As part of the E-procurement module, you can create Requirements which can then hold all information relating to a contract – this includes storing all the different questionnaires and notices that have been created as a part of this requirement.

  • To view and manage requirements, go to Sourcing > Requirements.
  • To view Requirements which are in the following stages: Cancelled, Closed or Expired press the on switch next to 'Archive'
  • Click Edit to change any of the details provided upon the requirement’s creation (you cannot edit Reference Prefix)
  • Open a specific requirement by clicking on it.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


Stage

When you create a requirement, you will be asked to specify a stage. 

You will be able to update this from within the requirement (using the button toward the top right-hand side of the screen) so that you can keep track of the current status.

The Stages are:

  • Research(Early engagement)
    • Research the market for supply options to fulfil requirement.
    • Suppliers can register interest and respond to your questionnaire.
    • Need to provide: Closing Date & Time for Research questionnaire responses.
  • Define(Future Opportunity)
    • Research internally to find expected spend requirements
    • Draft and test supplier selection questionnaire.
  • Tender(Opportunity)
    • Publish and capture bids using supplier selection questionnaire.
    • Evaluate suppliers' responses and (dis)qualify where appropriate.
    • Need to provide: Closing Date& Time for Tender questionnaire responses.
  • Evaluation
  • Negotiation
  • Award (Awarded Contract)
  • Cancelled
    • Need to provide: reason for cancelling requirement.
  • Closed
    • Need to provide: reason for closing the requirement. (e.g. contract has not expired, and a new one is in effect)
  • Expired
    • Includes the date and time of expiry. 



The following are descriptions of the tabs found within a requirement.


Details

Here, you can review all of the information provided relating to the requirement.

This information includes:

  • Closing date for research and tender response.
  • The contract start date and the contract end date.
  • Reference Prefix.
  • Your lowest or actual price, highest price specifications.
  • Postcode & region
  • CPV codes – select type of work from list provided which you can search by name or CPV code.
  • Suitability for SME's or VCSE's
  • People (Procurement, Contract Managers and Stakeholders)*
  • Customers**
  • Contract Review Date (optional)
  • Notice Period (optional)
  • Extension Period (optional)
  • Extension Date (optional)

You can edit the above information in Requirement fields by clicking Edit (unless indicated below)


*Editable by going to the "Peoples" tab of the requirement.

**Editable by going to the "Customers" tab of the requirement.


Description

  • Add a longer description within this tab – this can be edited at any time. Remember to click Save after editing.
  • When sending out notices, use this field to provide information on how suppliers can apply / any additional information they need to know. 
  • All notices will automatically pull in the information specified in the detailed description.


RFX

Here, you can view, manage, edit, and add Research or Tender questionnaires.


Notices

Here, you can view notices published on Contracts Finder, Find a Tender and the Public site. 


Comments

Procurement managers can add their own comments as well as edit or delete comments left by other users with commenting access. 

  • Here, you can store any comments, notes and editable information relating to the requirement.
  • You will need to specify what stage the comment relates to. This cannot be changed later.
  • Comments can include tables, lists, pictures and website links (these can't be links to files/folders).
  • Remember to click Save when finished.


Document Library

Here you can upload multiple documents relevant to the requirement, as well as view, download and delete them.

This area is split into folders correlating to the requirement stages.

  • Any documents which are attached in the library, if used in particular Questionnaires, will be marked to indicate this. 
  • If a Key User deletes these documents from the requirement, the marked ones, will also no longer be available to interested suppliers in their interface. 
  • Deleting a document cannot be undone and will present a warning indicating this. 


E-Signature

N.B. This requires the use of our additional eSignature module. Please ask your site administrator to submit a request via HQ if you wish to purchase this module for your site. Note that we use Legal Sign for this. See here for more information.  


The eSignature module is an additional feature within our Sourcing package, powered by LegalSign, streamlining the document signing process. This feature empowers users to efficiently manage the entire eSignature process, from document preparation to final storage, ensuring a seamless and legally compliant workflow.

  • On the eSignature tab you can upload documents for signing via PDF Templates or from the Document Library (One of the Requirement tabs) and add signing field(s) for each party (contact) involved. This is done by opening the downloaded pdf on the eSignatures tab and clicking where you want to add boxes to be signed. 
  • Emails for sending eSignautre requests are sent automatically once you have entered recipient names and emails. You can also choose sequential or simultaneous email notifications for recipients.
  • This process allows you to monitor request status, with options to delete, download audit logs, and unsigned copies.
  • Signers receive email notifications with links to accept or reject the request and the sender will receive Nudge notifications upon completion or rejection.
  • Once the document has been signed, you can download signed documents to your Local Machine or Document Library. Archive signing requests for record-keeping purposes.

Nudges

View and create Nudges relating to the requirement.

