"Anderson Scientific is a very small business - in fact I am sole trader, but I have found that there are opportunities to tender for collaborative contracts."
Robert Anderson,
Anderson Scientific
The tendering process
The following provides an overview of what you can expect as a supplier during the tender management phase of Scotland Excel contract placement process.
Tendering
Restricted Procedure
If the contract is being developed using a two-stage restricted tender, you may be asked to complete a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) at the tender management stage.
PQQs are used to create a short list of suitably qualified suppliers by ascertaining and assessing their experience and capacity to deliver the contract requirements. Parts of the questionnaire will be weighted and scored, and the suppliers achieving the highest overall marks will be invited to submit a tender.
If you are successful at the PQQ stage, tender documents and supporting information will be sent to you if you, and these must be completed and returned by the due date for your offer to be considered.
Suppliers who are unsuccessful at the PPQ stage will receive a debrief letter stating why they failed to meet the selection criteria.
Open Procedure
Where a contract is being developed using the open procedure, tender documents and supporting information are sent to all the suppliers that respond to a tender advertisement. These documents have to be completed and returned by the due date if you wish your offer to be considered.
Evaluation and award
Once the closing date has passed, all offers that have been received are evaluated using the criteria and weighting specified within the tender documentation. Suppliers are ranked according to the score achieved during the evaluation process, and one or more suppliers will be selected for contract award.
The tender process now enters the standstill period where suppliers are notified of the outcome of their submission, and those who have not been successful have an opportunity to obtain more information about the evaluation and take appropriate action if they believe they have been treated unfairly.
Once the standstill period has passed, Scotland Excel will contact the successful suppliers to begin planning the contract implementation phase. This includes setting review dates, gathering the information required to produce catalogues and, where appropriate, arranging demonstrations for customers.
If your offer is unsuccessful, you will be invited to attend a debrief meeting where you will have an opportunity to discuss your submission in more detail. These meetings offer a valuable learning experience for suppliers by identifying ways to improve their bids and increase their chances of success in future.
If you have any concerns about how the tender process has been conducted, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will work with you to try and resolve the matter. If you are not satisfied with our response, the Single Point of Enquiry (SPoE) provides an independent, impartial and confidential service for suppliers to raise any issues about public procurement.
- Contract placement process
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