Sydney market upgrades auction

The entire changeover was accomplished over one weekend, so that the market did not miss a single trading day. The market, which has been an enthusiastic user of electronic auctions for many years, has introduced a new, faster and more efficient selling system based on the Dutch (falling price) model. All buyers have an equal opportunity and price forming is positive for all participants. At a typical sale about 1,000 boxes of fish are sold per hour, an average of 2,800 crates per sale, comprising about 58 tonnes of seafood daily.

Sydney Fish Market (pictured above right) has always monitored the latest leading technology. In 2001 it launched SFM Live, a business-to-business selling system over the Internet, to complement its clock system. It was developed and installed by ATS and is mainly used for selling farmed fish, ATS said. Four selling methods are available: 'direct sale' (agreement between buyer and seller), 'reverse sale' (request initiated by the buyer), 'fixed sale'(fixed price) and 'bid and offer' (evaluation and automatic validation).

The company added that all users enter their relevant information and receive notification of various user-defined events by fax, e-mail or text message (e.g. buyers are notified when lobster is put on net, sellers are notified when a bid is made). Many of the system's functions are automatic and make it extremely user friendly.

It was therefore a logical step for SFM to choose ATS, ATS said, to supply its new electronic trading system to replace the original that had been in use since 1989. Many months of detailed technical discussion and negotiation preceded the award of the contract to ATS.

The ATS package

ATS supplied a complete selling system, including three auction clocks, a buyers' gallery and a remote buying program. The gallery has 90 console desks with seating for 180 buyers. Information from the clocks is projected onto screens. Three screens are provided all of which may be used simultaneously. For now, only two clocks are in use, the third screen being used as an additional information panel. ATS provided a multifunctional programme with parameters that enable the market to display any information it wishes, such as the next lots, last transactions, general information, pictures of the supply and general pictures, on the third screen. It is for the market to determine which information is displayed and in what form.

The buyer logs onto his workstation using his ID and password. He is given the option to buy for up to six different accounts. The bidder terminal also enables him to view his last transactions, the total cost of his purchases and his credit limit. A monitor enables the auctioneers to see which buyers have logged in and they can also log out buyers.

The ATS software has been integrated with SFM's own software for supply, distribution and administrative processing. The new selling system also contains a remote buying module. Remote buyers have exactly the same opportunities as the buyers sitting in the sale room. The remotes select the clock on which they wish to bid and at the same time, can follow the transactions made on other clocks. Sydney Fish Market Pty Ltd (SFM) is said to be Australia's premier seafood centre of excellence. SFM incorporates a working fishing port, wholesale fish market, fresh food retail market, food and beverage outlets and a seafood cooking school.

Sydney Fish Market Pty Ltd was formed in 1994 when the New South Wales (NSW) government privatised the marketing of seafood, previously conducted by the NSW Fish Marketing Authority. The largest market of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and the world's largest market in terms of variety outside Japan, SFM auctions over 100 species daily. In addition to being recognised both locally and internationally as one of the country's most interesting tourist destinations, with more than two million visitors annually, SFM is dedicated to building strong relationships with all sectors of the Australian Seafood Industry.

Weekend changeover

Since SFM sells fish five days a week, it was a major challenge for ATS to switch over to the new system in a single weekend. Once the dismantling of the old system had started, after the Friday sale, there was no way back -- the Monday morning sale had to use the new system. Due to the good weather conditions, there was an exceptionally large amount of fish for sale on the Monday, much more than normal.

Thanks to the combined efforts of SFM and ATS, the challenge was faced and won. Not only was the Monday sale not interrupted, it lasted no longer than usual. A week later, when SFM's auctioneers had become completely familiar with the system, the Friday sale was completed significantly earlier than could have happened with the old system.

Innovative possibilities

One of the features of the system is that various bidders can buy fish at different prices in a single clock stop. Another interesting module is how it allows the auctioneers to see which buyers placed their bids late. This permits the evaluation of the transactions in order to decide whether to accept or reject them.

Furthermore, a number of time definable parameters, even make it possible -- in principle -- to make the sale fully automatic.