Post tender requests are a form of communication and workflow in Felix that allows you to interact with shortlisted vendors of your choice following the Open RFQ period.
Once you have reviewed and evaluated all quotes, you may need to solicit revised documentation and/or pricing from select vendors as you refine your choice for your required package/scope of work.
Post tender requests offer the following functionality:
- Select which vendors you wish to communicate with from the list of Quoted vendors on your RFQ
- Prepare a communication with one or more vendors that includes a message, and can include documents and/or pricing.
- Request the same Pricing Schedule version (refined pricing rates), or a new version (new pricing structure) when requesting pricing in a post tender request (for Pricing Schedule customers)
- Pricing requests to vendors on a post tender request generate a new "Submission" from the vendor, so you can track changes in pricing and the effectiveness of your negotiations as they relate to price.
- Track responses to post tender requests in a separate field on the Vendors tab.
- Access a history of Submissions from vendors, including submission level comments and documents
- For Pricing Schedule (bill of quantity) feature customers, toggle between vendor submissions in the Pricing Schedule comparison screen.
- For Public API customers, analyse the evolution of pricing across vendor Submissions from both the Open RFQ period and Closed period with post tender requests.
Limitations
Post tender requests enable new submissions from vendors for additional documents, quote comments, and pricing, while previous submission information is also retained for comparison purposes.
It is not currently possible however to request updates to (new submissions for):
- Requested documents - these are specific mandatory fields for vendors to respond with specific document requests in order to qualify to Submit. They are collected from vendors in the Open RFQ period if you included them at RFQ creation.
- Quote Requirements (Questions) - these are YES/NO/NA question and answer fields that a vendor must respond to in order to qualify to Submit. They are collected from vendors in the Open RFQ period if you included them at RFQ creation.
These two sets of artefacts are still available to view in the closed RFQ period; they are associated with "Submission 1" which is the original quote period submission.
Post tender request rules
The following business logic is established in Felix around post tender requests:
- Post tender requests are only available on Closed RFQs
In Open RFQs you have options to issue Addendums to all vendors, or to "allow quote updates" for specific vendors.
- Only Quoted vendors from the Open RFQ period can be issued post tender requests
Manually Quoted vendors have been deemed non-responsive to online interactions, however you can update their documents and comments on their behalf by using "Update response".
- Once a post tender request has been issued, the RFQ cannot be re-opened
- Post tender requests do not have a close date/time
It is assumed that at this shortlisted stage that there is tightly coordinated and incentivised communication and timelines.
- Post tender requests must contain a title and message, but can optionally include documents, or optionally request a pricing update from the vendor.
- A post tender request can be issued "over the top" of an existing, Pending one, if needed. The vendor will be able to respond to the latest request only.
- (If your organisation uses these features) If an RFA is Sent for Approval, or Engagement is issued to a vendor, any Pending post tender requests for that vendor are cancelled - and - new post tender requests cannot be issued to them until the RFA or Engagement is declined.
Vendor response options for post tender requests
When a vendor is sent a post tender request, they have two options:
- Submit/Respond
In this case, the vendor will be required to respond to any requested pricing updates (if requested), and can optionally include documents and comments.
- Respond with "No Update"
If the vendor has reviewed your communication (message, documents and pricing (if requested)) and deemed that no further updates are needed or possible, they can select "No Update"
Sending a post tender request
See this article to get started and send your first post tender request.
