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Orbis Online Helps Air Force Save Nearly $1 Million

Orbis Online, a leading e-procurement solutions provider, announced Wednesday that it successfully completed the first real-time reverse auction for its client, Randolph Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC), which resulted in savings of nearly $1 million dollars. The auction, which took place on Friday, January 19th of 2001, utilized Orbis Online's proprietary Web procurement technology and enabled the Air Force to purchase 833 state-of-the-art (933MHz) computers.

Orbis Online, Inc. describes the Randolph auction as "reverse online auctioning," a procedure in which a buyer posts a Request for Quote (RFQ) on the Orbis Online website (www.orbisonline.com). Plans were to conduct the sale online in a compressed time of approximately thirty minutes. (Any auction can be extended, however, should a bid be submitted within five minutes of the close of the auction, in which case it can be extended for an additional five minutes.)

During the auction, the AFPC could view all the bidders and their bids in real-time. The suppliers who were participating, however, could only tell how many other bidders were present for the auction and their corresponding bids. Specific identities of competing firms are only disclosed if the buyer so chooses.

In the case of the AFPC, extremely competitive potential suppliers kept the auction open for 3 ½ hours and ultimately saved $930,000 for Randolph, determined by comparing the final contract price with prices offered on existing General Services Administration Schedules (GSA). GSA's quote for the exact same equipment was more than $2.06 million- 45% higher than the actual contract awarded.

"The potential for this tool in the government arena is enormous," said James Strader, chief executive officer of Orbis Online. "What this means to the average taxpayer is that the military is able to stretch its already under-funded budgets and acquire the tools needed to operate efficiently."
Bobby Allen, chief, Program Management Division, AFPC, added, "The return that we received using this online procurement platform is amazing considering the ease and speed in which the system works."

About Orbis Online
Orbis Online is a San Antonio-based technology company and owns three web properties through which it provides its unique, proprietary software solutions to the public and private marketplaces. Orbis Online is a privately held corporation and has a rapidly growing community of registered users, businesses, government agencies and affiliates who enjoy the benefits of its many patent-pending online procurement and asset disposition initiatives.