Preparing the RFQ

Once the Sourcing Lead has completed the steps for preparing the procurement project, they can begin preparing the RFQ in P2i. The project's P2i Senior User or P2i Regional Manager is responsible for preparing the RFQ.

Note The most important thing to remember when preparing your RFQ in P2i is that you must follow your approved Evaluation Plan.

Watch the video on how to prepare an RFQ.

To prepare the RFQ:

  1. Click Create and select Request for Quote (RFQ) - Social Services.

  2. Add a Title for your RFQ (Project Code and Task Name are automatically populated).

    3. Note Follow your department's rules for naming your project. For example,
    Department/Name of Program/Region(s)/RFQ
    DCJYMA Youth at Risk CQ RFQ

    Consistently naming your RFQ Title allows it to be easily searched later and improves reporting.

    Refer to the Naming Conventions page for further guidance.

  3. Set Update Profile Question and Refresh Question Descriptions to Yes.

  4. Click Save.

Completing the Overview Details

The overview details contain information regarding the RFQ including a detailed description (up to 2000 characters), the type of supplier access (RFQ Open to All Suppliers or By Invitation Only), the estimated contract value, and the service types relevant to the RFQ.

To complete the overview details:

  1. Enter the RFQ Description.

  2. Select the Type of Supplier Access

    Tip You can choose to open the RFQ to all suppliers or set it to invitation only. An ‘open’ release to market is where any potential supplier can submit an offer. For this type of supplier access, choose RFQ Open to All Suppliers. A ‘select’ release to market is used for both ‘select’ approaches to market – a select number of suppliers are invited to submit an offer; ‘limited’ approaches to market – a single supplier is invited to submit an offer. In either of these approaches, choose By Invitation Only.

     

  3. Enter the Estimated Contract Value (inc. GST).

    Warning The Budget Tool is the source of truth for the contract value. If the field Estimated Contract Value (inc. GST) differs from the Budget Tool, then update the Estimated Contract Value field in P2i to match the Budget Tool.

  4. Choose to Hide Value from Suppliers.

  5. Leave Test RFQ set to No.

  6. Add any additional Service Types that are relevant to the RFQ.

Completing the RFQ Attributes and Date & Time Settings

  1. Leave the RFQ Type set as Standard RFQ.

  2. Enter the RFQ code for any Linked RFQs/RFIs or enter NA if this RFQ is standalone.

  3. Click Options for Viewing Responses.

  4. Select Sealed (sequential opening) for evaluators to open in order.

    Note There is an option for selecting Sealed (parallel opening), however it not recommended to select this option.

  5. Select Blind Behaviour under Visibility of Evaluation Group Comments During Evaluation.

    Note Blind Behaviour is required when you have multiple Evaluation Panel members and are planning to evaluate the supplier responses in P2i. If you are evaluating the supplier responses offline and then updating the moderated scores in P2i you can select Always Visible.

  6. Select No to Enable Opening Committees.

  7. Enter the RFQ Closing Date and Time.

  8. Enter the End Date for Buyer Replies to Messages.

  9. Enter the Number of Hours before Closing Time to block Expressions of Interest.

    Warning The Number of Hours before Closing Time to block Expressions of Interest field is not available if you have selected By Invitation Only.

Selecting the Envelopes and Awarding Strategy

  1. Select the Envelopes for inclusion in the RFQ.

    2. Tip It is recommended that you set all Envelopes to Yes.

    Qualification Envelope: The purpose of the Qualification Envelope is to gather information in order for the project's procurement authority to qualify suppliers. In P2i, many of the qualification questions are answered by the supplier when they register. Since it is not necessary to rank suppliers on the basis of their responses, scoring is not available.

    Technical Envelope: The purpose of the Technical Envelope is to gather details about the ability of the supplier to deliver the services that meet the evaluation criteria. This information is used to rank suppliers, so scoring is available. The evaluation team, consisting of the panel chair and panel members, evaluates responses in this envelope.

    Commercial Envelope: The purpose of the Commercial Envelope is to gather pricing information from suppliers. The evaluation team, consisting of the panel chair and panel members, evaluates responses in this envelope.

  1. Set the Supplier Response Ranking to Best Technical Score.

    Tip The option you select depends on your strategy and is outlined in your Evaluation Plan.

    No Ranking - this removes any scoring options.
    Best Technical Score - Scores can only be made against the selection criteria in the Technical Envelope. Suppliers are ranked on their response. This can be Absolute or Percentage Weighted.
    Best Price - Supplier response are ranked by the price they agree to perform the service for. This can set to Lower Price Preferred or Higher Price Preferred.
    Best Score - Supplier response are ranked by the score given to both the Technical Envelope and Commercial Envelope. This can be Absolute or Percentage Weighted.

  2. Set the Scoring Method to Percentage Weight.

    Tip For ‘limited’ approaches to market where a single supplier is invited to submit an offer, use an Absolute Scoring Method if it is the intent to score the Supplier responses as Met/Not Met.
    In this situation, enter a value equal to the number of selection criteria questions. For example, of there are four selection criteria questions enter a 4 as the Maximum Technical Score. When evaluating these responses, a score of 1 is Met and a score of 0 is Not Met.

    Note Click Ok when prompted.

  3. Leave the Default Scoring Calculation Criteria set to Automatic and Weights Visible to Suppliers set to No.

  4. Click Save.

Upload Attachments Visible to Suppliers

The RFQ contains an area where the Sourcing Lead can upload documents that are available to the Supplier. This can include the RFQ document and any templates that the Supplier needs to complete and attach to their response envelopes. This might include the Appendix A: Pricing Template.

To upload the attachments Visible to Suppliers:

  1. Click Attachments and select Visible to Suppliers.

  2. Refer to the topic, Creating a New RFQ Procurement Project for instructions on how to attach documents.

Note Continue with the next topic, Preparing the Response Envelopes.