Stay up to date with the latest releases and features from Felix.
Available for: Vendor Management
To improve the accuracy of information submitted for payment details, we are now validating BSB numbers for Australian and New Zealand vendors to ensure the right number of digits is entered with no special characters.
For our enterprise customers, this will assist with extracting accurate payment detail information through the in-app CSV reports or via the API.
We have also performed a clean-up of existing BSB numbers in Felix, removing any spaces or special characters that were incorrectly stored.
Available for: Procurement Schedule
We've made some small improvements to the Title Column in Procurement Schedule to help usability:
Available for: Sourcing customers testing RFx (Alpha Release)
We’re currently in user testing for a feature that allows Sourcing customers to quickly create requests in Felix for the most common type of RFx events, where no approval workflows are required. We’ve named this RFx (Alpha Release).
As we continue to add functionality to this feature, we’ve now added Documents Groups configuration to RFx templates so that you can provide tailored sets of document groups for different sourcing use cases. Document groups are a great way to remind users of the various documents that need to be included, and in what order. And on the vendor side, they have an ordered way to be presented documents to read through.
RFx templates can now be setup to present the default document groups from your organisation, a custom set of groups, or a single group for the simplest sourcing events.
When building your RFx event, you can also add and delete Document Groups (and their documents), so you can adjust from the template behaviour as needed for any unique cases.
Organise and categorise files by using Document Groups
Available for: account administrators
Keep track of active and inactive Felix users in the User Management CSV export. We've added a new Status column that details who are Active, Inactive, or Deleted so that you can manage your user base.
Available for: all enterprise users
Ever wondered what we’re working on to continually enhance and evolve Felix?
You can now learn about what’s next for Felix with the launch of our customer-facing roadmap.
We’re excited to bring this to you - where you will not only see what’s being worked on and what stage initiatives are at, but most importantly vote and provide feedback on ideas that we are exploring, and make your own suggestions as to what you would like to see in Felix.
Together, we can shape a better platform to support your vendor management and procurement processes, helping you derive even more value from Felix.
Access our customer-facing roadmap through Felix to see what's next, submit your own ideas and submit feedback
Make sure you check it out now! To learn how to access the roadmap, provide feedback and submit your own ideas, refer to our Help Page. We look forward to building an even better Felix with you!
Available for: Sourcing
You can now postpone the entry of a contract start date and end date till you Award a vendor.
Previously, Felix required that you provide these dates at the Recommendation for Award (RFA) stage, however we have heard from you that this isn't always known at the time of an RFA.
Now, once you have an approved RFA, have finalised the contract, and are ready to complete the Award - you can then enter the contract start and end dates.
Available for: Vendor Management
When viewing your Vendor List, vendors operating with expired or invalid Australian Business Number (ABN) will be flagged as red in the Business Number column. Flagged vendors may need to update or re-apply for an ABN so that they remain compliant to operate as a business in Australia, which is critical information for you to know prior to engaging in business with them.
Vendors with expired or invalid ABNs are now flagged in the Vendor List
Available for: Sourcing
Sourcing customers who use InEight Document or Aconex can connect their DMS to Felix projects in the Integrations tab.
When doing this, we heard that clicking Test Connection before clicking Save was a confusing experience, so we improved this workflow. You can now simply click Connect to establish a connection.
Click Connect to establish a connection with your DMS, without the need to test the connection first
Available for: Vendor Management
We've introduced new technology that allows vendors to enter their Australian Business Number (ABN) to pull business details directly from the Australian Business Register (ABR) when onboarding in Felix.
This will reduce the risk of having manual errors and incorrect vendor details in Felix, as their business information (such as legal entity name, entity type and ABN status) will be correct as per ABR records.
Not only will it save vendors time as they aren't completing these details manually, it will also save you time having to review and check this information as business details will be accurately pulled from the ABR.
Vendors enter their ABN to have business details automatically pulled from the ABR
Available for: Sourcing
If you have updated an RFQ response on behalf of a vendor, you can now delete this response if it’s no longer required. This means that responses can now be resumed and/or resubmitted if there was an error or the vendor’s circumstances have changed.
