Government organizations and departments as well as other public sector enterprises such as banks often follow a two-stage RFQ process. This process involves the submission of quotes in two separate sealed envelopes. One contains what is termed the technical quote, and the other contains what is called the commercial quote
The technical quote includes all responses to questions and parameters pertaining to the technical aspects that are used by the sourcing organization to evaluate the technical feasibility of the quotes and the capacity of the suppliers. The commercial quote addresses the issues of price and other factors associated with the execution of the sourced items.
This process is prevalent among private sector and government organizations where it is sometimes mandated by law that the buying organization offer the tender or sourcing contract to the lowest price bid from the qualified bidders. The buying organization initially assesses the suppliers to be technically qualified before their price quotes are unsealed and evaluated. This is done to ensure no bias in awarding the contract.
The Two-Stage RFQ process involves the submission by the suppliers of a technical quote and a commercial quote. The technical quotes are opened and evaluated first to determine a list of qualified suppliers, and only then are the commercial quotes of the qualified suppliers opened and evaluated.
Using Two-Stage RFQs in Oracle Sourcing
The process of creating and using Two-Stage RFQs in Oracle Sourcing is straightforward:
Create the Two-Stage RFQ
Publish the RFQ
Receive suppliers' quotes
Close RFQ
Unlock the technical responses (buyer and technical evaluators can now see technical response)
Unseal the technical responses - optional (suppliers can now see technical response of other suppliers)
Technical evaluators review the technical quotes and shortlist the qualified suppliers
Note: If the buyer has not locked the RFQ and tries to complete the Technical Evaluation, the application displays a message that states: "Scoring has not been locked, therefore manual scores are not included in the scoring." You can cancel the evaluation at this stage, and go back to unlock the scoring, or proceed to complete the technical round, and then return to the commercial round.
Unlock the commercial responses of the qualified suppliers (Collaboration Team members with full access to the negotiations can see both technical and commercials responses, and Scoring Team members have access to the sections to which they have been assigned).
Unseal commercial responses - optional (suppliers can now see responses of other suppliers).
Commercial evaluators review the commercial quotes
Make award decisions
Note that during the evaluation stages, only evaluators assigned to the scoring team for that stage can view that stage's sensitive response information. If a buyer or supplier prints a pdf copy of the negotiation, the print indicates that it is a two-part RFQ, and labels Requirements sections appropriately.
Visibility of Quote Information by Evaluation Team During Technical Evaluation
| Quote Information | Technical Evaluators Can See |
|---|---|
| Technical Requirements responses | Yes |
| Commercial Requirements responses | No |
| Price | No |
| Quantity | Yes |
| Promised date | Yes |
| Line attributes (including Quantity and Promised Date for Multi-Attribute Scored negotiations) | Yes |
| Cost factors, price tiers and price breaks | No |
| Contract terms | Yes |
| Complex work terms | No |
| "From Supplier: Technical" attachments | Yes |
| "From Supplier: Commercial" attachments | No |
| Other response information | Yes |
After the commercial responses are unlocked, the entire quote is visible subject to regular RFQ security (for example, Scoring Team access settings, security level assignments).
Creating Two-Stage RFQs
Creating Two-Stage RFQs is similar to creating regular RFQs. The main difference is that you create two sections of Requirements, one or more identified as Technical and one or more identified as Commercial. In the technical section(s), you define Requirements that the technical evaluators will later use to determine which suppliers are capable of successfully addressing the technical requirements of your negotiation. The commercial section(s) include the Requirements that the commercial evaluators will review when determining which technically qualified supplier is offering the best commercial terms for the negotiation.
To create a Two-Stage RFQ:
On the negotiation header page, click the Two-Stage RFQ checkbox. .
Add all appropriate evaluators for both the technical and commercial stages as collaboration team members. Give them either Full or Score access.
Define at least two Requirements sections, one containing your technical questions to the supplier and the other containing your commercial questions.
Create appropriate scoring teams to perform the technical evaluation and the commercial evaluations. Assign each team its appropriate members and assign each team its appropriate sections.
Continue creating your RFQ normally. Be aware that responses to any line attributes will only be visible to technical evaluators, and responses to cost factors will only be visible to commercial evaluators.
After quotes have been submitted and you have closed the RFQ, you can process it.