Supplier selection is a fundamental element of private and public sector procurement. That seems almost too obvious a statement to commit to print, yet sometimes it seems that
In the public (government) sector it is arguably even more critical than in private firms. While making the right selection decision clearly has an impact on
Poor, unfair or fraudulent supplier selection processes and decisions can lead to disappointed suppliers challenging, legal cases and delays to contract award. So getting this part of the procurement process right is critical.
One factor that must be considered is whether the selection process allows the buyer to differentiate properly between bidders. Historically, we tended to see evaluation processes that more often than not asked too many questions of bidders and were over-complicated. But on some occasions now, we are seeing the opposite – evaluation that does not really allow the buyer to determine the “best” supplier or suppliers.
Sometimes that is because of a desire to simplify evaluation, perhaps driven in part by eSourcing systems, where asking “
Even if questions are not quite as binary as that, if it is relatively easy for suppliers to score well, maybe even 100%, then you will not get that differentiation.
There are
So if you are designing evaluation processes, think carefully about questions that will really get at the factors which determine the value the bidder can provide. Think about what would mark out a truly exceptional supplier from a merely adequate. Then make sure the marking mythology allows some variation in the marketing against those bids. Personally, I like this sort of scheme; while it requires competent markers, who can maintain a good audit trail in case of
Score |
Description |
5 |
An excellent answer, indicating a response to this question that fully meets XXX’s needs and requirements with no weaknesses or issues |
4 |
A good answer, indicating a response to this question that generally meets XXX’s needs and requirements, with only very minor weaknesses or issues |
3 |
A satisfactory answer, indicating a response to this question that meets XXX’s basic needs and requirements but which demonstrates tangible weaknesses or requires some minor compromises from XXX. |
2 |
A poor answer, indicating a response to this question that fails to meet some of XXX’s basic needs and requirements, and which demonstrates significant weaknesses or requires major compromises from XXX |
1 |
A very poor answer, indicating a response to the question that fails to meet the very basic needs and requirements of |
0 |
No answer or totally irrelevant response |
Going back to the CCS case, it may also be a question of resource and the size of the bidding population. It is tempting to simplify marking when you are going to get hundreds of bidders. But it can come back to bite later, as we have seen.
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