TenderTiger

It is not only critically important to analyse a tender document before responding but also vital to give an outstanding tender response. In the nuances of too many documents to vet before you press the submit response button, you need to have a handy Tender Response Checklist. Use the checklist below as a guide to discover how well your business meets the tender requirements.

About your business:

Who are you?

How does your business qualify for the particular tender?

What USPs (unique selling points) can you focus on in the tender?

Addressing the tender requirements:

How does your organisation address the tender’s strategic aims and objectives?

Have you addressed any supplementary special conditions of the contract?

In what specific ways can you compete on cost (e.g. sourcing locally, good networks)?

What specific skills and expertise makes your business proposition unique? Do you have any staff members that have a recognised reputation in their field?

What evidence is there to show that your business can respond quickly to events and carry out effective decision-making?

What evidence is there to show how you build relationships with your customers? Do you do a lot of repeat business?

In what ways has your business proved its flexibility recently? What specific working style makes your business flexible?

Do you have innovative products, services, ways of working, and market niches?

Business capability

What are your main business activities?

What industries do you supply to?

What are your key products and services?

What specific equipment can you provide?

Who are the key people in your business?

Do you have any specialised capabilities?

Do you have evidence of training and skills that you carry out in your business?

Do you have the capacity to deliver?

Delivering the right tender outcomes

How will you deliver the tender’s outcomes?

Who are the tender’s end customers and how will they benefit from the delivery of the tender contract?

What specific delivery objectives will you focus on, and how will you achieve them?

How will you measure performance and ensure successful completion of contract?

What would your business requirements be, as part of delivering the tender?

How much will it cost to deliver the specified objectives/specification requirements?

Who can provide strong references in order to demonstrate that you have a track record of successful delivery?

What other businesses could collaborate on the tender as part of a consortium or subcontractor?

Summing up:

Nowadays the tendering process or the bidding patterns are very crucial and no one can guide you better than TenderTiger. They not only lend support to their clients by providing contractor services but also gives easy and sustainable solution to their suppliers. From tender documents, results to advertisements, exhibitions and all the important steps involved in the tendering process are taken care of. Over & above making the latest tender information available, to make the tendering process seamless we have holistically crafted special services for their suppliers which include:

Documents: Suppliers are entitled to see and know all the technical and commercial parameters. With our subscription, this is sincerely accessible and all the minute characteristics are been presented on the website.

Corrigendum Notices & Minutes of Pre-Bid Meeting: Corrigendum / Addendum / Minutes are very vital. All this information about the pre-bid meet-ups is displayed publicly and encapsulated on our website to ensure you do not miss out on any important notice.

JV/Consortium: JV/Consortium is in demand. We provide you with a helping hand in searching for partners who are interested in it and looking for bidders for  JV/Consortium and match with you if you are also ready to involve yourself in bidding in a tender for the same. 

Bidding: Bidding can be performed online as well as offline. In the case of offline bidding, a sealed tender can be plunged and organize a tender opening in your support to ensure the same activities as mentioned above in the case of online bidding. 

Tender Results: Tender results are very imperative. Whenever available, tender results are put up and displayed on the website.

Sub-Contracting: Sub-contractor is a person or a firm that works under a contractor. If you are hunting for the same or you are inclined to be the one and find a partner or a dealer TenderTiger is the best place to knock on the door. We will ensure and help you in searching for the right partners/opportunities accordingly.

Advertisements: Tender Tiger is not only a well-known but also a reputed tender portal website. At any given time with 10+ live visitors who are buyers for both governments as well as private sectors. They bank on us to make their announcements in regards to tender notices and also to find relevant suppliers. Hence, it is the best online tender platform in India to advertise your products and services in order to boost your business.

Exhibitions: Exhibitions are really useful and a great opportunity to explore and widen your business's scope. You can make live your products/services and can attract more clients/customers. At TenderTiger we track thousands of such exhibitions and give you various exhibitions to choose from.

Projects: Projects are foreseen every now and then. We track the approaching projects that take place anywhere in India by both private and government sectors that are worth Trillion rupees in any sectors chosen.

Digital Tenders: Today’s world is surrounded and ruled by the internet. Everything is available and can be done online seamlessly and transparently. Here, on this platform, we provide you with the latest lucrative e-tenders globally. With our robust tracking mechanism, you get access to tenders online from various sectors and countries. 

Digital Certificates: For a digital bid and submission of the same, you need a digital signature. It has to be accompanied by a valid class 3 digital certificate. You will assist you with this task by connecting you to legal digital certification agencies.

Procurement is simply the act of obtaining goods or services, typically for business purposes. Procurement is most commonly associated with businesses because various businesses need to avail services or purchase goods, generally on a large scale.

Traditionally, procurement use to be a manual and cumbersome process but in today’s technology-driven world its has become streamlined. At the moment, E-procurement is gaining more weight due to its transparency and ease of usage. Let us go through the process of procurements in tendering in 5 simple steps.

Step 1: Need Identification and Analysis: When there is a need to procure equipment and materials or other relevant goods externally is from where the procurement process starts. A needs analysis should mainly outline: who you are buying for and who needs the goods, works or services (in case you are a buying agency for a business). Additionally. You also specify how the goods, materials or services you plan to buy benefit the business or people you are buying for, now and in the future.

