Important Characteristics of the Tendering System

Tendering is a bidding process that organizations, both public and private use in order to find the best contractors for their various infrastructural projects as well as procurement needs.  Solar power, construction, energy, and vehicle tenders are commonly floated across the world for time sensitive projects.  In this procedure, the contract is ultimately awarded to the company charging the lowest amount for the highest quality product or services.

The system of tendering is renowned for its distinct characteristics,few of them being: 

• Through the tendering process, the client organization gets to choose the most competent contractor from a large pool of firms who send in their proposals. Companies can select the contractors providing them with the best value for money in terms of both price and quality.
  
• Tender request documents, including the Requests for Proposal (RFP) and Requests for Tenders (RFT) are floated by the client organization. These documents basically highlight the various requirements and expectations of the buyers. They also feature details about any special instructions or criteria that are to be followed by the bidders to be considered for the contract.
  
• Most tenders are advertised quite extensively for a good period of time. This is done so as to provide diverse contractors in an industry with adequate opportunity to collect information about the tendering opportunity and bid for it.
  
• All contractors planning to bid for a tender are typically expected to prepare and submit their proposals within the deadline.As per procedure, no bids are accepted by the organizations after the deadline. The bid proposals created by the contractors should underline the important components of their offer. These elements can include the pricing, schedules and their eligibility for the contract.
  
• As the evaluation of bids in case of tendering is done on the basis of pre-defined criteria, this process eliminates any chances of bias or favoritism. The ultimate contract is offered to the company whose proposal meets all the requirements of the client organization.
  
• Majority of the tenders are issued for projects that involve a large sum of investment and are substantial in its scope and size.

Tendering is an extensive procedure that follows a distinct step-by-step process and involves a lot of documentation and stringent formalities. However, with the advent of the system of e-tendering, this process too has become simpler and quite hassle free. As such, nowadays all big and small companies can easily apply for all kinds of requirements, be it vehicle tenders issued by multinationals or coal and other such tenders issued by government bodies.