Normally the decision to implement e-procurement tools, as a technological leverage for the transformation of purchases in a strategic supply area, does not pass directly through the buyers but through the directives, who despite the holistic knowledge of the process (from planning to payment of the invoice), on many occasions,  they have not suffered firsthand some of the most common problems when bidding.

Etapas de un e-procurement

1. Submission of the application

In the traditional method, without e-procurement tools, the invitation email is sent, with a blind copy to all invited suppliers and a copy to all those involved within the company itself, in such a way that the entire team obtains information. to make the best decision.

In addition to the initial email, an additional email must be sent to communicate the list of invited suppliers (vendor list) and if for any reason any additional clarification is required, the decision to do it in a new sequence or on the original one becomes a non-existent task. minor.

Carrying out this process manually makes the list of difficulties endless:  each question and answer from the supplier implies a new sequence of emails that is not easily consolidated ; some of the participants start new email sequences in which the originals are not copied, which causes communication to be cut off; Not to mention when new recipients are included in the email, which implies that the email exchange begins without the complete contex

2. Deadlines

Continuing the process, and without the help of e-procurement tools, the definition and fulfillment of schedules is not a succinct task. If the processes are well established, any untimely submission should not be considered among the proposals to be evaluated, but the case may arise of proposals received outside the delivery limits for which the interested parties (copied within the initial email of the application)  They exert pressure to be considered  because it is a good economic opportunity. This clearly undermines the company’s image of transparency and traceability and makes the processes impossible to audit.

Setting limits on concerns is not an easy task. Of course it can be communicated, but its correct control is not easy, given that the offeror can send questions that imply the complete review of the process, very close to the schedule established for sending the final quotes.

3. Reception of proposals

The restriction of information to user areas of the company depends on who the offeror copies  when sending its information; In this case, a new email cycle begins with the approval flows depending on the specialties (HSE, Technical, Economic, Financial, Legal, among others) and if for any reason a clarification is required, the email flow begins again. with the supplier. Document correction processes, proposal clarification and email flow control at this stage are quite delicate and require attention from the buyer.

4. Negotiation

Sending a thank you letter to suppliers not selected for the opening of negotiation rounds is another email chain that normally involves independent and personalized emails to maintain good relations with suppliers.

Inevitably,  at this point email chains of requested explanations and responses from the buyer begin  that explain in general terms the reasons for the decision, trying not to affect relationships.

Opening negotiation rounds involves starting everything again: from sending the blind copy email to receiving the responses described above.

5. Award and gratitude

This last email exchange is relatively short compared to the other processes, except for the chain that can be presented with the suppliers that were not selected in this last stage.

As described, buyers carry out a titanic task of great filigree and concentration, and if for some reason bidding stages (RFx) are added, such as starting with a market study and ending with a firm proposal, this generates a transactional task. endless for the buyer.

This is just one example, within the supply cycle, in which  e-procurement tools help in the process of converting  the buyer’s operational work into a strategic manager for the company. In this way, your time is optimized, since the exhausting work of organizing email chains is eliminated, giving rise to the analysis of the process, the understanding of the needs, the knowledge of the market, the specialization in category management and the tasks of adding value to the supply chain.