The City of Kamloops' Planning and Procurement Division has implemented a new digital platform that is designed to streamline the purchasing and procurement process by centralizing procurement on a secure online platform.

Bonfire the name of the company and the e-platform specializes in cloud-based strategic sourcing solutions for municipalities and the public sector. The City of Kamloops follows Vernon, Kelowna, and the BC Lottery Corporation in partnering with Bonfire.

"The move to Bonfire allows us to get in line with current best practices in procurement. We can now eliminate manual processes and reduce physical paper submissions," said Dave Hallinan, the City's Planning and Procurement Manager.

"The City spends upwards of $30 million annually on goods and services. We value our suppliers and we are committed to high-quality vendor management. The shift to a digital platform means City staff can view, track, and score supplier submissions in one central dashboard in a more timely and cost-effective manner," Hallinan added.

The centralized digital technology also enhances the reporting and auditing function, which increases the transparency of the entire bidding process for the public and Council alike.

"I look forward to being able to showcase the transparency of our purchasing process to all stakeholders and suppliers. As for Council, adding this technology supports enhanced external relationships and fiscal responsibility, which aligns with Council's strategic priority of strong governance and accountability," Hallinan explained.

Suppliers bidding on City contracts will now be required to register for a Bonfire account. Once they are in the system, users can view past awarded bids (from the implementation date onward) and current open bids, including project details and timelines.

All bidding opportunities for City of Kamloops projects will continue to be posted on BC Bid . As the procurement team works to fully implement the system, some solicitations will still follow the current paper submission process. The submission format required will be outlined on procurement documents.

Supplier registration is now open at Kamloops.BonfireHub.ca .