Learn how to delete a response.
Delete manual RFQ responses if there is an error, if a vendor wants to quote themselves, or if circumstances have changed.
Available for: Sourcing
We heard from users that more context was needed, in a more readily available and quickly digestible format, when comparing vendor RFQ evaluations.
Now, when reviewing responses to RFQ evaluations in the handy Compare Vendors table, you can easily drill down to see the reasoning behind scores that have been provided by evaluators, and where vendors stood out or fell down on a question-by-question basis..
You can expand the table to see more information, or view as a collapsed table for a quick summary.
When the table is expanded:
Learn how to view assigned and completed evaluations.
Expand the 'Compare Vendors' table to have more context when reviewing responses to RFQ evaluations
Available for: Sourcing
When creating an Addendum, you’ve always been able to upload new files and update existing files at the same time, however this action wasn’t clear in Felix.
We’ve made enhancements to the Addendum screen (in the Communications tab) that spells out this process more clearly.
Clearly see where you can upload and revise files when creating an Addendum
Available for: Sourcing customers testing RFx (Alpha release)
We’re currently in user testing for a feature that allows Sourcing customers to quickly create requests in Felix for the most common type of RFx events, where no approval workflows are required. We’ve named this RFx (Alpha release).
The InEight Document and Aconex integration that currently exists in our Sourcing module is now available in RFx (Alpha release) so that customers can test importing documents, drawings, photos and other project files directly into the request that they are creating for their RFx events.
To use this, the InEight Document or Aconex integration will need to be enabled for your project as per the current process for the Sourcing module.
Import files directly from InEight Document and Aconex into your RFx event request
Help us build a better experience in Felix
If you want to be part of our user research with our Product Team to help us test new and exciting features, sign up here.
Available for: Sourcing
Sealed Bidding is the ability to keep RFQ responses hidden from stakeholders until the RFQ has closed.
You can already use Sealed Bidding for the whole organisation in Felix, but we understand that not all projects want to be governed that way, so flexibility at the project level was desired.
Sealed Bidding can now be configured per project. This means all responses for RFQs assigned to a configured project will remain confidential until the RFQ is closed, bringing you some of the probity controls your organisation and clients expect.
Turn on Sealed Bidding for your project.
Turn on Sealed Bidding in your project settings
Available for: Sourcing
Available for: Procurement Schedule
Some of you may have noticed that if you named two columns to the same, then working out which one to show/hide in the hidden fields function was near impossible. Fields are now organised better in the show/hide list and we added functionality to stop duplicate column names.
An example of the functionality added to stop duplicate column names in Procurement Schedule
Available for: Sourcing
On the interactions page for a vendor profile, for RFQ interactions, we have added the RFQ title (in addition to the RFQ number) for additional context and converted the text to a hyperlink for easier navigation to the RFQ in Felix.
Available for: Sourcing
If you're using the InEight Document or Aconex integration to import documents into your RFQ, we've updated the document title format to provide additional details. You and your vendors will not only see the document name, but also the document number, revision number and document status when importing and downloading the documents in Felix. This will help you ensure that the right documents are imported to Felix, while vendors will clearly understand which document revision they are using, reducing confusion and risk for incorrect updates.
Before:
Now:
Available for: Sourcing
We know we have a lot to do in this space and see lots of requests for additional formatting in RFQ and RFA questionnaires.
For now, we have added a new function where you can add a section to questionnaires (for RFQ and RFA) with simply text. We allow rich text editing (fonts, bullets, numbered bullets) and the use of hyperlinks. Questionnaire users will not be required to respond to this section when using the form. This will help in cases that you want to provide more guidance to users or approvers, potentially including external reference information like procedures.
Reach out to your Customer Success Manager to discuss changes to your RFQ or RFA questionnaires.
Available for: Sourcing customers testing RFx (Alpha release)
We’re currently in user testing for a feature that allows Sourcing customers to quickly create requests in Felix for the most common type of RFx events, where no approval workflows are required. We’ve named this RFx (Alpha release).