Making this step easier for you, TenderTiger has solutions for its buyers that will aid you to select suitable suppliers for the required goods or services from its massive list of registered suppliers. As known, tender responses will be submitted to the parent buyer/business for evaluation and hence encouraging a competitive bidding between selected suppliers.

However, in certain cases, a specific supplier may be designated based on patent rights held by that supplier, compatibility with the existing facilities, whether they are the only seller of the product they supply or similar situations.

Step 2. Request For Submission of Tenders: Once a Tender Document is prepared by the buyer organisation, they then float it around various media like Newspapers, Business magazines, Online tender portals, etc in order to invite suppliers to place their bids on the specific requirements of goods or services. A request for tenders indicating the conditions of the tender, contract conditions, and tender specifications will be provided to potential suppliers who will be invited to submit tender proposals.

The potential supplier must submit financial and technical proposals by the specified date provided in the tender document. It is ideal for a supplier to keep adequate contingency funds aside. This will not only lower the risk factors of the proposal but also makes your proposal stand out closer to being awarded. Lastly, get it vetted by a professional to ensure you have not missed out any vital relevant documents like certificates and liciences.

Step 3. Technical Evaluation of Tender Response: The various supplier bids received will be first evaluated technically, which means conforming if the requirements needed are met within the mentioned terms and conditions. At times, Technical proposals will be evaluated prior to the opening of the financial proposal or also both are evaluated simultaneously. At times, the supplier gets a consortium partner, where his shortcomings are addressed by another organisation to complete the entire requirments lists of the tender.

Step 4. Negotiation and Award of Contract: Once a tender response is submitted the buyer of the goods or services will shortlist suppliers as per the requirement of the project. Those tenderers which meet the specified technical condition and requirement are recontacted requesting a more competitive bid. Negotiation mainly happens over contract price and other conditions to make it an ideal deal for the buyer.

Step 5. Delivery, and Payment: Products or services that are committed by the supplier need to be delivered in the given time frame. Some, businesses, also mention a clause in the terms and conditions that they reserve the right to claim liquidated damages if delivery is delayed beyond the specified delivery deadline. So suppliers, need to commit what they are capable of delivering, to avoid such legal issues during the contract.

Payment terms and conditions need to be well defined and agreed upto by both the buyer and the seller. Some businesses also clarify the preferred method of payment which is then finalised upon on mutual discussions.

Very often the tendering jargon Quotation and Tender are mixed up by almost everyone trying to understand the basics of Tendering. Let’s begin with understanding their definitions and then moving to their difference.

Definition of Quotation The quotation may be understood as a formal document of promise, given by the prospective supplier, to supply the stated goods or services needed by the buyer at a given decided price under specific conditions. It mainly includes terms of sale, payment and warranty (which includes the price decided to charge for the product or service) date, time and place of delivery, and validity period of quotation.

Additionally, a quotation aids the buyer to know the cost of goods or services in advance, before making a purchase. In order to obtain the quotations (i.e. price for the required material), generally, tenders are floated by the government enterprises.

Definition of Tender A tender is simply a response to an invitation to provide a product or service at a quoted price and assuring quality standards delivery.

An invitation to tender is floated by the government undertaking, financial institution or a big corporation for a variety of projects when they want to purchase goods or services on a large scale. When corporates cannot fulfil the requirements on their own they resort to hiring services from other organizations, making the project a Joint Venture or making them a Consortium partner. Hence, for this reason, third-party suppliers are invited to bid and submit tenders along with the parent supplier.

The tendering process commences with the buy preparing a detailed tender document which is then sent to prospective suppliers, to solicit information, and finally then to select a supplier on the basis of price, delivery terms and availability. The sellers who are interested in the request for proposal can respond to the request, within the deadline specified, by submitting their best offer in sealed covers, with the appropriate authority.

Essentially, a tender is like a competition for a contract, where various prospective suppliers are requested to submit tenders, containing the price and quality of the material required. The invitation is published in a vernacular newspaper of the concerned state or country, as it is a mandatory requirement, to maintain transparency in their operations. To avoid the hassle of going through various media to source the right tender, TenderTiger gives you access to 2000+ million tenders worldwide, ranging from various sectors.

Quotation vs Tender: A differentiation table for more concept clarity:

The key differences between quotation and tender are discussed in the points given below:

1. The quotation is a fixed price offer, which once accepted by the customer, cannot be modified or changed. On the other extreme, the tender is a response to the invitation to tender, which is used to find out the best value for money, from the prospective suppliers.

2. Both quotations and tenders are offers. A quotation is a response to a Request for Quotation (RFQ), whereas tender is used in response to a Request for Tender (RFT).

3. The only major element of the quotation is the price which explains the cost of the contract, submitted by the supplier. Against, the tender has two main elements, price and quality standards wherein price determines the best price offered by the supplier, which is compared with the other suppliers and quality determines the supplier’s potential to deliver the goods specified.

4. The scope of tender is wider in comparison to tender , as the quotation is a part of the tender, which contains prices for material to be supplied.

In today’s competitive business arena, many professionals are continuously seeking ways to not only optimize cost but also assure the delivery of the highest quality of products and services. Achieving this requires a lot of effort in constantly improving and re-evaluating the purchasing activities of a company/business, which is also known as Strategic Sourcing.

