Is RFQ Procurement Appropriate for Professional Projects

? Answer: CharacteristicsRequest for quotations is a procurement method between open tendering and single-source procurement, with the characteristics of public dissemination of procurement information and the ability to determine the specifications and criteria for goods as in single-source. It is because of these characteristics that request-for-quotations procurement is being widely used. In practice, request-for-quotations is mostly used for goods with small quantities, small purchase amounts, low price elasticity, a high degree of product standardization, sufficient market competition and more general use. Such as automobiles, computers, network equipment, software and so on. High efficiency There is no legal procurement cycle, not like open tendering must be publicized for 20 days, can be completed in a week or 10 days or so. Satisfaction of needs The law requires that "the RFQ panel, in which the purchaser's representative participates, formulates the price composition of the procurement item and evaluates the criteria for awarding the contract", but in fact, the purchaser is often the one who determines the specifications, standards, and services, and therefore the purchaser's needs are satisfied to the greatest extent possible. Competition is sufficient because the goods procured by request for quotations are all standardized general-purpose goods, the market competition is more sufficient, and there are fewer artificial constraints or interventions. The law determines that "no less than three" quotes are to be submitted, ensuring full competition. Saving money The lowest price method is used to determine the successful supplier according to the requirements of the law, making full use of market competition to save financial resources. Limitations The Government Procurement Law only stipulates the conditions for the use of RFQs for the procurement of goods, and makes no mention of engineering and services. According to the spirit of the legislation, in terms of the applicable criteria for the procurement of goods using RFQs, the author believes that some projects and services can also be subject to the use of RFQs, such as small-scale renovation projects, landscaping projects, and simple property management. "Designation" is common Government procurement can not specify the brand, but the procurement of inquiry, the purchaser often have a clear brand, model, if the blind use of inquiry without restriction, will exclude other similar products. Restricted object of inquiry No less than three suppliers are randomly selected from the list of suppliers meeting the qualification conditions for inquiry in accordance with the law, which is limited by the amount of information about the suppliers held by the collective purchasing organization. The current minimum price method, often ignoring the supplier's services, if the purchaser's procurement needs do not have the service requirements, it will result in "cheap no service". Status quo around the "favor" inquiry, and different practices, in the scope of application and the use of the form of different degrees of expansion, but also generated a number of problems. Scope of application is not uniform, "specifications, standardized, sufficient stock and price changes in government procurement projects" applicable to the inquiry procurement, how this standard is understood no authoritative interpretation. In addition to the traditional automobiles, computers, network equipment, office automation equipment, projectors, camera equipment, air conditioning, communications equipment and other general-purpose equipment, some cities are more flexible to office furniture, medical equipment, laboratory equipment and other specialized equipment procurement. These types of equipment in terms of the country is no uniform specifications and standards, the price changes are also larger, some are customized according to the needs of manufacturers, some are the only manufacturers authorized to operate, the market competition is not sufficient. Strictly speaking, it is not applicable to request for quotation procurement. The use of the form has developed In order to develop e-procurement, many places will RFQ procurement as a breakthrough in the development of online procurement, and even RFQ as the main content of e-procurement. However, there is no perfect e-procurement legislation, the use of the Internet inquiry in the operation of the lack of legal basis. For example, online RFQ completely by the computer instead of manual price comparison, is it feasible? However, the author believes that, in the rapid development of e-procurement today, the computer is fully capable of replacing the manual inquiry. Different methods of supplier generation How to delineate the scope of suppliers? Which suppliers can meet the demand? It is difficult for government procurement departments to grasp. Is random selection of not less than three the best way? Direction Expanding the scope of application Several years of government procurement practice have accumulated some experience, can RFQ procurement be used more flexibly and the scope of application be expanded to include works and services? This requires legal support. However, for specialized equipment, due to the lack of full competition, RFQ is suspected of circumventing tendering in disguise, and should not be used yet. Clarify the operational details Request for quotations is mainly for the procurement of small, general-purpose, fully competitive items, in order to maximize the satisfaction of the buyer's needs and to achieve "value for money", whether it is possible to allow the buyer to specify the brand, model. In terms of the generation of suppliers, should not be only to the "three" inquiry, should be fully released procurement information, any supplier who meets the qualifications can participate in the quotation, through the market response to determine the success of the supplier. Utilizing online resources Request for quotation (RFQ) is very suitable for online operation. Purchasing information is first published online, suppliers quote online, and the computer carries out automatic evaluation. Delivery time and service response time also account for a certain number of points, but the price point weighting is still the most important. Afterwards, the computer calculates the public announcement according to the calculation. Make full use of computer technology and network resources, is the direction of the future development of inquiry procurement.