Advanced Tendering Procedures & Bid Evaluation

Engaging and managing contractors and suppliers is a vital part of every organisation. Large sums of money are at stake, and projects of every size depend on selecting the right contractors, vendors, professional service providers and other third-party suppliers.

Procurement teams have to define user requirements clearly, attract the right bidders, evaluate their proposals correctly and make a contract award that holds up when it is questioned. This course gives you the methods and templates to do exactly that.

This advanced-level course covers the key elements of the procurement cycle up to and including contract signature. It is designed for professionals who carry out purchasing and contracting functions in any industry, in both the public and private sectors.

Over five days you will develop and sharpen the skills needed to manage tenders, bids and other competitive proposals: setting the strategy, running the process, writing the tender documents, evaluating bids and awarding the contract.

Full course details, day-by-day agenda and the 2027 brochure: tendering.za-icl.com

• Procurement & SCM – Procurement officers, buyers, purchasing professionals and supply chain practitioners.
• Contracts – Contract professionals, administrators, analysts and contract engineers.
• Bid committees – Members of specification, evaluation and adjudication committees who assess bids.
• Requesting departments – Specifiers and project leads who define requirements and help evaluate tenders.

By the end of the course you will be able to:

• Determine the procurement strategy options available for a given opportunity
• Plan and manage a competitive tender process from A to Z
• Identify, assess and propose how to manage procurement risks
• Select and apply alternative approaches to defining user requirements
• Create an appropriate evaluation methodology to judge bids and tenders
• Evaluate vendor proposals from a technical and commercial perspective
• Handle the outcomes of a competitive bid process

The facilitator uses a full range of lively, interactive training methods, including exercises, role plays, case studies, practice sessions and group discussions. Each topic is introduced with a presentation that highlights the key issues to focus on.

Learning is supported by a reference manual containing model documents and templates, case studies and examples of best practice. Delegates draft answers, make presentations and receive personal feedback, and discussions let participants share their own experiences with the group.

Day 1: Setting the Strategy for Bids & Tenders
As a procurement professional you need to lead, or support others, in setting the purchasing strategy and turning it into an effective tender plan.

• Competitive and non-competitive bids
• Selecting the tender strategy
• Creating the tender plan
• Using e-procurement techniques
• Analysing tendering risks
• Choosing the best contract type: lump sum, fixed price, cost reimbursement and measurement contracts
• Industry-specific contract types

Day 2: Best Practices in Tender Procedures
As the procurement lead, or a significant contributor to the tender plan, you need an excellent understanding of the tender process and how to add value to it.

• The end-to-end procurement cycle
• Seeking expressions of interest
• Advertising the contract
• Pre-qualification methodologies
• The importance of the internal cost estimate
• What is the role for negotiation?

Day 3: Optimising the Tender Documents
The tender process depends on bidders receiving documents they can understand and that encourage cost-effective solutions. Every document in the invitation pack can improve or reduce the prospects of a successful competition.

• Contents of the tender package
• Ensuring a robust specification / scope of work
• Defining the response you require from bidders
• Essential clauses in the draft terms and conditions
• Anticipating and reducing the risk of scope change

Day 4: Managing the Technical & Commercial Evaluation
The cheapest compliant proposal may not give the best value for money. How do you run a fair and transparent process that lets you select a bid that is not the lowest price?

• The purpose of bid evaluation
• Lowest price or best value for money?
• Stages of the evaluation
• Clarifying bids to assist the evaluation
• Choosing evaluation and award criteria
• Techniques to carry out the evaluation

Day 5: Managing the Contract Award Stage
The evaluation should lead to an award to the winning bidder and rejection of the unsuccessful bids – but results are sometimes challenged, or the winner declines. Learn the traps to avoid so the competition leads to contract commencement.

• Communicating the results internally and externally
• Working with tender bonds and performance guarantees
• Dealing with disputed contract awards
• Operating under pre-contract letters of intent
• Managing pre-contract scope changes

Full course details, day-by-day agenda and the 2027 brochure: tendering.za-icl.com