What is Strategic Sourcing?

Strategic sourcing is nothing but a purchasing process that generates orders across all enterprises/businesses within the outsourcing cycle to seal the best price for a particular product or service. The main benefits of strategic sourcing are not only to decrease money-spending, and increase investment procedures but also to get good trading performance.

In this blog, we introduce one of the best practices used by many procurement professionals. No matter the purchasing size, the 7-step strategic sourcing practice, originally developed by A.T. Kearney, has been tested and proven effective for sourcing products and services. The final results could be cost-saving, greater value-added and time saved.

Step 1: Profile the Category

The first step is to identify the sourcing category or commodity, this mainly includes the volumes (quantity, types and sizes) spent on products and services, current prices of suppliers, and specification details. Also, don’t miss out to analyze your users, i.e. you must know who they are, where they are located – and the departments they are involved in the supply chain.

Step 2: Supply Market Assessment

Understand your buying power and supplier categories critically to position the sourcing strategy by performing market analysis. Then, you determine what strategy approach fits best with the type of service you’re sourcing.

Kraljic’s Matrix is considered as one of the most effective ways to segment your supplier base. This two-by-two matrix is mapped against two key dimensions: Risk and Profitability. Risk demonstrates the likelihood of unforeseen events occurring that may disrupt the operations. Profitability describes the possibility of impacting the bottom line of the organization.

Once you identify the segmentation of a product or service you're looking for, you’ll have a clear vision of how the product or service impacts the overall business, and then be more confident about what strategy and partner relationship you should implement.

Step 3: Develop a Strategic Sourcing Strategy

This is a very critical step. This step will be guidance on where and how to minimize the risk factors and spending while purchasing goods and services. First of all, define your business goals and minimize requirements for the dealers and then formulate the selection criteria that are most appropriate for your requirements, capabilities and resources. A multi-disciplinary team is highly endorsed by critical collaborators.

Step 4: Select the Sourcing Strategy

Time to send a formal written invitation with specifications!

Request for Proposal (RFP), is the most habitual approach accustomed to many businesses. A formal yet detailed document that puts forward the project through a bidding procedure, in acquiring a product or service from traders for their project and that is given in writing by the firm is called RFP. The document layouts all the details required for the project, like, specifications, price segmentation, legal and financial clauses, etc.

Step 5: Negotiate with and Select Suppliers

Once dealers acknowledge your RFP, you need to finalize the dealers and interview them and ask all the necessary questions which will help you to decide upon a particular dealer. To select the dealers the main task is to appoint a professional and knowledgeable Tender Evaluation team who can ask appropriate questions to the interviewee regarding the products and the services. 

Step 6: Implementation and Integration

Strategic sourcing is incomplete without communication. It is a very critical part. You should communicate to the successful dealers and initiate a strategy that can lead to a strong partnership which will be beneficial for the company if more complex products are to be managed. Incorporating the dealer in all the meetings and keeping them notified about all the new products and services is essential for the upliftment of the company/business.

Step 7: Benchmarking 

This is the final and the most critical step which is ignored by most buyers in many cases. It is essential to monitor the results and certify that the goals are been met. This step will help you to identify any problem during the process and solve it to impact the business operations least.

Summing up:

Government tenders have a varied number of sections that are prerequisites to all tender requests. Once you have offered a few tenders, it is wise to put together all the critical tender offering parameters in order to set a standard tender template. This not only allows you to refer to it for the preparation of future tender documents but also ensures you don't miss out on the critical information you must disclose for suppliers to respond to it efficiently.

This blog is an attempt to bring to your notice the common sections in a government tender:

Conditions of Offer and Conditions of Contract:

Could be known by different names, but a tender document commences with conditions of offer and contract. Conditions of Offer:

By submitting your offer, you as a supplier are acknowledging the conditions of the offer that governs the tendering process.

Conditions of offer generally include the following information: the closing date, tender timelines and the time and place for presenting your response. This section also notifies you on how to submit your tender by providing options for online or postal submissions. Additionally, It also indicates the plan of action for distributing information to the tender petitioner.

When you are in process of submitting your offer, you will be interrogated to provide your acceptance of the proposed conditions of the contract. 

At this point, you are allowed to have a moment to propose departures, variations, alterations or additions to the conditions of the contract. Conditions Of Contract:

Conditions of a contract are nothing but a series of facts and things/tasks that have to happen before parties to a contract have the obligation to perform. The conditions of the contract can be either precedent or subsequent. Conditions of contract in a Tender document mainly contain information on the rights and devoir of the organization and successful supplier, the terms and conditions of the contract for the work.

Specification:

Specifications in a tender document mainly cover the Scope of Work, Special Instructions / Conditions, Technical specifications/requirements, Appendices, Site Information and drawings pertaining to the work and any other relevant reference in the Tender Document for which the Bidder is required to submit their offer. Simply put, a specification for the purchasing describes Requisite goods or services. Any correlated requirements relating to things such as delivery, technical requirements, pricing or performance requirements and expected time frames for project delivery.

Offer evaluation process and selection criteria:

This section is the assessment process which defines the norm that will be used to evaluate your offer and govern who wins the contract as per the criteria. Some tender documents document the criteria as per their importance. A bidder has to prepare their tender response as per these selection criteria to increase their chance of being awarded the contract.

