Creating and Setting Up eAuctions

N.B. This is an additional module to our Sourcing package. Please submit a request via HQ if you wish to purchase this module for your site. 

Creating an eAuction

eAuctions are created in and linked to specific Requirements

• Head to Sourcing > Requirements and click into the relevant Requirement.
• Go into the RFX tab and click the 'Add RFX' button, then select the "EAuction" option.
• This then opens up a pop-up for you to set-up the main details of the EAuction (note that you won't be shown all options for the settings until it's been saved). See below under Setting up for guidance.
• Fill in the details for your eAuction as prompted, then click 'Create Auction'

Your eAuction has now been created and will be stored in the RFX tab of your Requirement as a Draft

Setting up your eAuction

Specification and Settings

These are the specification and general settings of the eAuction you need to input straight away. These can be changed at any point.

Specification

• Title - The title of the eAuction as it will appear onscreen to all users. 
• Specification - this should hold any information about the eAuction that participants may need. This should include any relevant information on specific lots. The specification will be accessible by participants when they are invited as well as throughout the process.

Contact Details 

You can select the main contact for the eAuction - this will be available for participants to see when they are invited as well as throughout the process.

The drop-down list includes anyone named on the Peoples tab of the requirement as a Procurement or Contract Manager. You need to select one to be the main contact, and their details will automatically be pulled in

Auction Settings

This is the settings behind how the eAuction is ran

• Auction Start Date/Time- the start date/time that you wish to schedule the eAuction for 
  • Please note, that this does not mean the eAuction will automatically start at this date/time - you will still need to manually start the eAuction. This just allows you to inform suppliers when the eAuction is intended to start, and the contact and suppliers will recieve a notification 30 minutes before this date/time

• Registration Deadline Date - the date/time by which any suppliers looking to participate must have expressed their interest by. Suppliers won't be able to register interest for the eAuction after this 

• Minimum Auction Duration - the minimum time the eAuction will be active for
  •  eAuction administators won't be able to close the eAuction earlier than this time
  • if the eAuction host doesn't extend the eAuction, it will automatically end once the min auction duration passes (unless the below scenario occurs)
• Dynamic Close Period - this is a specified length of time counting from the end of the auction that if a supplier submits a winning bid within this time, the eAuction will automatically be extended by 2 more minutes

Documents

This tab will hold any documents relevant to the eAuction. 

Here you can upload any supporting documents for the eAuction. Invited and participating suppliers will be able to access documents you upload.

• Documents can be uploaded from either your PC or from the document library of the parent Requirement using the 'Add a Document' or 'Add from Document Library' buttons. 

Suppliers will also be able to upload their own documents before and during the eAuction. If suppliers upload documents in here, only the Key User and supplier can view these

• Documents added will show the File Name, Size, Uploader, Uploader Organisation and the date the document was added. There is the option to download or delete any documents uploaded depending on your user role.

Item(s)

Here you need to add the item(s) for the suppliers to bid on. You can add multiple items if the 

Each item (or items together) should be representative of a Lot from the parent requirement. I.e.. If Lot 1 is Laptops and Headphones it may be separated out to have an item for Laptops and an item for Headphones individually.

To add an item, click the 'Add Item' button. You then need to fill in the details:

• Item Name - The name of the item being bid for. This is the name Suppliers will see so it should be clear and concise, e.g. laptops, tables, windows. 
• Unit of Measure (UoM) - The unit of measurement for the item being bid on, e.g. per laptop, per bundles of 5, per boxes of 10 etc.
  • This lets the Suppliers know the pricing they input is for this amount
• Quantity of Uom's - The total amount required, with mind of the Unit of Measure, e.g if the UoM is boxes of ten and you require 50 of the item, you would input 5 in here. If the UoM is per laptop and you require 100 laptops, you would input 100 in here.
  • The software will automatically calculate the total of the bid based on the unit price entered multiplied by the quantity specified here
• Current Price - The price you've previously/currently pay for the item per UoM. This isn't shown to suppliers.
• Current Value - This is automatically calculated by multiplying your Current Price by the Quantity of UoMs. This isn't shown to suppliers.
  • This will allow you to see how much you've saved by comparing the lead bid by the current value 
• Qualification Price - The price which suppliers must meet or undercut in their preliminary bid. If the initial price they offer is higher than the qualification price, they will not be able to fill in the registration form that allows them to attend the auction. This is the qualification price per unit of measure
• Qualification Value
• Require Qualification Bid from Suppliers 

Participants

This tab allows you to add participants to the eAuction. The user is limited to only adding participants from suppliers named on the parent requirement. 

