Value-Based Procurement – Steps In The Right Direction

By Tom McCurdy

WWEMA has long advocated for changing the mindset of equipment procurement from low-bid to lowest life-cycle cost evaluation, as a means to encourage the growth of new technologies and to improve operating costs. This is a very daunting task. As a manufacturer, Aerzen faces the same challenge. We encourage the consulting engineers to compare manufacturers based on energy savings. Unfortunately, once the project is issued to contractors, much of that impact is lost, since the contractor has no incentive to accept anything other than the lowest bid to meet the specifications.