What is e-Tender Management System?

Tenders are invitations from government departments or private companies to suppliers to bid for a project requirement. Traditionally, companies issued tender information through newspapers. However, the trend today is to publish online tenders or e-tenders on publicly accessible platforms. Businesses who wish to issue e-Tenders now use an e-Tender management system. This system is an automated software that keeps track of tenders issued by a company.

Online tender management systems have efficiently organised the process of issuing tenders so large organisations can effectively handle multiple procurement needs.  These software solutions not only help you know about active tenders but also help prepare your request for tender.

How does the tender process work in India?

There are open and closed tenders in India. While any company can bid for open tenders, only a few companies are given the opportunity of participating in closed tenders. A closed tender means that a company has already chosen a few firms to bid for the tender. Only these firms can bid for a closed tender. Most government tenders are open tenders.

Let us take the example of the defence department has put out a requirement for 100 drones. The stages of tendering process will involve:

• Requirement for 100 drones posted in the e-Procurement portal or GeM marketplace by the defence department inviting companies for bidding

This process of posting the sourcing requirement online is now handled by an e-Tender management system. It eliminates the conventional e-tendering systems and replaces it with an automated solution that helps companies prepare requests for tenders to invite bidders.

What are the benefits of an e-Tender management system?

A tenders management system can automate all your tender processes from issuing a tender to awarding a work contract. There are many benefits if you choose to get an e-Tendering system:

• Reduce in the manual tasks like recording tender submissions
• Prepare tender proposals using templates
• Reduce costs to prepare documents
• Get a full record of changes and other updates to tender documents
• Get detailed analysis of tender bids

How does the e-Tender management system work?

Online tender management turns the long tender bidding process into a short and organised process.  This is how an online tendering system benefits a buyer with project requirements:

• Prepare an error-free request for tender using templates in the software
• Receive tenders online automatically
• Get alerts for each bid submission on the system
• Get detailed analysis of each bid with the help of the software
• Record remarks and observations of each bid in the system
• Keep a record of all the tenders issued by the buyer
• Notify participating companies automatically

Can MSMEs who wish to supply use e-Tender management system?

While e-Tender management system is most commonly used by corporates who have multiple procurements, businesses who regularly participate in tenders can also opt for an online tender management system. The tender document preparation is a complex task and with an e-Tender management system in use, it can be easy.

There are a few benefits for suppliers who use a tender management system.

• Use as a database for key information
• Send alerts of tender submission dates
• Store records of previous bids are on the system
• Create strategies for bid proposal using the previous bid proposals that have won tenders
• Store commonly used tender documents for easy access while applying for tenders

How to choose an e-Tender management system?

An e-Tender management system has different functionalities for buyers and suppliers. If you constantly issue tenders for procurement or are a regular participant, e-Tender management systems can eliminate the long and cumbersome process of preparing tender documents and checking whether they are error free.

These are the things to look for in an e-Tendering system as a buyer:

• Manage the entire tender issuing and awarding process
• Issue request for tenders to participating companies
• Store tenders issued in the past
• Handle multiple procurements seamlessly with clarity
• Automatically notify participating companies
• Allow access to limited people of a company that has won the tender.

Things to keep in mind while opting for e-Tendering system as a supplier:

• Access to all tender information in a single place
• Alerts on important dates mentioned in the tender
• Help with preparing a bid proposal
• Access to tenders already applied for
• Clearly identify tender fees and Earnest Money Deposit (EMD)

Initiatives such as Make in India has boosted the number of tender invites from different institutions of India. Government of India floats many tenders daily with requirements ranging from installing CCTV cameras in the cities to construction of components for aerospace projects of the government. Government initiatives have also helped boost the private sector with many tender invites coming from large corporates as well.

The important thing to participate in tenders is to find relevant tenders online. There are many e-Tendering portals in India that can give you regular updates on active tenders being issued by private and public entities.

Platforms like Tata nexarc evaluates your business and brings you a tailored list of tenders once you register.