The Town of Oakville, along with the Region of Waterloo, Region of York, and the cities of Brampton, Burlington, Hamilton and London, received the Peter J. Marshall Innovation Award at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s (AMO) annual conference in Ottawa. The award recognized the Transit Inventory Management Services (TIMS) project — an initiative that involved multiple transit agencies consolidating their parts procurement through a single North American supplier.
“Council would like to congratulate everyone involved in this project,” Mayor Rob Burton said. “This award not only recognizes the merits of the initiative in improving efficiencies, it also acknowledges the commitment of staff to think outside the box — wanting to create processes that benefit municipalities across boundaries.”
Kim Dooling, manager, Purchasing and Risk Management at the Town of Oakville, and Charles Whitlock, director, Procurement and Supply Services at the Region of Waterloo and Chair of the TIMS project, accepted the award on behalf of all the municipalities.
“It is a great honour to receive this prestigious award on behalf of the participating municipalities,” said Mr. Whitlock. “This project is a result of supply chain specialists and senior transit staff working together for two years to create a process that works.”
This Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) model reduces administration costs, uses economies of scale to save participating municipalities money, increases efficiency, and reduces the supply chain’s carbon footprint. This new model allows for a more stable and streamlined supply chain, where fluctuations in inventory space and financing are absorbed by the supplier rather than the transit system.
The Peter J. Marshall Innovation Award recognizes municipal governments that have demonstrated excellence in the use of innovative approaches to improve capital and/or operating efficiency, and to generate effectiveness through alternative service delivery initiatives and partnerships.
About the winners
The City of Brampton’s transit system (Brampton Transit) has a fleet of 299 buses with two garages providing over 16 million passenger trips per year.
The City of Burlington’s transit system (Burlington Transit) has a fleet of 52 buses with one garage providing over 1.9 million passenger trips per year.
The City of Hamilton’s transit system (Hamilton Street Railway) has a fleet of 217 buses with one garage providing over 21.2 million passenger trips per year.
The City of London’s Transit Commission (London Transit Commission) has a fleet of 191 buses with two garages providing 22.4 million passenger trips per year.
The Region of Waterloo’s transit system (Grand River Transit) has a fleet of 218 buses with two garages, providing over 19 million passenger trips per year.
The Region of York’s transit system (York Region Transit) has a fleet of 437 buses with four garages providing over 21 million passenger trips per year.
The Town of Oakville’s transit system (Oakville Transit) has a fleet of 89 buses with one garage providing over 2.8 million passenger trips per year.
About AMO
AMO is a non-profit organization representing almost all of Ontario’s 444 municipal governments. AMO supports and enhances strong and effective municipal government in Ontario and promotes the value of municipal government as a vital and essential component of Ontario and Canada’s political system.
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Media contact
Kim Dooling, CPPB
Manager, Purchasing and Risk Management
Town of Oakville
905-845-6601, ext.3087
kdooling@oakville.ca