As announced in July 2010, the City and County of Swansea (South West Wales) became the latest public sector organisation to implement the Welsh Assembly Government's eTrading service named 'xchangewales' and take advantage of the benefits and efficiencies of electronic procurement.

xchangewales eTrading is an online service that allows public sector buyers to view and order goods and services through a wide range of electronic catalogues, and be able to transact electronically with their suppliers, including sending purchase orders and receiving invoices.

Developed by a private sector partner, eTrading is at the heart of the Welsh Assembly Government's xchangewales programme. This pioneering programme delivers a portfolio of electronic procurement solutions across the Welsh Public Sector allowing them to source, tender, evaluate, order and pay for goods and services at a click of a button. The secure electronic tools and web-based services help to improve efficiency, increase productivity and lower the cost of doing business - reflecting the aims of the new Efficiency and Innovation Programme and Board which has identified xchangewales eProcurement as a priority area for adoption by Local Authorities in Wales.

Simon Griffiths, the Strategic Procurement Manager at the City and Council of Swansea noted: "We very much look forward to realising the benefits of xchangewales eTrading. We anticipate that management information will give us greater visibility and control of spend and our staff will be able to save time through more efficient processes. We are particularly interested in achieving real savings through the use of national collaborative framework contracts."

Likewise, the Chief Executive of Swansea, Paul Smith stated: "Here at the City and County for Swansea, we are committed to achieving best value for money when purchasing goods and services and this means finding new and innovative ways of working. We firmly believe that using xchangewales eTrading will help us to realise this whilst helping us improve efficiency and reduce our administrative and paper costs."

eTrading is being implemented across the Council in a phased approach: the Information Technology department are the first to use the marketplace. Of significant benefit to the Council will be the access to collaborative regional and national framework agreements. These frameworks will not only help reduce the time and effort spent in sourcing and procuring goods and services, but also achieve best value for money. Existing suppliers to the Council from all sectors are also actively trading online.

The Procurement team at Swansea will be making good use of the system's ability to provide detailed financial management information. Being able to identify spend patterns will enable them to achieve further economies of spend. A key benefit of the xchangewales eTrading system is that all savings can be directed back into the Council's budget. 

The implementation of eInvoicing will further increase savings in administration and paper costs. Suppliers will be encouraged to make full use of this facility - electronic purchase orders can be easily transferred into electronic invoices, reducing the possibility of mismatches caused by manual input.

The City and County of Swansea is the latest local authority to implement eTrading: Cardiff, Bridgend, Caerphilly and Gwynedd have all been using and reaping the benefits of eProcurement through the xchangewales online tools and services.

Note: Crown copyright material reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO.

Further information:

• Official Press Release - The Welsh Assembly Government's 'xchangewales' programme
• About eTrading
• Efficiency and Innovation Programme and Board