Specifications, evaluation and response forms

As the above title states, this section in a government tender document gives details about how the organisation is expecting a response from eligible vendors. It mainly includes the conditions the vendor must abide by, in order to participate in the tender, what the evaluation parameters will be and the response template in which the vendor must respond which will ease the evaluation process for the buyer.

a. Conditions for Participation:

This section contours the conditions contributors must meet to be examined to participate in the contract, including professional licenses, insurance requirements, necessary and relevant experience, proficiency and qualifications.

b. Quality Standards and Accreditations:

In order to propose for and secure government public sector tenders, future suppliers usually have to exhibit that they meet specific quality assurance standards. These requirements are generally comprehended in the tender specification documentation and form part of the tender evaluation benchmark. As a potential bidder, you have to either display that you have applicable industry-specific quality standards or that the processes that presently exist in the business can convince the buyer's need for a certain quality of operations and benefits.

c. Minimum Content and Format Requirements:

This section outlines the documentation you need to include, which could include elements such as the benefactor’s resume, samples of similar work done in the past, proposal overviews, business acceptance and insurance certificates, etc. Additionally, it also narrates the format you should stick to and provides any layout you may need to utilise. TenderTiger strongly believes in order to win a tender, you should use the response forms provided in this section. It is essential to verify that you complete all response forms and are well within any word/page limits mentioned.

5. Policies and Principles:

This section expresses any assurance or loyalty you must make to meet the terms of the settlement such as confidentiality, obligations and fair working standards.

6. Referees:

Last but not the least, Before confirming your tender, you will need to endow valid recommendations from peers and purchasers who are well positioned to comment on your business and any products or services you provide that are homogeneous to those offered in the tender.

TenderTiger not only has service offerings for its suppliers but also aims to keep its buyers satisfied with a gigantic list of solutions for its buyers.  

Let’s have a quick rundown on the services TenderTiger offers to its buyers:

eTendering Application:

According to the IT Act of 2000, CVC, World Bank, and eTendering guidelines, various Government agencies across the world have been given more than 1 lakh eTenders successfully by us. Along with end-to-end tendering solutions we also offer many value-added services to help you have a smooth tendering/bidding process.

Request for Proposal (RFP):

We deliver robust RFP which makes it extremely easy and flexible which supports all types of Goods, Works and purchasing services as per need. Our RFPs can be seamlessly utilized to invite technical proposals which encourage competitive prices from various purveyors. 

Request for Quote (RFQ):

Giving you access to a massive range of procurement projects, you can discover price range price and bid start price or an approximate contemporary market price using our Request for Quote tool which is very flexible and up-to-date.

Reverse Auction (RA):

100+ buyers registered on our portal, are extremely delighted to use our service of a very rigorous Reverse Auction engine. In fact, this engine tool helps buyers to save 5 to 15% on their yearly purchasing spent. Just by a click of a mouse, they compel the suppliers to wrestle in real-time with each other.

eAuction / Forward Auction (FA):

Heedless of what you want to sell, we assure maximum revenue realisation if you utilize our powerful eAuction tool. If you want to do away with your old machinery as well as valuable assets, you can operate this process through our eAuction tool. Our Auction engine supports English Auction, Dutch Auction, Clock Auction, Transformational Auction, etc. for our registered buyers around the globe.

Catalogue-based Sourcing:

Catalogue based sourcing can help the buyer in purchasing all the regular purchases such that the purchase managers of every companies can on buy from the same supplier on the same terms. It also grants you error free buying patterns and help in escalating the scope of negotiation with the suppliers for multibuy discounts. 

Contracts Management:

Better visibility of contracts, timely completion & zero cost overrun is something buyers look forward to by our strong Contract Management System. Additionally, this system automates the entire cycle of contract management and is inclined to all types of contracts like, Goods, Works and Services.

Indents & Requisitions Management:

You can bag volume discounts from supplier by purchasing in huge volumes or using our catalogue-based sourcing tool which is managed by all your indents and requisition tool. 

Supplier Identification:

Helping you to get access to distinguished and huge supplier base which will in-turn give you more competitive bid applications. Additionally, this aids you to buy services and goods at a lower price in case of procurement & higher revenues in case of disposals. These services can be availed using our Supplier Portal.

Digital Certificates:

A coherent class 3 digital certificate has to be digitally signed by you to give in your bid when your submitting your bid online. We can assist you with the same through our certified digital certificate providers.

Spend Analysis:

Our spending analysis tool will aid you with value suggestions towards your sourcing strategy that will help you save & achieve other intangible benefits.

Product Classification:

As per international standards product classification is undertaken by us I.e., CVC, and UNSPSC classification standards. This will give you access to detailed and extensive spend insight for your projects.

It is extremely critical to carefully evaluate tender opportunities before you send in your response. It could be a deal-breaker or deal-maker document for your business. A well-researched tender, followed by a planned response, increases your chances of success and reduces time-wastage and costs to your business.

Let’s look at the 6 golden points to keep in mind while responding to a tender.

#1: Examine the tender request.

