Govt. tendering is an opportunity for companies to grow their business

13th Jan 2010, New Delhi.

Euclid Infotech Private Limited (Tendersinfo.com) and Center for Promoting Sustainable Growth(CPSG), conducted a Conference on Tendering procedures in PSUs and Railways; supported by Punjab National Bank and IFCI Limited at The PARK, New Delhi . The occasion provided various stakeholders in Public Procurement like government departments, PSUs, Railways, State Govts and Private organizations, a common platform to discuss critical issues and the best practices that should be followed with an ultimate objective of achieving overall efficiency and effectiveness in Public Procurement.
The conference saw participation from around 200 delegates across sectors and was graced by speakers –

· Mr. Tejinder Singh Laschar, I.E.S Sr Economic Advisor (Retd.)
· Mr. S R Athawale Executive Director Chief Material Management ONGC
· Mr. Arvind Kishore- Controller Store Northern Railway
· Mr. S K Singh -Executive Director (Contracts and Procurement) GAIL (India Limited)
· Dr V.K.Agarwal -former Law Secretary-Govt of India
· Mr. V.K. Dassani - ADDL GM (contracts and projects), NTPC
· Dr M P Narayanan- Ex CMD, Coal India Ltd,
· Mr Niladri Charan Padhi-former Security Secretary-Govt of India

The Speakers enlightened the audience about various topics like Guidelines for procurement in their respective sectors, New Initiatives taken by PSUs and Railways, Projects that have been successfully completed, the Types of Tenders that are brought about with respect to their requirement and objectives, the concept of Innovative purchasing, the Environmental Aspects, the framework of Regulation in specific sectors and E-Procurement, its reach and effectiveness.

It was discussed that in today's business environment PSUs are expected to run like a private organization with full accountability as well as freedom. Further, use of tax payer's funds also calls for adoption of efficient, responsive and transparent purchase procedures. In order to sustain in the competitive world, today's PSUs & Govt organisations must have Partnership relationship with their suppliers. It was also stated that technological advancements has also helped in clearing the difficult procedures associated with tendering. PSUs in the country are slowly and gradually, following the developed country module of E-Procurements that has been proving to be a less tiring and more efficient procedure to acquire tender. Mr. Tejinder Singh Laschar, I.E.S and former Sr.Economic Advisor, Govt. of India, in his welcome speech spoke about the V-shape recovery and how tendering procedures are affected by such a scenario. He further welcomed the present delegates and encouraged bidders to play the role of a more active and aware bidder.

The event was concluded by a Q&A round, where delegates got a chance to clear their queries with the help of present panel of experts. Mr Sanjay Vyas, Director, Euclid (Tendersinfo.com) awarded the best participant a token of merit. Mr Rakesh Verma, Vice-President (International Projects) Euclid (Tendersinfo.com), declared the event as a success and said that “Bidders has to show trust on tendering authorities and tendering authorities should also treat bidders as a partner, not only as vendors.” He also said that Indian companies should also capitalize on the opportunities arising from Africa through Govt Tenders”

Tendering procedures are synonymous to PSUs and railways in the country. It is an ever existing opportunity for suppliers, yet its capability to be a strong marketing tool has been often overlooked. Bureaucratic supremacy, corruption etc, often refrains bidders from a good business opportunity. The myths attached to participating in tenders are manifold; this leaves a huge impact on the tender’s success. Moreover these perceptions associated with Government tenders are considered to be more prevalent in developing and underdeveloped countries. The conference helped to clear much of the confusions related to tendering procedures in PSUs and Railways.

Tendersinfo facilitated in winning a contract worth 2.5 Million USD for Printing of Text Books in Mozambique.

Tendersinfo announces that they have successfully assisted one of their clients, Lovely Offset Printers, by way of providing bidding consultancy and facilitation services, in winning a project for printing and supply of school textbooks.
Lovely won this contract against stiff competition from major players around the World. The project estimated to be around 2.5 Million USD, was financed by The World Bank. The delivery of books will be completed within 120 days. The total volume of the books will be around 105 Containers (TEU)
In 9 years of its operation, Tendersinfo successfully assisted many companies from around the World in winning valuable contracts financed by different Multilateral Funding Agencies. 'Services provided by Tendersinfo are serious value additions to companies, especially from SME segments, having limited resources in attempting projects on foreign land', said Sanjay Vyas, Director - Euclid Infotech Pvt. Ltd.

