electronic procurement package which:

• Advances the take-up of e-Procurement,
• Improves Purchasing Advantage for Government

providing Government agencies take a proactive role in reforming their current procurement practices.

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What solutions does smartbuy® offer?

smartbuy® is a fully functional electronic purchasing system that enables Government organisations a range of solutions for their electronic procurement initiatives.

Choose from smartbuy® TRADE to browse, search and purchase products and services and issue electronic orders to suppliers. Using 'shopping cart' formats with internal workflow software to allow organisations to customise their processes and systems.

Or chose smartbuy® CONNECT and purchase electronically through your existing ERP or FMIS, receiving order acknowledges and invoices back to your system.

Explore the potential of smartbuy® REPORT providing highly developed reporting tools that deliver valuable operational information.

Whatever your electronic procurement requirement, smartbuy® can deliver the electronic procurement solution and option that complements your own organisations procurement initiative.

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What benefits does smartbuy® offer Government organisations (buyers)?

• Buyers have the advantage of accessing a complete online electronic purchasing system, or purchasing electronically through their own system.
• smartbuy® solutions deliver buyers an easier and more effective way of searching, ordering and comparing goods and services to purchase electronically.
• smartbuy® solutions provides the tools to improve organisations internal purchasing processes reducing the cost of purchasing activities and achieving greater efficiencies.
• Delivering assistance to organisations, providing a better understanding of how, why and what they purchase, to manage procurement strategically and develop closer relationships with their suppliers gaining better value.
• Ability for Government organisations to leverage off an existing developed electronic procurement infrastructure, managed and maintained by the NSW Government.

For more benefits, check out the smartbuy® Suite of Solutions and the delivered benefits to organisation on each option.

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What benefits does smartbuy® offer suppliers?

• Delivers suppliers the advantage of a single entry point to all Government procurement.
• Provides low to zero cost entry to suppliers to the Government marketplace.
• Suppliers are able to provide comprehensive information about their products, targeted to a specific market audience.
• smartbuy® delivers tools to enable suppliers to streamline their administration and internal ordering processes and procedures leading to increased efficiencies.
• smartbuy® delivers the opportunity for both metropolitan and regional suppliers to engage the Government marketplace, providing equity between metropolitan and regional businesses.
• Provides the ability to update processes to an electronic delivery system.
• Delivers information accuracy of orders, straight into order system reducing errors and incorrect orders.
• Reduce administrative costs, leading to reduced cost of sale and lower cost per order processing.
• Facilitate standardisation of sales processes across multiple channels.
• Improve time to fulfil order.
• Improve customer service and satisfaction.

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What is Integration?

Integration refers to the electronic connection developed between smartbuy® and your organisations ERP or FMIS systems, and the electronic exchange of procurement documents between your organisation via your ERP or FMIS and your tailored range of suppliers.

smartbuy® offers Government organisations several solutions under smartbuy® CONNECT delivering integration between a buyer and their tailored range of supplier. Ranging from basic e-Fax connections to smartbuy® TRADE Integration with flatfile transfer to Direct ERP Integration for XML connection and virtual real time document transfer. Costs vary for each of these types of integration and the number of document types transferred between organisations and suppliers.

The applicable type of connection is determined by each organisation with the assistance of smartbuy® Client Services, to tailor the connection to the individual organisations electronic procurement requirements.

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Are there any costs associated with smartbuy®?

There is a range of solutions on offer from smartbuy® which vary in cost, according to the complexity of the electronic procurement integration set up an organisation is after. Base electronic procurement options are available to Government organisation free of charge, to support organisations in the uptake of their electronic procurement initiatives.

For further information contact the smartbuy® Client Services Team:
eBusiness Solutions Support Centre: 1800 003 985
Email: eBS_SupportDesk@commerce.nsw.gov.au

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What are the hardware and software requirements?

The minimum recommended PC configuration for a smartbuy® end users are:

• Pentium PC running Windows 95 or later;
• Web browser such as Internet Explorer 5.5;
• The browser must be capable of running SSL3.0 at 128bit encryption.
• smartbuy® TRADE is not recommended as being compatible with MAC computers.

Have a question of your own? You can submit it to the smartbuy® Client Services Team using the Online Feedback / Enquiry form.

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For further information contact:

eBusiness Solutions Support Centre: 1800 003 985
Email: eBS_SupportDesk@commerce.nsw.gov.au
Online form: Feedback / Enquiry form