The first step in planning a tender response is to read each and every line thoroughly in the tender document be it annexures or declarations. All government tenders often refer to their tender document as invitations to offer (ITOs), request for tender (RFT) or request for proposal (RFPs). Each one of them will have these elements included:

A brief outline of the job's requirements

Pre-requisites that the providers/suppliers must meet

instructions about the tender process that will be followed

TenderTiger advises you to read the tender specifications, contract terms and conditions carefully before crafting your response. Also, once you understand the tender request, you will then need to examine if the opportunity is a good fit for your business.

#2: Confirm your business's capability for the job.

After you have examined the tender request, you then need to confirm your business's capability for taking up the project. 

List down all of the components of the job.

Identify the tasks and requirements you can confidently meet, and any factors you have concerned about. The best way to do this is to go back to any recent similar project you have worked on.

Ensure you have the necessary licences, registrations or accreditations.

Verify you can deliver all of the specified goods or services within the required time frame. If you can't, consider finding yourself a consortium partner who will assist you reach the goals on time. 

Analyse and scope your costs to ensure a good return on your investment in the project. Stay focused on what the tender specification is asking for. Extra information shared has often done bad than good. 

Perform an advance risk analysis taking into consideration all the risks you may encounter if you win the contract and how you will you minimise them.

#3: Research the buyer.

Once you've found a tender you want to bid for, the next step is to do some research about your potential customer. This step not only involves gathering as much information as you can about the government agency requesting the tender but also what kind of projects they have outsourced in the past.

For example, does the agency have a strong environmental concern? Is this tender particularly time-sensitive? What issues are driving the request for tender? 

Gathering such vital information about your potential customer will help you tailor a bid to their specific needs.

#4: Develop a marketing pitch.

Refer to your marketing strategy and prepare a short marketing plan which addresses the pain points of the tender. This marketing plan should help you define how you will market your business for this particular tender. Use it to identify any key messages you will use in your tender response and the products, information resources and reference material you will attach to the tender.

#5: Plan your tender proposal.

Set up a meeting with your team to gather all the supporting documents you will require while you submit the tender response. We recommend you keep the major ones (e.g. company licence certificate) handy as all tender responses will require them. In order to develop a competitive tender, you will have to take a systematic approach. Give this responsibility to a veteran employee who can coordinate the process and maintain the latest version of your tender document.

It is very important to stick to submission timelines as that gives the first impression of business ethics to the tenderer. It is a good idea to submit your tender response at least 2 to 3 days before the deadline. Make sure you schedule completion dates for all components of the tender document, particularly if other people - such as employees or your business partner - are writing parts of the tender response.

#6: Consult all project contributors

Before you commit to completion dates, you must take a pulse of the same from the respective team who will be delivering it, if you win the contract. In your planning procedure, you must consult and involve all the people who will work on the project.

Arrange a meeting at the outset of your planning process to plan the pitch and main thrust of your tender response. You may also like to use this session to consider:

the resources and budget you will allocate for the tender response document.

the internal resources and budget you'll require should you win the contract.

factors influencing your prospects such as your competitors, your track record and the CVs of the project heads clearly stating their competencies which are required for the project.

In critical situations in procurement, it is easy to understand why construction contractors often quote lower prices to win a tender. However, recent research figures within the civil works sector have been questioning the sustainability of such low rates, and whether the method of procurement is responsible for the same.

So let’s take a deep dive into the 2 main procurement routes; single-stage and two-stage tendering.

Single-stage tendering

Single-stage tendering, also known as traditional tendering, is when a client issues a tender for the entire project, with all the relevant information provided at the point of issue. The process aims to ensure that the client/buyer is able to secure various competitive price bids - due to which the contractor/bidder may decide to price aggressively/low in order to bag the project/contract.

It can be an efficient route to obtaining a contractor. However, if elements from the project specification are missing or are unclear, it can lead to adjustments being made later in the contract, and the final account may be very different as unforeseen costs mount up.

Advantages:

A single-stage tender is advantageous to a bidder, no matter what resources they currently have.

It’s a quick conventional tendering process. 

The client can look forward to price-competitive bids, making it a value-for-money project. 

Disadvantages:

The contractor at times may not understand the project design while he is preparing his bid document. 

Competitive price pressure may make the contractor bid lower than the actual. 

The risk factor is not accounted for as the price is quoted on the basis of the tender document information shared by the client. 

The contractor will not be able to adjust to changes in the project once the tender is awarded.

Two-stage tendering

Two-stage tendering involves an initial information stage, facilitating early collaboration between client and contractor. For most projects, and especially for those that are more complex, it is useful to obtain input before there is sufficient information available for the main contract. This enables early input between the main contractor and client, helping to ensure design and cost certainty. This method of procurement accelerates timelines as it's a pre-known factor discussed between the buyer and the service giver. 

This initial phase allows the contractor to submit details under a pre-construction agreement and includes aspects regarding project preliminaries, method statements, design, overheads, and profit.

Advantages:

Greater cost certainty is achieved as the scope of work is well defined and communicated.

Contractor involvement helps them identify potential risks making them ready for the same. 

Project implementation has achievable deadlines avoiding damages towards delay of project completion. 

Disadvantages:

The bid price is higher as it involves pre-tender discussions.

The two-stage tendering process may be more time-consuming and this may not be appealing to employers with a tight development programme.

