EqualLevel - Best Administrative Solution
Company: EqualLevel, Rockville, MD
Company Description: EqualLevel was founded with the goal of creating a straightforward procurement solution that helps public sector organizations streamline operations and optimize spending.
Nomination Category: Product & Service Categories - Education & Education Technology Solutions
Nomination Sub Category: Administrative Solution
Nomination Title: ELSA – EqualLevel Savings Advisor Delivers Artificial Intelligence-Powered Comparison Shopping for eProcurement
If this is a brand-new product, state the date on which it was released. If this is a new version of an existing product, state the date on which the update was released: May 1, 2020
With increased transparency, efficiency, and value for money, EqualLevel provides a single site to access all approved contracts that offers a consistent shopping experience across punchout storefronts. The EqualLevel Savings Advisor (ELSA)technology uses artificial intelligence to optimize the items in the shopping cart, whether added from search or from punchout stores, to offer the best savings. The ELSA technology is constantly learning and improving to make better recommendations. https://equallevel.com/elsa/
Features include:
-Combinesadvancedmachine learning and real-time search to deliver bottom-line savings.
-Calculates the optimal cart by identifying the lowest priced alternatives and considering additional factors such as shipping fees.
-Identifies alternatives that areexact matches from different suppliers as well as substitute items from different brands.
-Provides the ability tocomparisonshop PunchOut items. Even when items in the cart are brought back from a PunchOut supplier, the ELSA Cart Optimization can identify alternatives.
-Includes availablequote responses when purchasing from a quote to identify the lowest price.
-Productcomparison allows the shopper to view information for each alternative item side by side and choose their replacement.
-A justification or notes may be entered when choosing not to purchase the optimal item suggested by ELSA
-Generates a “3 bids and a buy” report by including for each item, the shopper's purchase, two alternatives that were shown to the shopper, and the justification entered by the shopper for their selection.
-Provides detailed reporting on savings achieved, as well as savings missed
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is the third-largest school district in the United States. Last year, CPS faced significant financial shortages and announced the possibility of major budget cuts in August 2020. To solve this challenge, they contracted with EqualLevel to utilize their e-Procurement Marketplace, a straightforward procurement solution that helps public sector organizations streamline operations and optimize spending. CPS also utilized EqualLevel's artificial intelligence-powered technology to unearth massive savings opportunities. EqualLevel’s ELSA software allowed CPS to leverage the power of advanced data analytics and AI to achieve greater visibility into spending, identifying critical areas where savings could be captured as employees shop.
With EqualLevel’s ELSA software in place, CPS achieved a staggering $250,000 in savings in just 180 days. These funds were redirected toward the purchase of vital resources needed to ensure students and staff are supported. With the AI-powered ELSA, CPS procurement has taken a major step towards ensuring that budget dollars for goods and services are spent wisely.