Tendering for Government Contracts

Electronic trading

Government Departments and agencies have been set targets aimed at increasing their levels of electronic business. One of OGC's priorities is to help achieve these targets by using the internet in the procurement process.

If you are e-enabled, you may find more opportunities and quicker and easier methods of doing business.

Some recent initiatives include the following.

• Government Procurement Cards - The Government Procurement Card (GPC) is a branded Visa purchasing card which can cut out the need to send out purchase orders or deal in paper-based systems. Orders are placed directly with suppliers, either by personal visit, phone, fax, e-mail, over the internet, or built into an electronic ordering process. Once accepted, approval to release the goods or service is given and a delivery is made. The GPC has been introduced across central government and the wider public sector and has been traditionally used to buy low-value goods and services directly from suppliers although the transaction values are steadily increasing. The advantage to you when public-sector organisations use GPC is that it removes a lot of the paperwork and associated costs because not only do you receive faster payment, your credit control can diminish, there is a reduction in invoice queries, and the need for duplicated invoices is diminished. Your account is usually credited within two to four days.

• eSourcing - OGCbuying.solutions are currently carrying out a procurement exercise into electronic sourcing applications,known as eSourcing. Traditional sourcing covers identifying requirements through 'expression of interest' ((EOI), pre-qualification questionnaires, issuing and receiving tenders, and evaluation and contract award. The aim is to e-enable these processes by offering applications that cover eTendering, eEvaluation, eRFI (request for quote and information), eCollaboration, and eContract Management. This should help standardise the process by which all companies tender for public sector contracts.

• Electronic Government Marketplace - OGC are currently running a procurement exercise for an electronic government purchase to pay market place, called Zanzibar. Zanzibar excludes the sourcing of new contracts. It is a single-access ­ point market place and offers a number of benefits to suppliers. These include reduced transactional costs, quicker payment (automatically matching orders and invoices), process savings and increased accuracy. Zanzibar will benefit both large and small suppliers. It is hoped to be up and running by April 2005. Further information can be found on the OGC website.

• eAuctions - OGC announced the award of the eAuctions (Electronic Reverse Auctions) Framework in December 2003. The Framework consists of five suppliers providing hosted electronic reverse auction solutions and related services to the public sector. eAuctions have proved particularly successful when used with requirements that have clearly defined specifications and where there is a vibrant market. eAuctions are being increasingly used in public and private sectors as standard practice, both in prime contracts and in securing value in the supply chain. Suppliers are also realising the benefits of online bidding because of transparency and increased market awareness. The process also ensures total transparency for the buyer and suppliers taking part in the bidding process and guarantees security and anonymity for both via secure internet access.