As we continue to add functionality to the new RFx feature, we have now added the ability to add Quote Requirements to RFx templates. This allows you to ask vendors standardised questions and get Yes, No or N/A responses. Unlike our existing RFQ feature, users can add, edit and delete questions themselves. We are considering application of the "Apply to" functionality you may use on the existing RFQ feature, however are taking some time to rethink and redesign this functionality to make it better.
Help us build a better experience in Felix
If you want to be part of our user research with our Product Team to help us test new and exciting features, sign up here.
Available for: Sourcing (Pricing Schedule) and Procurement Schedule
We recently released some improvements to allow the use of Enter, Escape, Arrow and Tab keys to navigate and edit schedules in Felix. We still have a lot more to do in this space, but understand how important enhancements like this are to power users used to spreadsheet applications, plus those desiring more accessibility options in general.
Available for: Procurement Schedule and Sourcing (Pricing Schedule)
When clicking on a cell in Procurement Schedule or in Pricing Schedule (Sourcing module), the whole row is now highlighted so you can keep track of what row you’re working in. You will also notice rows are highlighted as you hover and moving your mouse cursor across the schedule.
An example of highlighted rows in Procurement Schedule
Available for: Sourcing
We’ve heard from you that understanding the latest quote coverage for your procurement packages is a key driver of success for your project procurement. Having this information in one place, and always up to date is important so that you can adjust the sourcing tactics as needed with your team.
However, bidders are all different in how they are setup to tender. They don't always get around to loading their response in Felix and therefore, would appreciate some flexibility in how they can respond to your needs.
We’ve now added functionality that allows you to update an RFQ response on behalf of a vendor.
You can upload attachments and comments for quotes received offline so that a vendor’s response is seen as Manually Quoted in Felix. You can do the same when a vendor declined the opportunity so that a vendor’s status appears as Manually Declined, so that you know not to follow up with that vendor.
The end result? You can now keep the whole team aligned in Felix with a single source of truth on quote coverage, even for offline responses.
Refer to the Help Guide for more details, including how you can also put a Manually Quoted vendor forward for a Recommendation for Award.
Manually respond to an RFQ on behalf of a vendor
Available for: Procurement Schedule and Sourcing
For those Procurement Schedule and Pricing Schedule users with a keen eye, you may have noticed the row numbers were cut off when more than three characters long. We've now fixed that.
Available for: Sourcing
Have confidence in knowing your vendors have the most up-to-date tender information by integrating Felix and InEight Document.
Felix’s direct integration with InEight Document allows you to seamlessly and securely import documents, drawings, photos and other project files that support your RFQ.
Felix checks InEight Document daily for any amendments made to documents attached to an RFQ. You can choose to sync these revisions to Felix and send to vendors, eliminating the need to manually update documents twice between the two platforms.
To learn more:
What is the InEight Document integration?
Connecting Felix and InEight Document
Importing from InEight Document
Checking for InEight Document updates
Releasing InEight Document revisions
Felix directly connects to InEight Document, allowing you to easily import files directly into your RFQ
Available for: Vendor Management
It's rare that a vendor will update both their password and payment details within a short period of time - we would consider this suspicious activity. To help monitor this behaviour, we've introduced a notification to alert organisations of this unusual activity coming from vendors, so you can take any necessary follow-up action.
New notification that warns organisations of suspicious activity
Available for: Vendor Management
Mistakes can happen, and human error means that sometimes compliance documents can be validated or declined by accident. Rather than having to reach out to the vendor to resubmit documentation, you can now update the validation of a compliance document yourself within Felix. Simply open the compliance document and click the pencil icon in the Outcome field to change the status to ‘validated’, ‘pending’ or ‘declined’.
Change the status of compliance documents in the Outcome field
Available for: Vendor Management
When observing the value of compliance documents within a vendor profile, we've added currency formatting so that these monetary values can be more easily understood.
See new currency formatting under Value column
Available for: Contract Management
We heard that you often distribute the contracts CSV report to other stakeholders and have further details captured in Felix you'd like to surface. We have therefore added the Internal Notes and Scope of Work fields to the CSV export.