  • When creating a new Nudge from this tab, you will be able to attach any documents uploaded to the Documents Library tab.
  • You can select up to 20 participants involved with the requirement to send a Nudge to simultaneously. For the Customers you wish to send Nudges to, you can search for them via Organisation, Department, Section, etc. Once found select who you wish to nudge using the tick box then press Add and then select Set Selected. 
  • Nudge recipients (including suppliers) will be able to reply with any attachments of their own. 
  • Any user with access to a Nudge with attachments will be able to download the attached files from either the main Nudges screen or via the Nudges tab on the Requirement.
  • When viewing Nudges from this tab, you can filter them by status, the stage of requirement they're related to and when they were last updated. 
  • If a job is linked to the requirement, any nudges from that job will also appear and can be searched for by job number in the filter section.


People

View and add named people to the contract.

  • Procurement
    • Procurement people can manage, process and edit all details and stages of the requirement.
  • Contract Managers
    • Contract Managers can do all that a Procurement person can do except publish notices.
  • Stakeholder
    • Stakeholders can view all details and can add/edit their comments, documents and nudges.


Buyers

View, add and manage customers/clients of the contract.

Customers can be specified as companies/departments/sections.


Categories

Here you can specify if the contract is divided into lots by ticking the box, subject to access permissions.


See here for more information.


You need to also link the requirements to DirectP2P Cost Categories/ ProjectP2P Cost Descriptions. This can then also be pulled into your finance data reporting, if set-up.

  • Click Create New and search for relevant Direct P2P and/or Project P2P costs set-up. Remember to click Save Changes.
  • If using Requirement for P2P and/or Client Ordering, you can set-up ranking in a Category to tell the software in which order suppliers should be considered for automated orders/costs


If you need to add new costs:

  • For adding new DirectP2P Cost Categories, see here.


It is important to add your Categories so that you can make your Suppliers Live and also to manage your P2P workflow (if the site is set-up for P2P). 


Suppliers

Here, you can view all suppliers to do with this Requirement.  See here for more information.  

  • You will also be able to see the Qualification result of each supplier in this tab following participation in a tender Questionnaire.
    •  It shows each suppliers Qualification status next to each supplier, and you are also able to click into 'Questionnaires' next to each supplier, to view further details.
    • You can also make a supplier live against lot(s)/category(s) - see here for more information.
  • Here you can also manually qualify a supplier for a contract. (This only means that they are capable – not that they have been awarded the contract)
    • Click Manually qualify a Supplier and then search for the relevant one(s). 
    • A pop up message will then appear asking Are you sure? Ensure to double check the correct supplier has been selected and click Ok, if you do not wish to proceed with the supplier you have selected click Close.
    • NB: If the wrong supplier is manually qualified the action cannot be undone.
  • You can also add a Reference for each specific supplier.


Reminders

Create and view reminders for named users on the requirement.

  • You can set an icon, title, start date, end date and period of repetition. N.B. the end date will turn red when passed. 
  • You can click on the tick box on the row of each reminder to complete them. 
  • You can filter to view completed reminders by clicking Show Completed.
  • Reminder edits and completion will be recorded in the 'Audit Log'.


Audit

The Audit tab keeps a log of certain activities related to the Requirement for Audit purposes.

  • You can see the date & time of the activity, what the activity was, and the user. This includes the order in which opened, date and time and by which user attached Documents were downloaded and viewed. Also any amendments in the Requirement will be recorded here.
  • This information can be exported as an excel or pdf document.
  • Information stored in the Audit tab includes:
    • When a Questionnaire is published
    • When evaluators / clarification Q&A respondents are added/changed
    • When a document is attached or removed from a Tender Questionnaire
    • When a notice is created (drafted), edited, validated and published
    • When a user Registers Interest, Requests to Participate and is accepted to participate, and when a user is invited
    • When a document is downloaded from a Tender Questionnaire (from both the Register Interest screen and My Questionnaire view)
    • When a Clarification Question is raised and answered
    • When an Evaluator evaluates a section of a suppliers response to a Questionnaire
    • When a supplier is qualified and disqualified
    • When a supplier is assigned Categories
    • When a supplier is made Live 
    • When editing details in a requirement


Jobs

The Jobs tab shows the Jobs that have been linked to the Requirement.

  • Click here for how to link a Job to a Requirement.
  • Click here for how to link a Project (and all jobs within that Project) to a Requirement.


Custom Fields

Custom Fields are a way of storing information on a requirement that can then be used for reports on the Requirement page. For more information click here.


Customer, Supplier and People Leads: 


There is the option to show the lead person, customer and supplier for each requirement in the requirements table. To enable this Key Users have the option to nominate one lead in each of the following tabs using the crown icon :


• People tab: ‘Project Lead’ – a Procurement or Contract Manager named in this tab for the requirement

• Buyer's tab: ‘Lead Customer’ – an Organisation Department, or section named in this tab for the requirement

• Supplier’s tab: ‘Primary or sole Supplier’ – a Live supplier organization named in this tab for the requirement


Additionally, these three additions are now optional columns that can be pulled into the main Requirement dashboard for you to see this information at a glance, and allows you to export this information too through pdf or excel report features.


• Project Lead

• Lead Customer

• Supplier (primary or sole)


These details will also be able to be displayed on the Details tab.