Today is the final edition of this VI part post from Ron Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing Inc. You can download each link or just download my Whitepaper by the same title. If you follow these guidelines, you are on your way to controlling the cost of any category you take to market.
In parts one, two, three items 1-4 and four items 5-8 and five RFQ Part I of II we have discussed that the world of procurement is continually changing, and this includes the world of eProcurement when it comes to the request for information, a proposal, or a quote and why this process when used properly even with newer tools is still the most effective results delivering procurement process available.
The Request for Quote (RFQ) Part II of II Details, Missing Pieces and Communication
Details, Details, Details. In the RFQ, send an invitation to potential suppliers containing a detailed list or description of all relevant parameters of the intended purchase, such as:
- Personnel skills, training level or competencies
- Part descriptions/specifications or numbers
- Quantities/Volumes
- Description or drawings
- Quality levels
- Delivery requirements
- Term of contract
- Terms and conditions
- Other value-added requirements or terms
- Draft contract
An RFQ event can have many suppliers participating in your project. They will all be actively participating during the RFQ in a preset timeframe, which is usually 20 minutes, but can be adjusted when the line item count grows over 25 items. Within the 20 minutes, suppliers can lower their bid pricing an unlimited amount of times. Like sealed bidding, suppliers cannot see one another’s pricing. Suppliers see whether or not their quote is the low quote through the use of a low quote indicator when they achieve that milestone by fishing for it. Suppliers may also see their ranking at a predetermined point in the RFQ process if the strategic decision to use that feature has been made.
Missing Pieces. An easy way to establish specifications and develop base pricing is from the RFP responses submitted earlier. Many times, a list of suppliers is established that has already been educated on entering pricing through an online sourcing or bidding tool. The RFQ gives the supplier the opportunity within the live RFQ to view whether or not if they have any low quotes and to “sharpen their pencils” in order to lower their pricing if they wish to do so. From this RFQ, an award of business based on the results can be made.
Training and Communication. Suppliers should be trained as to how to use the eProcurement system, how to place their bids, how to look for the low quote indicator, and also be communicated with relative to questions, pricing, and products and services you are looking for. The overall goal is to drive the best overall value, so suppliers should have an opportunity to enter notes during the RFQ. This additional information often offers additional hidden savings opportunity, i.e. if 1,000 cases are purchased rather than 900 cases, additional discounts, or other value-added services such as freight waived for the first 6 months of a 1-year contract if awarded the business. These additional notes can provide and overall benefit, rather than just a low-price win.
Returning to our original RFI example of a company owning a building they intend to repurpose as a Distribution Center, the process began as an RFI in order to understand what was needed so it could be followed by an RFP in order to collect further detailed information and base pricing. These two steps were then followed by an RFQ to compress the pricing from suppliers who participated in the RFP and were invited to this final stage. In this last stage running the line items as a complete list of materials rather than an item by item list, total cost of freight, total installation pricing- which could include teardown pricing which could also be listed as its own line item can have great value and provide the opportunity for the suppliers to keep their focus where it is needed rather than on 100’s of individual line items submitted during the RFP. The four items mentioned here represent the largest spend items of the proposal and have the opportunity to lower pricing by 20% or greater from the original RFP pricing.
Determining what stage of the eRFX process to begin with and how to assemble those pieces can be a difficult puzzle to put together especially if a procurement team is already engaged in a myriad of other daily activities. A good Strategic Sourcing solution provider can help put these pieces together in a way that requires less of your company’s time and resources.
If you’d like to learn more and can’t wait for the series conclusion, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Services associate, they’d be thrilled to hear from you.
Thanks.