Public agencies should look into online procurement services and cooperative purchasing when buying fleet products for their agencies, a procurement consultant told attendees of the Municipal Equipment Maintenance Association’s (MEMA) Fleet & Procurement Services Forum on Sept. 18.

Tammy Rimes, who owns her own consulting firm, purchased more than $1 billion worth of products during her government career. Rimes was the keynote speaker at the forum, where she discussed trends in public procurement and ways procurement agencies can cut costs and improve their purchasing methods.

Following the keynote was a panel discussion about the bid process with a public procurement specialist, a vendor representative, and an e-procurement provider. Panel and audience members discussed RFPs versus RFQs, reverse auctions, breaking up purchases to lower costs, and what to include in an RFP.

MEMA’s first procurement forum took place at Cerritos College in Cerritos, Calif. About 75 fleet professionals were present, representing 23 different public agencies and various service providers.