Ten Ways to Improve Your Bidding Win-Rate

Often only a point or two separates a winning proposal from the second place finisher. You should do everything possible to improve your score. Following is a list of ten commonly overlooked things that you can do to improve your proposal win-rate.
Research the project before the bid is released. Establish contact with the client in advance, if possible. Use the Freedom of Information Act and Open Records laws with government agencies to learn as much as possible about the project and the precise needs and expectations of the client. Create a dialogue with the buyer, if possible.
Provide a clear solution to the client’s problem. Clients want to feel that you understand the problem that they are trying to solve and that you actually have a solution. On the other hand, they are suspicious of bidders who just tell them what they already know and provide only vague answers to their questions.
Make sound bid/no-bid decisions. Your proposal win-rate will dramatically increase once you make rational, logical bid/no-bid decisions. You must make a thorough analysis of each bid to scrutinize your organization’s fit with the project, your competition on the bid, and the client
Create the impression that your firm is superior to your competitors. The truth is that in most situations, several bidders are equally capable of meeting the client’s needs. Your challenge is to create an impression with your proposal that your firm’s approach is unique.
Know your competitors. It is important that you know the advantages and shortcomings of your competitors. It is also important to know their bidding tendencies. By doing so, you can subtly address their shortcoming in your proposal and know how to position yourself against their tendencies.
Highlight the major points of your proposal. Use everything from graphic design to repetition to make sure your major proposal points are understood and remembered. All major points should stress the specific direct benefits to the client.
Organize your proposal writing effort. Proposal writing is a time consuming task. Don’t waste time and labor with a poorly organized writing plan. Allow enough time to review and edit it before your submit your proposal.
Update your business information regularly to prepare for the next proposal. This will allow you to edit your material with an open mind and fresh pair of eyes and make important improvements on future bids.
Perform the "little things" correctly. Don’t let small mistakes kill you. Omitting requested information, exceeding page limits, or word counts, ignoring proposal guidelines, placing information in the incorrect place, or failing to repeat or reiterate information in different sections are the small things that will cause you to lose points with an evaluation team.
Make a strong, positive last impression. Whether it’s in final negotiations or on a site visit, give the client a new reason to accept your proposal. Sometimes this means making a price concession or adding more value to your offer. Sometimes it simply means presenting the client with yet more research on their project to show that you’re still thinking about it and working on it, even after the bid deadline.

CPV Coding System in Public Procurement

What is a CPV code?

CPV (Common Procurement Vocabulary) codes have been specially developed by the European Union for public procurement. Their main purpose is to help procurement personnel to classify their contract notices consistently and correctly and to help suppliers find the notices consistently and correctly and to help suppliers find the notices which are of interest by using a standarised vocabulary.

CPV codes help to provide the most reliable and accurate method of locating relevant contract opportunities. By using the searchable database, you can select codes relevant to your products and services and paste them into your profile. You can conduct as many searches as necessary. Please remember to paste your selected codes after each search. CPV codes which are contained within your profile will be highlighted in your results

The CPV consists of a main vocabulary for defining the subject of a contract, and a supplementary vocabulary for adding further qualitative information. The main vocabulary is based on a tree structure comprising codes of up to 9 digits (an 8 digit code plus a check digit) associated with a wording that describes the type of supplies, works or services forming the subject of the contract.
The CPV consists of a main vocabulary and a supplementary vocabulary.
The main vocabulary is based on a tree structure comprising codes of up to nine digits associated with a wording that describes the supplies, works or services forming the subject of the contract
The first two digits identify the divisions (XX000000-Y);
The first three digits identify the groups (XXX00000-Y);
The first four digits identify the classes (XXXX0000-Y);
The first five digits identify the categories (XXXXX000-Y);


Each of the last three digits gives a greater degree of precision within each category

A ninth digit serves to verify the previous digits
The supplementary vocabulary may be used to expand the description of the subject of a contract. The items are made up of an alphanumeric code with a corresponding wording allowing further details to be added regarding the specific nature or destination of the goods to be purchased.