See fields for Internal Notes and Scope of Works added to the CSV report
Available for: Contract Management
You and your team put in a ton of work to draft and negotiate your contracts. Delivering on the value post-execution requires a timely focus on deliverables, notices and other tasks. We understand that missing even one action can sometimes have significant downside for your business.
We've added functionality to the Contract Management module that allows you to bring key dates to life, and connect reminders for your team to take action.
Make key dates more accessible and bring them to life out of the contract document
Don't miss critical dates or deadlines. Store and keep track of key dates in one summary view for your team and stakeholders to access quickly, without always having to start with searching the large contract document.
Existing key dates are carried across from the Summary tab, and you can add your own
Organise your team and reduce risk by setting reminders
Stay on top of important contract management deliverables and tasks by setting email reminders for team members.
You can set reminders on, before, or after a key date specified in the key dates view - or simply set one for a specific date. And you can assign to team members other than the Contract Owner.
Utilising reminders based off key dates in Felix starts to bring your static contract document "off the shelf" and to life for your team.
Set reminders for a specific date, or connect them to a Key Date
Available for: Sourcing
We've added more power to the Pricing Schedule, allowing you to keep even more of your end-to-end RFP process in one place.
Below is a summary of what's changed, however you can read the detailed information about the enhancements here.
With the Pricing Schedule, you can now:
Available for: Sourcing
To speed up the process of creating an RFQ, once you've uploaded all the documents into your RFQ (step 2) and proceed to the packages tab (step 3), these documents will be pre-selected as the default option to include as an attachment. This also ensures any important documents are not left off the RFQ.
If a document isn't needed, it's easy to deselect before continuing with the RFQ creation process.
Files uploaded into Documents are included as attachments in the RFQ
Available for: Vendor Management
When inviting a vendor to Felix, you can now capture vendor invite justification, so that approvers can understand the reason why a vendor is being invited, helping organisations to better manage their vendor base.
You can now:
Add further justification so that vendors can understand why that vendor is being invited to Felix
Learn more about how to invite a new vendor or how to invite a marketplace vendor.
Available for: Vendors
We've made several enhancements to the way that vendors respond to RFQs in Felix, providing a more intuitive process for vendors, and ideally in turn, more RFQ responses for organisations.
Below is a summary of what's changed, however you can read the detailed information about the enhancements here.
What's changed for vendors?
What's changed for organisations?
While these changes have no direct impact on the format of information your organisation receives in response to an RFQ, we think it’s useful to know what has changed for your vendors, in case you get any comments or questions.
Available for: Procurement Schedule
No need to scroll to the end of the Procurement Schedule to click the '+' button and add column groups. Simply click the '+' button located in your column group header to reveal another option that allows you to perform this action.
Look for the '+' button in the column group header to create a new column group
Available for: Sourcing
When pressing the Download All button to obtain documents that a vendor responded with in an RFQ, Felix generates a zip file. We’ve added the vendor into the name of the zip file, so that you can easily distinguish between the zip files if downloading all documents from multiple vendors.
For example:
Before: RFQ1234.zip
Now: RFQ1234_RED_EARTHWORKS_LTD.zip
Available for: Contract Management
We understand many customers issue $0 contracts such as Frame Agreements and don't wish to complicate reporting with a forced $1 value. So we now allow $0 contract values in the contract repository.
Available for: Procurement Schedule
When using drop-down field types in the Procurement Schedule, you told us that in some instances the drop-down lists weren’t showing all the options that you can choose from. For example, when searching for a package status or a package category. This behaviour was due to paginated options in the drop-downs.
We’ve made an improvement here to show all available options on click, so you don’t need to guess what options are available and can navigate the schedule a lot faster.
Refer to the August release notes here
Refer to the July release notes here
Refer to the June release notes here
Refer to the May release notes here
Refer to the April release notes here
Refer to the March release notes here
Refer to the February release notes here
Refer to the January release notes here
Check out the enhancements made to Engagements
Direct Integration: Felix and Oracle Aconex
Refer to the October release notes here
New API Extension: Procurement Schedule
Product Update: Search Marketplace
Upcoming changes: Projects and Services
Vendor list improvements - due early March
Vendor unlock and decline improvements
