Situation
The buyer wanted to go out to the market to consider a new Recruitment and Temporary Labour Agent. The business was not really unsatisfied with the incumbent provider, but the current contract had not been renegotiated for years, and with a spend of £1,200,000 a year for several sites across the United Kingdom, the buyer wanted to consider alternative solutions that could include additional services as well as lower costs.
Solution
- A structured Request for Proposal (eRFP) process was initiated
- Stakeholder requirements added to the eRFP - suppliers were asked how they would handle things like Management Reporting, Quality Systems, Online booking etc.
- Documents like purchasing terms & conditions, Service Level Agreement, Ordering & Management processes etc. uploaded to the eRFP
- 50+ suppliers invited
- To participate suppliers had to accept an NDA in order to be allowed access to the eRFP
- Suppliers were given 2 weeks to complete their response
- Built-in Question & Answer process to handle all queries
Result
- About 20 suppliers could not meet the requirements so were excluded from the process
- 29 suppliers were capable of handling the contract Price indications showed a very tight competition and it was decided to proceed to an eAuction negotiation prior to award of contract
In the words of the buyer: "I certainly enjoyed the process over a traditional negotiation. I think an eRFP process really puts suppliers in the right mind-set - suppliers see it as a very professional process"
