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Anew cloud-based solution set to revolutionise the tendering and request for quotation (RFQ) system in many companies by bringing transparency and efficiency in how they go for tender is in the offing for the first time in Zimbabwe.
Tried and tested in South Africa, Kenya, Namibia, Tendersure is a secure and automated web-based tendering digital tool with an auditable system that curbs corruption and will leave both bidders and the companies satisfied with the outcome.
It is user friendly-the only requirement is a reliable internet access.
Being an entrepreneur in Zimbabwe inevitably leads to taking part in tenders. Or at least it should. Lots of businesses do not even bother to participate because of the red tape involved and the dented perception on the processes and final awarding of tenders that breeds ‘‘tender-prenuers’’. The media are awash with tender scandals on a daily basis both in the public and private sector alike.
“The state-of-the-art digitalised Tendersure will reduce the cumbersome process of going through the paperwork and makes sure that tenders and request for quotations result in what they are meant for: rewarding the best bidder for the job,” said company director Lungisani Ncube.
Tendersure is the service which will bring transparency, inclusivity, a sense of fairness and the correct allocation decisions to the tender process. It is a vast improvement on the current system by cutting down on project time and reducing risk and cost as it takes advantage of many benefits that digital data offers. The automation of the tendering process improves on current working practices by reducing tender period
It improves efficiency, both from a time and money point of view, as well as offers numerous decision support tools. The efficiency aspects lend themselves to a highly traceable and auditable system, which in turn helps to combat corruption. Bids are sealed and can only be viewed by authorised parties.
How Tendersure works:
Electronically codifying tenders
The tender is re-worked from its issued paper format into an electronic form where potential bidders are able to submit their information online in the comfort of their own offices. A simple web browser is sufficient for the bidder to access the Tendersure system and submit information, no additional software needs to be purchased in order to access or use Tendersure. All that’s needed is a web browser. All bidder data is stored in an encrypted database locked to the bidder’s user name and password.
Making tenders available on a server portal
New tenders or request for quotation can be issued through the same server portal used to collect the tender data from bidders. The tender issuer can communicate more directly with potential bidders by allowing them to register on the Tendersure system and select which tender category notices they wish to receive.
The bidders can then tailor their own information feed without requiring additional labour or costs to monitor bulletin boards and traditional tender notice boards. The bidders will receive notices into their personal (elected) email inbox.
Instantly communicates to bidders and clients
Tendersure will alert potential bidders via email and SMS of the issue of a new tender in their registered category. Bidders can then download the new tender from the system and decide whether or not they wish to bid on the new tender. This decision on whether to bid or not can now be made the same day that the tender is availed.
There is no need to wait for the tender notice to be issued or for the tender to be physically retrieved. Once a decision on the granting of a tender has been made, the same server portal is again used to communicate the decision to all the bidding parties as well as other interested parties. Supporting documentation is provided to bidding parties comparing their bid to the winning bid and the areas where the winning bid is superior to their own are highlighted. This allows bidders to identify the areas where their own business needs to improve in order to win future tenders, as well as provide transparency that the best bid has actually won.
The Tendersure system provides feedback during the bidding process; informing bidders of information missing from the bid that would cause the bid to be marked non-responsive (incomplete).
The bidder can create custom messages based on time and date triggers to alert them to bid milestones in addition to the automated ‘‘bid incomplete’’ messages. Email and SMS’es (at the bidder’s discretion) are the medium of communication.
Evaluation and ranking
After the time lock of the RFQ has passed, the Tendersure system retrieves the bid information and evaluates the bids according to the pre-defined criteria. This saves manpower on the side of the tendering party and provides assurance of an equitable, auditable evaluation for all bidding parties.
The tender bids are then ranked and submitted to the decision-making body in the form of a compact report with all the bid raw data attached. The winning bid must now be selected from amongst the best bids, severely reducing the benefit gained from illicit influence. Any decision too far outside the norm is instantly flagged to a watchdog body for investigation.
Reporting results
The results of the automated bid evaluation are provided in a report format (with raw data and ranking criteria attached) where the best bids are clearly identified and elevated above the non-responsive and undeserving bids. A tender decision committee is now able to apply their minds to evaluating the bids, rather than waste time with repetitive and mechanical vetting and calculation.
All recipients of the report can be confident of receiving consistent, coherent and unbiased data from which to draw conclusions. Once a decision is reached, all bidding parties will be informed of the decision automatically and provided with concrete information as to why their bids were unsuccessful, without the need for the tender issuer to divert additional resources.
Transparency and communication between the tender issuer and bidder is enhanced without the need for additional spending.
Archiving and relating
The digital storage and off site backup of tender data will ensure an audit trail of any tender for the foreseeable future. Any investigation will be able to access all tender data at a central location, which can also be made open to the general public.
Further, the centralised storage of tender data allows for the analysis and evaluation of trends. Spending differences across provinces or cost centres can be identified and investigated, allowing for the distribution of best practice and highlighting of illicit business practices such as price fixing.
Why use Tendersure?
Benefits and Features
Automated
Enhances security and ease of audit
Cuts down on turnover time
Data encryption of 128bit(Banking Standard)
Brings efficiencies to the tender process
Saves time and travel
Frees up company resources
Paper and storage reduced
Ease of audibility
Time locked
Complete audit trail
Process cannot be influenced
Brings peace of mind to tender process
Ranking done anonymously
Security
The bids cannot be viewed by anybody but the Bidder until the tender/RFQ closes.
Compliant with Zim-Asset
Reach us on the following numbers: Priscilla Makurumure: 0772 335 621; [email protected]; Lingisani Ncube 0772 210 614, [email protected]; Johan Le Roux, 0712 401 157, [email protected]
Online Reporter