The alphanumeric code is made up of:
a first level comprising a letter corresponding to a section;
· a second level comprising four digits, the first three of which denote a subdivision and last one being for verification purposes.

Add tendering to your marketing plan

The great benefit potential buyers experience by purchasing through tenders is greater competition on the quality of solutions offered leading to cost savings. Similarly a potential supplier can find that the tendering process can lead to savings in the cost of selling and an organized approach to expanding their business.
It is currently estimated that at Public Procurement accounts for 25% of the world's annual GDP. This translates into a market-size of $1300 bn in the US, $1000 bn in Europe, $150 Bn in Africa & much more in Asia, Middle East, East Europe, and South America.
It still remains the fairest way for buyers to ensure they have received the best offer from the market. Tendering gives suppliers of products or services the same timeframe within which to respond and the same objectives to achieve. No preferential treatment is given to any potential supplier.
Once the invitation is published, the tendering process limits special treatment and potential for favoritism. Every submission is assessed on the merits of the supplier’s written response.
Businesses that win tenders demonstrate skill at addressing the requested instructions and communicating a compelling solution to the buyer’s evaluation panel. They take extra care to prepare a submission that responds directly to the questions asked. They address the requirements specified and communicate an understanding of the objectives the buyer wants to achieve.
Businesses that lose a client, or fail to win the tender, often blame the process before at their submissions.
We need to get a grip on tendering if we want our businesses to get amongst serious money! Our clients have told us many stories that reflect the value they get from tendering opportunities and I would share some of those in coming articles.With other form of marketing-such as advertising,telemarketing,direct mail and sales representation-there is generally a lot of effort and expense incurred in identifying potential clients who may have need for your product or services.It can take some time to develop a cold market to the stage where you can submit a quote or proposal for the sale,not to mention the often lengthy decision making process and changing requirements of each decision maker.The First Sale to new prospect is often made at unusually low margins to get your foot in the door.
Author-Rakesh Verma is working with leading Infomediary and Bidding Consultancy Company having vast experience in International Tendering(Email-rakesh.verma@tendersinfo.com)

Preparing the Perfect Tender

How you resource and prepare your tender response is crucial factor in presenting a winning tender. Once your company is in receipt of the tender documentation it must put into effect a dedicated tender strategy.
On receipt of Bidding document start a timescale diary. Log the receipt date and the due date for return of the document. Based on these dates and any other date stated for a pre-tender meeting, set out your response and appoint a Tender Manager with the authority to conscript assistance from other expertise within your company.
Tender Manager’s Initial Function.
a) Decide whether to tender or not.
b) Duplicate the required number of copies.
c) Produce a tender timescale diary.
d) Safety store two copies for the tender response.
e) Read the tender document and send off for any relevant reference documents stated in the document.
f) Log the date of request for this documentation and ensure its speedy receipt.
g) Decide what team of experts is required to complete the tender.
h) Call an initial meeting of the tender team.
(This may include input from your design, production, finance, legal, commercial and sales personnel. It is important to include any sales personnel who have knowledge of the client; they are likely to appreciate from their past contact any requirements the client feels are important. These may not be obvious from, or even stated in, the tender document, but when addressed in your tender are likely to be positively considered. This sets your bid above those of your competitors.)
First Tender Team Meeting
At the initial meeting agenda:
a) Read through the tender documents.
b) Reconsider decision to tender.
c) Assign different aspects of the tender to appropriate personnel present.
d) Note clearly on each copy who is responsible for each item.
e) Having referred to the tender timescale diary, fix a date for a second team meeting by which time all assigned work is to be completed.
*Should you decide to decline to tender because of various reasons, notify the tendering authority immediately. Give clear reasons for your decisions and express a wish to be consider for future contracts.
If, as a result of your team`s initial meeting, clarification is required, detail your questions for presentation at the pre-tender meeting or send the questions to the issuing authority for clarification; always send by fax and / or recorded delivery. Note the date of your request in your tender timescale and if there is no response within few days contact the client personnel.

Author: Rakesh Verma is working with leading B2B Infomediary and bidding Consultancy Company having vast experience in International tendering. (e-mail-rakesh.verma@tendersinfo.com)