Monday 23 July 2018

Refresher on the Top 5 Advantages of Tendering

In simple terms, tenders are basically invitations for bids that are floated by various organizations for large scale projects and procurements in diverse sectors. Along with private and public sector enterprises, NGO’s may also use the tendering process for the completion of some of their large scale projects. 

In case of tendering, all qualified firms or prospective bidders related to a certain industry are invited to submit their bids within a fixed deadline, so as to win the contract.  The tenders submitted by the bidders must quote a price for the contract, along with the materials to be used and the schedule to be followed for the completion of the project.  These tenders are essentially evaluated on the basis of the quality of the raw material to be used, it’s pricing, innovations incorporated in the project and overall value for money. Usually the contract is awarded to the company providing the best quality of the end product at the most reasonable pricing.

In some scenarios, startup firms are apprehensive about participating in a tendering process as it is arguably a longwinded system involving a lot of stringent protocols. However, it is due to these systems in place that the tendering process can be carried out with complete transparency and efficiency.   One can even refer to prominent online portals relating to tenders and acquire their consultancy services to gain assistance for the complete bidding cycle and eliminate any inconveniences coming in the due process of submitting a bid and tracking its progress.

Advantages of tendering

From construction, IT, electricity to railway, renewable energy and smart cards, tenders are issued for the completion of projects relating to diverse domains. This system is commonly used by business organizations from across the globe due to the host of advantages offered by it. Some of the advantages of tendering have been discussed below.
  • In the tendering system, the suppliers or contractors are often encouraged to incorporate innovations into their final product and enhance the efficiency of the manufacturing processes in order to gain an edge over their competitors.  This system also provides an incentive to the companies to re-evaluate pricing structures and adopt up to date business practices to gain a high-value contract, all of which eventually benefits the buyers.
  • The tendering system ensures best value for money for the buyers. In case of government tenders, this system essentially facilitates the saving of taxpayer’s money.  While in case of private enterprises, tendering safeguards the interests of the stakeholders.
  • The process of tendering encourages an atmosphere of healthy competition in the marketplace and provides the buyer a wide pool of bids to choose from.
  • Tendering offers newly developed firms a chance to step into the corporate market by winning a prestigious contract on the basis of their merit, even without having any prior contacts in the industry.  As the contracts are awarded on the basis of price and quality there are minimal chances of favoritism or nepotism in this process.  This factor in turn benefits both the parties, as it saves the resources of the buyer that may have been spent on subpar products while providing the bidders with a chance at fair competition.
  • The tendering system aims at keeping contractors on their toes to prevent any fall in quality due to complacency as everything here is documented with specific details and contractors cannot deviate from the agreed terms as otherwise they may be penalized for breach of contract.
Businesses looking to participate in different kinds of tenders then be it in IT or construction or security, one can always refer to websites that offer complete details on these. Also, these websites have tenders well-categorized into different domains, for instance, those like the smart card tenders can be found under one specific category while tenders for various consultancy services can be found under one category, which makes looking for a suitable tender all the more convenient.
Author bio: This article has been written by a renowned tender consultant. He has guided many organizations towards success by assisting them to win prominent large-scale contracts. He has recently started his own blog in which he writes about the various facets of tendering.

Monday 16 July 2018

Brief Overview on International Tenders

Tendering is a commonly used system used for inviting bids for a certain project or procurement assignment that involves a significant sum of investment. This process is quite popularly used by both, major corporates, as well as governmental organizations to invite proposals from various suppliers and contractors.
Under the usual tendering system, interested suppliers and contractors are required to submit their response and bids within a certain deadline. The buyers issue a document known as the Request for Tender (RTF), which essentially highlights the specifications and key elements of the contract for which the bids have been invited. Interested contractors belonging to the relevant industry subsequently respond to this request by submitting their distinct bids within the mentioned deadline, while underlining the major features of their proposal and quoting a price.

Global Tenders

Tenders are floated by various highly reputed and renowned organizations operating in distinguished industries across the globe. Participating in international tenders can be incredibly beneficial for a business organization, as it would provide them with a great opportunity to enhance their business prospects and leave a mark on the global market.  It is essentially advantageous for firms to participate in France, Germany, U.K or Italy tenders, as they are some of the most influential and financially flourishing regions of Europe. Enterprises issuing tenders on an international platform are usually large corporates and multinational organizations, NGO’s and even at times government departments and agencies as well. These tenders are usually advertised on renowned online tendering websites and portals, business based newspapers, and prominent international business magazines and journals.

While identifying an international contract to bid for, the prospective candidates must consider the following factors:
  • The financial structure and stability of the company issuing the tender
  • Overall capacity of the bidder to complete the contact efficiently within the provided deadline
  • The infrastructure, qualification, technical abilities, accreditations and experience of the buyer in the given field
While applying for France, Germany, U.K or Italy tenders, it is highly important for the bidders to do a thorough market research  to be assured of the reliability of the buyer. It is imperative to be knowledgeable about the buyer before participating in this process in order to avoid any risks related to transnational transactions.

To get accurate and latest information about France, Germany, U.K or Italy tenders, interested contactors can check out any well-known online tendering portals where such tenders are regularly updates. They can also sign up for email alerts on these portals so they do not miss out on any important notifications that may have been issued.

Thursday 5 July 2018

An Overview on the Process of E-Tendering

Tendering is a popular process used by a number of organizations in order to invite bids for the completion of large scale projects. In today’s highly digitized environment, the system of tendering is quite often conducted through a virtual medium, and is commonly referred to as e-Tendering. 

The e-tendering system comprises of a number of phases and steps, the most important ones being:
  • Submission of EOI or Expression of Interest through an online tendering portal
  • Completing the pre-qualification questionnaire
  • Completing of the tender or bid document
  • Downloading all relevant tender and bid related files and documents
  • Asking and receiving responses related to queries or doubts about the tender
  • Tracking the progress of the tendering, as well as its evaluation process
  • Receiving instant online notification about any changes made to the tender specifications
  • Storing all the vital information relating to the tender bids and various other documents relating to it
  • Uploading and editing relevant documents online 
The e-tendering system has a number of significant advantages and two of them that have primarily led to the popularity of this system are as follows:
  •  E-tendering is a much more easily understandable and structured process as compared to its traditional system. It has an efficient step-by-step approach, making it quite simple for the bidders to participate in it. At times, bidders are required to fully complete one section in order to progress to the next, which in turn reduces the chances of a non-compliant bid.
  •  As a typical e-tendering system is divided into various distinct sections, it becomes much easier for bidders to understand and navigate through the whole process. This system is specially designed to provide the bidders straightforward questions that are objective in nature, therefore leaving no room for misinterpretations. This especially comes in handy when bidders have to apply for online tenders in Australia, Japan, the UK,and such other countries where the laws governing international business are quite stringent.
In addition to the advantages that e-tendering offers to tenderer as well as bidder, this system is being widely used by private and government organizations alike. Especially in countries like Japan, U.S.A, U.K, Australiaand other developed nations, online tenders have now become a norm and most business development managers solely rely on portals where such tenders are published to bid for the suitable ones and further the growth prospects of their company.