Increased contractor involvement in the initial project planning stage can play a negative role in the design plan if the contractor has hidden agendas.

Let’s have a look at a distinguishing table for the 2 stages for more concept clarity:

A tender process is not only about writing the tender document and making it available for prospectus bidders but also about crafting a well-deserving tender response. From a vast pool of bidders/tender applications, what is so unique in the tender response which got awarded. 

The following are the nuts and bolts of writing a tender response to win it:

1. Use the Templates or Formats Provided:

Most of the time, a tender document shared by a client will have a tender response template or a specific detail-providing format. TenderTiger, recommends not to wave away from it. This is shared with respect to details required on a mandatory basis by the client which mostly are the tender evaluation parameters for the respective tender. This makes your tender response easy to review by the jury to consider your offer. Stick to it.

2. Structure your Tender Response Document:

If the buyer has not specified any particular format or structure in the tender document shared, keep your tender response document clear, rational and in an orderly manner. Incorporate a short yet effective introduction that states the motivation, rationale and central proposition of your bid.

3. Provide all Relevant Details:

You have to realise that while your tender response is been evaluated, the reviewers will be turned off if they see irrelevant information or see some missing information. We advise you to stick to these standard information pockets to make your tender response document wholesome. 

Your Business Number.

A company profile and proficiency statement.

Whether you propose to subcontract.

The price for each product or service you will offer, and attestation of whether these are fixed or fluctuating (e.g. based on exchange rates or consumer price index variations).

Any circumstances affecting the price.

Delivery details and charges.

A suggested schedule showing milestones or delivery dates.

Whether goods or services are rare or regular.

GST and other taxes.

Suitable insurances.

Intellectual property rights where relevant.

An interpretation of any alternatives you propose in meeting the conditions of the contract.

 4. Address the Selection Criteria:

If you miss this part in the tender response document, you have lost your chance to win it. Being a critical point, you need to address the selection criteria well and with relevant past projects. Closely follow the norm in the tender request. Make sure your proposed offer accurately meets the buyer's needs. Describe the advantages the buyer will gain from the products or services that you intend to offer. Provide specific examples of how you meet the selection criteria perfectly rather than simply stating what you have done previously. Though it is vital to put forth your authentication and provide the valid experience you possess in the industry, make sure you don't brag too much about it. Additionally, you should also describe how your point of view is towards delivering the tender. Pick out the requirements that are most important to the buyer and emphasis them in your tender response.

 5. Choose the Right Referees

Another primary element of delivering a successful tender response is choosing the right arbitrator. Use arbitrators that know your products or services in and out. Make sure you get consent to use arbitrators before including them in your response. Give them knowledge of the critical elements of the request so they can mark their comments to the job specifications to the point.

6. Proofread your Tender

Before you hit the submit tender response button, you need to ensure your document is error-free. Use spell checks and if possible, request someone not linked with the tender development process to go through your tender response and give their unique opinion. Preferably, get a professional copy editor or proofreader to carry out this task for you. If several authors have contributed to the tender response, ensure that one professional person reads the entire tender response document for uniformity.

7. Submit your Tender in Time

Late or incomplete tender responses are usually removed from the consideration list, barring exceptional, pre-decided circumstances. If you are giving it online, do not procrastinate your tender submission until the last minute in case you have computer hardware, internet or network challenges. We suggest, you plan in advance and also consider time for delays. Consider using ‘same day delivery' for courier services or hand-delivering your tender response if you have to physically send your tender response across.

From our previous blogs, what a tender is, is well understood. Briefly, a tender is an invitation to bid for a project or accept a formal offer such as a takeover bid. Tendering usually refers to the process whereby governments and financial institutions invite bids for large projects that must be submitted within a finite deadline. These tenders are usually conducted in four stages: Prequalification; the issue of tender documents; tender evaluation; tender award. Let's look at each of them in detail. 

STAGE 1: PREQUALIFICATION

The prequalification stage simply means identifying contractors who believe that they are qualified and would be interested in tendering for a potential project. This step is often mistaken for tendering. Additionally, this step if not considered will not create much difference in the tendering process. These contracts reach the prospectus contractors through various mediums like Newspapers Articles, Business Magazines, online E-tendering portals, etc. Most contracts are publicly advertised for tender without the need for prequalification. Prequalification is primarily utilized for large, complex projects that require specialised technical expertise. Prequalification also allows for “Early Contractor Involvement“(ECI) provides an efficient means of designing and planning infrastructure projects in a cost-effective, more efficient and less adversarial structure in which qualified contractors can offer their expertise prior to the start of a project.

Advantages of Prequalification Stage in Tendering Process:

Prequalification saves the owner of the project time and money by eliminating unqualified contractors from the start. 

It acts as a narrowing funnel wherein contractors who possess the required competencies matching with the contract terms, i.e. the financial and technical ability to undertake the work.

In the case where prequalification is used, only contractors which have been pre-qualified are eligible to bid on the contract. 

STAGE 2: ISSUANCE OF TENDER DOCUMENTS

Regardless of the type of tender process utilized, owners of the projects should understand that the lowest tender or price may not necessarily be the most advantageous. The contractors should be wetted on various parameters like; the working methods, environmental factors, and risk assessment before finalising them.

