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rsysmexk, I create all the specifications separately and a second sheet with the technical terms and conditions. I am on vacation this week, when I return to work I will send an example of each format.

Have you considered the idea of having 'preferred' bidders, I have tried to put this into practice here but so far no takers.


Neil


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Super Hero
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Surely the whole idea of competitive tendering is the creation of a "level playing field", Neil? You know, where everyone gets a fair go.

"Preferred bidders" is just another opportunity for corrupt practices! You know, where "incentives" get offered by companies in order to get on the "Preferred Bidders" list. whistle

Or have things changed these days?

Otherwise, what qualifies a company to become a "Preferred Bidder"? And who decides who gets included? think

To my mind, a "Three Quotations" approach is generally sufficient (although that too can be abused - I won't go into details); all other things being equal (all requirements met - and that's where the nous of the purchaser comes into play), the bidder with the lowest price gets the deal. That way even the Little Guy (New Kid on the Block - whomever) gets a chance to set out his stall and make a buck (Riyal, Euro, whatever).

Free trade is God’s diplomacy! - Richard Cobden (1804–1865); English manufacturer and statesman

Historical note:- when I worked for (various) Operations and Maintenance contractors in KSA, we had to "Pre-Qualify" in order to bid on government Hospital O&M and (or) Biomed Maintenance contracts. Basically we had to demonstrate that we were a credible company, and not just "one man with a briefcase" (as we used to call such chancers). We had to provide various legal documents, letters from the bank, demonstrate technical capability and resources, evidence of successful completion of similar contracts and so forth. All that plus a "technical write-up" specific to the contract, as well as site visits. Plus a full costing exercise, of course. Quite a lot of work, in fact. If I remember rightly, there were Class I, II and III contractors for government bids. But all that was for large contracts, rather than the supply of equipment and (or) small scale service agreements.


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rsysmexk #73889 28/12/18 10:51 AM
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@Neil, it would be great to see the terms you write for reference, send them on if/when you have a chance.

I like the idea of preferred bidders "in my head" as having worked for a multivendor company in a past life there are definitely companies who I have always found fair and decent to deal with, while there are other companies, that I would avoid at all costs if I had the choice due to how they treat their staff, their work practices and attitude.

Unfortunately preferred bidders will only be "in my head" as a huge scandal a few years ago (where 1 company were paying for holidays, cars and giving cash incentives to hospital personnel to win tenders) highlighted the corruption in the medical game, so now there has to be a fair and level playing field for all companies (including the dodgy ones...).
Now even the foreign jollies (education seminars) for the consultants have been reduced and there has to be clarity in everything.

I subscribe to the 3 quotes rule, but including my preferred terms in the tenders will probably eliminate some companies who don't want to concede to the terms and indirectly form a list of companies who will work under the terms (not preferred bidders, but agreeable bidders..).

rsysmexk #73890 28/12/18 11:34 AM
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As (almost) always, the ball is in the buyer's court ... it's just that - in my experience - many procurement offices seemingly can't be bothered (or, being charitable, perhaps don't have the necessary skills) to write a decent RFP. frown

Request For Proposal


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Geoff, the preferred bidder is mainly aimed at after sales service


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Surely in such cases you would be lucky to find more than one or two companies that would qualify* anyway! smile

Yet again, the skill is (would be) in the precise drafting of the RFP. That is, in the description of the work to be done.

* Be able to carry out the work.


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rsysmexk #73895 30/12/18 11:34 AM
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Thanks Geoff, I have seen so many tenders that the bidding companies have ticked all the boxes, yet we know from experience that they cannot supply or service the equipment that they are bidding for. Also that some of the equipment that they are submitting does not match the specifications, even though they have ticked all the boxes.


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Super Hero
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No doubt many of us can recall similar experiences, Neil. frown

Don't you have a system in place where such chancers can be "black-listed"? For a certain period (such as validity of the tender concerned) maybe? think

But anyway, you can make use of such "did not qualify" (or, better yet, "no-one qualified") episodes in supporting your case for funding to carry out the work in-house!

In one of my Earlier Lives we used to use Third-Party Service Providers whenever possible; they were generally (always, in fact) cheaper, and we retained more control. In some cases (eg, for the so-called "high tech" kit), we were contractually obliged to seek three quotes for 2nd.line servicing and repair work. One trick we used (it's hopefully safe to mention this now, almost thirty years later) was to obtain a very attractive price from one of our sister companies. As we had many sites spread over a wide geographical area, the hospitals and clinics never realised who it actually was who turned up to fix their kit. I'll leave y'all to guess who actually wrote the quotes; and, indeed, who often was the "company engineer" who eventually turned up. In fact it was a "double win" for us, as we could arrange the visits in time to avoid the financial penalities that would have been applied for the kit being down for a certain length of time. I suppose you could say that it was all a bit tactical - but great "fun", nevertheless.

I am now reminded of an even Earlier Life when I did some work for a company selling equipment into Nigeria. Again, the clients (University Hospitals) always required the comfort of the magic Three Competitive Quotations for each deal. Needless to say, nice looking documents on the headed paper of bona fide companies based in Lagos were produced, and signed in the appropriate name and style - by Jim in our offices at [censored]! And, whoever won (and we made sure that each did now and then), we would be the ones actually supplying the kit. As I say, those companies did actually exist; in many ways they were the real winners, as they got their "fee" (dash) for effectively doing nothing, apart from maintaining some sort of back-street office (a bit like the "Agents" in Saudi Arabia back in the Wild West days). But those were the days!


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Originally Posted by Geoff Hannis

Surely in such cases you would be lucky to find more than one or two companies that would qualify anyway!


Obviously, in such cases the Three Quotations (Letters of Comfort) ideal usually goes out the window!

We also have to consider - or, indeed, ask - who do we invite to quote? Maybe this is what you were getting at with "Preferred Bidder(s)", Neil? think

And then - who adjudicates once the quotes (or bids) are received; and what criteria is followed? Once again, surely the buyer is in the driver's seat. smile

Again, back in Ye Olde Days (of the Wild West?) we got the client to agree to accept "Cannot quote" statements from suppliers in order to make up the number required.

Naturally, we had tame suppliers who were willing to make such statements (as well as putting in high quotes when required); I think we used to pay them [censored] for each such quote - easy money for them; and we retained control of the whole process. We had to be creative back then.


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There are many ways of evalulating contract bids (whittling them down, sorting the wheat from the chaff, or what-have-you).

Sometimes it's nice to cast the net far and wide, and attract as many quotes as you can muster (beyond the traditional Three); then you have more to work with.

I seem to recall a certain Ministry in a well-known Desert Kingdom who used to discard the highest and the lowest bids, to concentrate on the ones "in the middle".

We ourselves (an Operations and Maintenance contractor) used to price our own sub-contacts (with, I might say, a pretty good level of accuracy) and so were able to select sub-contractors "with confidence".

To be honest, it's not Rocket Science - although I know that many biomeds wanted nothing to do with the "grubbier" side of things - dealing with suppliers, and all the *rest. To me, it was all part of the job. smile

* As I may have mentioned before, I always refused to get involved with the blatant "greasing of palms" - my role was generally "operations" (that is, doing - or getting done - the actual work); but luckily, we had senior people at Head Office who seemed willing and able to take care of such matters when the need arose.


If you don't inspect ... don't expect.
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