• Click 'Add Participants' to bring up the pop-up. From there there is the option to add participants individually or tick 'Add All Suppliers' to invite every supplier named on the parent requirement.
• Suppliers with no assigned contact will display the status 'No Available Contact' and will not be invited until a valid contact is selected.
• You can change the contact for any participant before the auction is scheduled. Click 'Change Contact' to select another user within the same organisation. Once a contact is added, the status will update to 'Pending Invite' (Only the designated contact can view the invited, register for the eAuction, and submit bids.)
• Also on this page is the ‘Invite Participants and Schedule Auction’ button. This will publish the eAuction and schedule it according to the start time you have given in Specifications & Settings. Do not do this until you are happy that all the details you have submitted are correct.
• When you click 'Invite Participants and Schedule Auction', a pop-up will appear containing a pre-filled email invite template. You can edit the email if needed before clicking 'Confirm and Send' This email will be sent to each participant's named contact along with a notification.

Within a Created eAuction:

Once the eAuction has been created it's own interface will appear on screen with a number of pages and options:

• Specification & Settings - This page reflects the information submitted when creating the eAuction. All the information on this page is editable. Save at the bottom left of the screen must be clicked to register any changes.
• Documents - This tab will hold any documents relevant to the eAuction. 
  • Documents can be uploaded from either your PC or from the document library of the parent Requirement using the 'Add a Document' or 'Add from Document Library' buttons. 
  • Documents added will show the File Name, Size, Uploader, Uploader Organisation and the date the document was added. There is the option to download or delete any documents uploaded depending on your user role. 
• Items - In the Items tab you can add items to the eAuction (the lots). See Adding Items below:
•  Participants - This tab allows you to add participants to the eAuction. The user is limited to only adding participants from suppliers named on the parent requirement. 
  • Click 'Add Participants' to bring up the pop-up. From there there is the option to add participants individually or tick 'Add All Suppliers' to invite every supplier named on the parent requirement.
  • Suppliers with no assigned contact will display the status 'No Available Contact' and will not be invited until a valid contact is selected. 
  • You can change the contact for any participant before the auction is scheduled. Click 'Change Contact' to select another user within the same organisation. Once a contact is added, the status will update to 'Pending Invite' (Only the designated contact can view the invited, register for the eAuction, and submit bids.)
  • Also on this page is the ‘Invite Participants and Schedule Auction’ button. This will publish the eAuction and schedule it according to the start time you have given in Specifications & Settings. Do not do this until you are happy that all the details you have submitted are correct.
  • When you click 'Invite Participants and Schedule Auction', a pop-up will appear containing a pre-filled email invite template. You can edit the email if needed before clicking 'Confirm and Send' This email will be sent to each participant's named contact along with a notification.
• Audit - Contains a record of all activities within the eAuction. This is not visible to suppliers. 
• Nudges - Contains in one place all the nudges (personal communications) that have been sent through the eAuction from the Key User. This is also not visible to suppliers. 

Adding Items:

User's running the eAuction have to add items to be bid on. Each item (or items together) should be representative of a Lot from the parent requirement. I.e.. If Lot 1 is Laptops and Headphones it may be separated out to have an item for Laptops and an item for Headphones individually.
Click 'Add Item' to bring up the pop-up, fill in the details and click 'Add' in the bottom right to add the item to the eAuction: 

• Item Name - The name of the item being bid for. This is the name Suppliers will see so it should be clear and concise, e.g. laptops, tables, windows. 
• Unit of Measure (UoM) - The unit of measurement for the item being bid on, e.g. individual laptops, boxes of ten headphones.
• Quantity of Uom's - The amount required with mind of the Unit of Measure.
• Current Price - The price previously paid for this item. This information is hidden from the suppliers. 
• Qualification Price - The price which suppliers must meet or undercut in their preliminary bid. If the initial price they offer is higher than the qualification price, they will not be able to fill in the registration form that allows them to attend the auction.

You can choose to Bulk import eAuction items instead of individually inputting them if preferred. See here for more information.

Publishing the eAuction:

Once the eAuction has been all set-up, in the Participants tab click 'Invite Participants and Schedule Auction'. This will send an invite to all the suppliers, and schedule the Auction to begin on the date and time specified in the Specification & Settings tab.

Countdown to the eAuction:

Once published, a countdown will appear in the top right of the page you are on, indicating how long is left until the scheduled time of the eAuction. The person appointed as the ‘key user’ will still be able to add and edit all the details in the same ways outlined above. A few additional functions will now also be available under the following tabs:

•  Documents: Qualifying participants of the auction will now be able to upload documents to this tab. These will be visible to the key user.

•  Qualification Bids: This tab will show the key user any preliminary bids submitted by participating suppliers.

•  eAuction: Once the eAuction has started, this is the tab from which you will manage it. You will be able to view bids as they come in [and then maybe add one further detail about what managing the auction looks like?]

•  Nudges: This tab will now allow users to view and respond to all nudges from participating suppliers, as well as to send out any further communications. 

Please note: you must still Start the eAuction - it doesn't automatically start once the countdown is done.

NB: There is a link in the top right hand corner of the page, next to the countdown timer, that takes the user back to the parent requirement.