Tuesday 26 July 2011

Online tool for buyers seeking tender quotes


"Buyers who’ve discovered a quicker, simpler and better way to source quotes are singing the praises of an online tool that delivers results.

A partner of Scotland’s newest university, the University of Highlands and Islands (UHI), Moray College UHI, is the latest organisation to discover the benefits of Quick Quote.

Quick Quote is an online request for quotation, and is used to obtain competitive quotes for low value or low risk procurement exercises, or procurement mini competitions within framework agreements, from suppliers who are registered on Public Contract Scotland’s (PCS) website. A full and transparent audit trail is provided, but with none of the bureaucracy usually associated with public sector procurement.

When Moray College UHI needed print quotes quickly for an upcoming event, it took the opportunity to try out PCS’s Quick Quote facility, and was impressed with the process.
Rather than use a traditional approach of contacting a number of local suppliers with details of the contract, the College was able to create an online request for bids. All bids were required to be submitted by a deadline which meant responses could be viewed and judged efficiently.

Using Quick Quote for the first time, George Cowie, Head of Marketing and Business Development at the College, commented: “By using Quick Quote we were able to achieve a much more efficient buying process. Previously, we would contact individual suppliers and then wait for responses as they came in – this could involve processing and evaluating tenders over a period of several days. With the Quick Quote process, all tenders were submitted by the deadline, and could be evaluated at once.

“Overall, I found Quick Quote to be simple, effective and transparent. It is a great facility and perfectly suits low-value contracts which need to be turned around quickly. I encourage all suppliers to register with PCS if they want to do business with Moray College UHI – this not only provides them with opportunities, but ensures we get the best level of competition for our contracts.”

Quick Quote was released during Public Contracts Scotland’s first year. It has proved to be a popular facility with around 4000 notices going through the portal to date."
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Source: Public Contracts Scotland

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