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APROCUREMENT PROFESSIONAL'S ability to run and complete a successful RFx evaluation is paramount to the role. The modern procurement professional is a far cry from the old school buyer who might have been focused on choosing the lowest cost option and leaving other members of the company to work with the chosen supplier.
1 BE CONSISTENT
When introducing a supplier submission evaluation process it is important to keep a consistent approach, this includes using the same evaluation criteria and the same evaluation team for each submission within a particular RFx. You also need to ensure the process of evaluating the submissions and suppliers is fair by meeting probity guidelines and giving full disclosure and avoidance of any potential conflicts of interest.
2 PICK A TEAM TO FIT THE TASK
The number of people in an evaluation can vary depending upon the size of the project, level of complexity and number of touch points within the business. Lots of smaller projects will normally just be completed by a member of the procurement team. For larger projects a generic evaluation team could include a member of procurement as evaluation team leader, one or two key stakeholders for the goods or service in question, a member of the quality or operations team and a member of the finance team. There may be set rules within your business or public sector guidelines that put specifics around when an evaluation is run, who needs to be involved, and how the process should happen.
3 UNDERSTAND THE OBJECTIVES
Ensure the evaluation team (if a team is required) fully understand and agree to what the RFx or project is looking to achieve. It can sometimes be easy to follow the wrong...