Writing a Tender

[joe90bass]

Has anyone any tips, or invitation to tenders, they'd be willing to share! We're going out to tender for IT equipment for our new school. I've done all the tech specs, selected the companies we're using, but thanks to our bursar not doing the intro and legal blurb when he should have and now being off ill I have to do the whole thing and am a bit stuck!

 

Hope someone can help!!

 

PS - As mentioned we have already selected the companies we're approaching and are not looking for any more!

[fooby]

i cant say i have ever done a "tender" thing for purchasing, its usually a case of email all suppliers, tell them google product search does it cheaper, they winge a bit and start giving real prices, then we buy from ebuyer as its still cheaper than they can do.

 

easy peasy really.

 

sorry this doesnt help

 

------

 

Edit:

 

this does: Tender for a contract | Business Link

 

its the .gov.uk howto for tender writing

Edited April 9, 2008 by fooby
added url

[Heebeejeebee]

i cant say i have ever done a "tender" thing for purchasing, its usually a case of email all suppliers, tell them google product search does it cheaper, they winge a bit and start giving real prices, then we buy from ebuyer as its still cheaper than they can do.

 

easy peasy really.

 

That's what we usually do but we've just had to go to tender for some pretty serious Virtual Reality kit and you need to select your suppliers (bearing in mind that over a certain figure means you have to go to European tender), invite them to tender, give a brief of what you expect and a date they should reply by. When they come in they must not be opened immediately and must be kept in the safe and all opened at the same time.

 

Hope this helps a bit.

 

HBJB

[john]

They also have to be opened with about 3 or 4 people there to make sure no-one cheats, and they have to be really obvious envelopes so you know not to open them before the deadline etc.

[Heebeejeebee]

They also have to be opened with about 3 or 4 people there to make sure no-one cheats, and they have to be really obvious envelopes so you know not to open them before the deadline etc.

 

Yep - that's correct.

 

The problem we had was that one or more of them arrived in plain jiffy bags addressed to the Bursar so they were almost opened by mistake. Make sure they mark the outside so that you know who they're from.

 

HBJB

[torledo]

They also have to be opened with about 3 or 4 people there to make sure no-one cheats, and they have to be really obvious envelopes so you know not to open them before the deadline etc.

 

......And you also need to use set of balls number 5, draw machine Arthur and a bloke in a dinner jacket and white gloves to push a button

[joe90bass]

Thanks guys

 

I've just managed to get some help from our LA with the process, though it's the actual intro and legal blurb I'm most concerned about

[steve]

A few years ago the government set up a body called IPAS (Independent ICT Procurement Advisory Service), to train schools on purchasing ICT equipment.

 

Unfortunately IPAS no longer exists, but I do have a copy of their sample documentation.

 

In the zip attached:

 

Example of a procurement statergy document

Procurement process flowchart

Procurement process checklist

Model invitation to tender

Model contract award letter

Model regret letter

 

Plus some other useful stuff

 

Should save you from reinventing the wheel.

ipas.zip

[Grommit]

We just went through a procurement route and it's really quite simple..

 

1/ exactly define what you need

2/ Make sure you do not breach the European Regulations

3/ specify on how you want the tenders submitted ..Set a date

4/ Open tenders in front of ICT Steering Group.

 

Now.. you do not have to take the cheapest tender... you can "choose" your company out of the tenders submitted through the Scoring.

 

Feed back to non accepeted tenderers

Edited April 26, 2008 by Grommit

[joe90bass]

@ Steve. That's exactly what I was after, if you're ever in S Wales I owe you a few beers!!

 

Thanks!

[GrumbleDook]

IPAS has gone and catalyst is thee instead. You also have the various Becta frameworks, but the ipas docs still hold true for companies out side of any existing frameworks

 

An important thing to remember is to have total clarity about your scoring. Make sure you get the weighting of cost against isability right.

 

Speaking cynically for a moment, it has been known for schools and LAs to build there scoring system to fit to a more expensive supplier by tweakinh the functionality scores to be very specific about the technology.

[Martin_Ebuyer]

As the majority of my work is education and public sector based, we started getting invitations to tender at various times when the team first started out. It's only now that I've the confidence, time, contacts and tools to really get stuck into these and I'm glad I've finally submitted a hefty quote for a college I have on my accounts. Some tenders are pretty awful to wade through though, and perhaps some of the more competitive suppliers just don't have the time to inspect a mammoth document and fullfill every whim or desire on it.

 

The one big advantage a buyer has with this is that I can submit the specs out the parts to all the major brands and get them to bid it down. We also encourage the buyer to take the time to get someone to show you a product if you're rolling out on a big scale. There's nothing worse than tendering for something only to change your mind halfway through and have to start again. Worse still, you can take delivery and find it's just not what you wanted. Ask them for evaluations, demos, most suppliers should be happy to let either show off their products or arrange an evaluation, especially if it's a cutting edge solution they're wanting to show off. Wherever possible, most specifications can be met but don't be suprised if you're asked why because some weird and wonderful specifications turn up in quotes and it just completely baffles account managers who just don't know or understand why you'd need some things.

 

Possible disadvantages are that due to having to price a quote up for maybe a month or two in advance, you might find yourself paying more due to how volatile pricing can be, especially if the product suddenly drops in price or a competitor brand decides to go head to head with a similar product you've asked to have quotes on.

[ken_bignall]

Hi, I'm curious to know if anyone's had experience with tender writing services like this one (Tenders-uk.org) for Tender Writing. Could (possibly) save a lot of time and effort, and expense, in the long run.

 

Ken B

Edited February 19, 2010 by ken_bignall