Tender Documents

The tender documents usually set out in detail the various conditions applicable to the tender procedure itself. Moreover, the contract conditions that will govern the relationship between the employer and the successful tenderer is defined. Sufficient information must be provided by the buyer in order to attract relevant yet worthy contractors for bidding.

Evaluating RiskBefore commencing a tender procedure, employers and consulting engineers should be aware that the fewer details given or the more vague the specifications and information contained in the invitation to the prospective tenderers, the greater the risk that irresponsible bidders will participate. It is believed that more the detailed engineering information available in the tender document, the lesser the risk the contractor has to bear towards the accomplishment of the work. 

STAGE 3: TENDER EVALUATION

The procedure to receive and review tenders will fall within strict deadlines and policy guidelines established by the buyer of goods and services. These methods should be well-structured, well-defined, documented and understood by all parties involved in the bidding process. The employer will review tenders and decide on which contractor has the capability and resources to meet the stipulated requirements for the project.

Reviewing contractor documents will encompass risks and risk allocation including environmental risks. Additionally, buyers should keep in mind that if risks are difficult to evaluate, some marginally qualified contractors can offer lower prices, as they have not anticipated the damages borne towards some uncalculated risks. Collecting the most extensive and complete information about soil conditions may be costly, but it will pay off and often leads to the most economical contract price with the least amount of unpleasant surprises.

STAGE 4: TENDER AWARD

The award of the tender to a specific contractor has to take risk evaluation and allocation into consideration. The award will hopefully also strive for the Best Value contract (i.e. in terms of price). When considering a “Best Value” contract, factors such as quality, options and incentives, ongoing maintenance and/or a longer project lifespan are considered and not just the lowest price.

TenderTiger Insider Tip:

A high-priced contact may seem unfair for the short term but will have a heavy risk-taking appetite, that will keep the buyer satisfied in the long run.

Nowadays, sourcing suppliers is not only a critical but also a tedious task. To begin with, it is vital to identify and evaluate potential suppliers for the best value, both in terms of cost and product. In order to do justice to your sourcing attempt, you need to be well versed with some terms widely-used widely in the sourcing process. The most used are Request for information(RFI), Request for proposal(RFP), Request for tender(RFT) and Request for quotation(RFQ).

Let’s understand in brief each of the above-mentioned terms, after which we will discuss how they differ.

Request For Information (RFI): This is the very first step in the supplier sourcing process. An RFI (request for information) is a formal process for gathering information from potential suppliers for the procurement of particular goods or services. RFIs are intended to be written by customers and sent to potential suppliers. When you reach out to a supplier with an RFI, you are meanly soliciting them to provide you with the production capabilities and other information you think is essential for a project. This is more early on the process, often done before one of the other three requests.

Request For Proposal (RFP): A request for proposal (RFP) is a business document that announces a project, describes it, and seeks bids from qualified contractors for completion. This is a legal method for receiving elaborate proposals from various suppliers. This helps in taking purchase-related decisions. RFP is primarily used to seek solutions for project tasks.

Request For Tender (RFT): An RFT, or request for tender, is an open invitation to suppliers, asking them to send offers — usually as sealed bids — in a well-structured format. In simple words, It’s a formal petition to offer proper and clean products, both in terms of quality and price. Additionally, A tender is an invitation to bid for a project or to accept a formal offer. Tendering is a process commonly used by governments and financial institutions, as well as the public sector more broadly. “Tendering” is the term used to describe the process where vendors or suppliers submit bids for large projects by a specified deadline. The RFT document helps to clear out all the queries regarding the products and their pricing.

Request For Quotation (RFQ): A request for quotation (RFQ) is a business process in which a company or public entity requests a quote from a supplier for the purchase of specific products or services. RFQ can also be called: Call for bids (CFB) and Invitation for bid (IFB). It is used when a supplier submits a detailed proposal on a specific product/service/project. The buyer, after getting several quotations will decide which dealer to finalize for the product based on the quality and price quoted.

Below is the difference presented visually for FRI, RFP, RFT and RFQ:

Food For Thought:

Today’s tendering arena/world is just not about tender documents and bidding proposals but way beyond that. The recent need for going online has hit the tendering industry for good. The eTender business has made the procedures more transparent indirectly increasing efficiency. 

Tender Tiger is an ISO-certified company that offers solutions for both buyers and sellers making it a holistic tendering platform. Let’s have a brief run down on its services.

Tender Notice Alerts: It is extremely vital to get the right tender alert at the right time. We make it possible for you to view tender summary’s for free, after which you can download the tender document by paying us a nominal fee. You can subscribe to our latest tender alerts through our mobile app, email alert and website. Additionally, we also provide scanned copies in renowned newspapers to reach a larger audience. We are proud to mention that we track more than 2 million tenders annually making our platform a one-stop solution to your tendering needs. 

Pre-Qualification Terms: In order to aid you in making robust decisions we provide our clients with pre-qualification term services for free tender documents. This not only saves you time but also helps you concentrate on preparing your winning bid proposal. Also, If pre-qualification criteria are not met by your business you can contact us for resolutions. You can find a consortium partner and can participate in the tender. 

Tender Documents: We work as an aggregator which sources tenders from various state tender websites and makes them available for you at one stop. This saves our clients from hopping different tender websites. You can access our Tender inventory document provided you have subscribes to our pro membership.  

Consortium Partner: Tender Tiger does assist you to find a perfect consortium partner just not through posting advertisements on the website but also through consultation. This makes it possible only due to our wide-range supplier network.

Private Tenders/BOQ: We believe that offering an aggressive quote is the highlight in order to bag a tender. From a heavy competitive bunch of applicants, if your bid documents don't satisfy the requirement you're sure to lose a lucrative business opportunity. In such a case we come to the rescue by offering you a reverse auction where lower quotes can be possible.

Sub-Contracting: Did you know, you can still participate in a tender even if you don’t have the pre-qualified requirements? If you’re an SME firm with a particular expertise, consortium bidding is what you must look for. Through Consortium bidding or sub-contractor you can be a part of a large bidding project. We make it possible for contractors who are seeking tenders to get in touch with you through advertisements on our portal.

Tender Results: As the title suggests, Tender Tiger shows you who has won the tender, for how much, who were the other competitive bidders, etc. This service is extremely vital to identify upcoming potential winning bids and to identify price of tender awarded.

Tendering Statistics: To know the government business and to know how to capture maximum market business, this service is very important. Weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly accurate reports for tenders are available every year.

Advertisements: All types of companies throughout the globe have access to Tender Tiger for better business opportunities. Quality leads will be provided with just advertising as low as 10,000rs. Per lead charges are also available, that is 750/lead.

Upcoming Exhibitions: Thousands of exhibitions are been monitored by us across India. You can grab the opportunity and book a stall at any of your choice of exhibition or circulate brochure and generate large number of leads.

Digital Certificates: To participate in government bodies like e-Tendering, e-Auction, etc. Class 3 valid digital certificate is mandatory. We help to procure digital certificate and total support in installation and configuration.

New Projects Information: Thousands of new projects by government and private companies are being tracked by Tender Tiger. Hundreds of new projects are added daily through which you can track your business opportunities and track investment planning accordingly.

eProcurement/eAuction: ProcureTiger.com and AuctionTiger.net, these two domains will provide you with total solutions for eProcurement and eAuction. You can use our platform to search/view/participate/win such opportunities too.

Supplier Market Place: Tender Tiger covers 1,00,000 companies in their marketplace. Global buyers visit our global website for bidders globally. Registering is a must to participate and enter the marketplace.

When it comes to certain businesses, there is a lot of dealing and trading of goods and services that take place. These deals not only require the companies to make a formal offer for the exchange of goods and services with other organizations but also negotiate the best deal. This offer or bid is put forward in the form of a tender. To understand the criticality of a tender in the business industry, let us go through the term in a little more detail and see how it actually works.

What is a Tender?

A tender is an offer or invitation to bid for a project or to accept a formal offer such as a takeover bid. Additionally, this process commences with a government and financial institution that puts forward an invitation to a bid for large as well as small projects. These bids have a submission deadline. 

On the other hand, a request for tender or RFT is a formal request or invitation to the suppliers which asks them to submit their best competitive bids to supply products, services and raw materials for a required project. In the private sector, a request for tenders or RFT is usually referred to as a request for proposal or RFP. These requests allow the potential bidders to respond to the needs of the issuer.

Example: The government of India has asked the private and public suppliers to send in their bids for a civil work tender - the construction of a bridge. Here, the government of India is the issuer of the tender whereas, the various private and public businesses/companies who send in their bid to bag the project are the bidders. 

What are the different types of tenders in India?

In India, there are various types of tenders like open tender, selective tender, serial tender, negotiated tender and term tender. To understand each of them in brief, let us go through them one by one.

Open Tender Both private, as well as government organisations, can accept an open tender. This is considered to be the main form of tender in which the client or the customer advertises the tender openly in a newspaper or on the e-tender platform along with some important information about the proposed works to invite the interested contractors and suppliers.

Selective Tender Selective tender was developed as an alternative to the open tender procedure to address the latter’s limitations. The main focus of this type of tender is to boost the quality of bids received while also ensuring that the contractors with the requisite expertise are given the right opportunities to submit the required bids on time.

Serial Tender The process of serial tendering is a more hybrid or advanced tendering method which combines normal competitive tenders added with a scope of negotiation. This competitive tender can be either single stage or two stages. This type of tendering is mostly used for clients who have a number of phases of similar work.

Negotiated Tender As the name suggests, a negotiated tender is used largely in the engineering and construction industry. This is because these industries are subject to pre-contract and post-contract negotiations.

Term Tender This type of tender is mostly used in large projects which require high maintenance. Through this tender, the contractor is asked to cover specific buildings or constructions in various locations. Term tender is limited to a fixed time and can demand certain criterion which is to be met by the supplier adhering to the needs of the client.

Now that you know what tendering is, you should also know that varied types of tendering processes are used across different industries from different sectors including all public, private and non-profit sectors. While we saw how tendering is a common process in various businesses and industries, this process is more common in certain areas like information technology, business consulting, engineering and construction.

Currently, India has a robust e-tender process that is not only well structured but also ensures the task is done reasonably and efficiently. Keeping this in mind, most institutions have a specific procurement procedure that is carried out in a well-defined process and have fixed policies that direct the institutions on how to make a decision and which tender to accept.