How we run Tenders - the ways it should be done

Baseline

Gather the baseline (collect past shipping statistics) from your Transportation Management System (TMS) or connect with your existing logistic service providers. A baseline is your "current situation": your shipments and volumes being shipped multiplied by the contracted rates.

The Tender

Create the tender including information about your business. The key to a successful tender is the price matrix — when done well, your analysis is 10x easier to do. Use clear definitions and specify both soft and hard requirements. All service providers invited should receive sufficient and equivalent information about your requirements so that they can make an offer that meets your expectations.

Start the Tender

Go live with the tender online: Nordilog uses a digital solution where we automatically invite all participants via email, and the service providers are guided on how to create a secure login on the tendering platform. The bidding process normally takes a few weeks, in which time questions may arise. Thus, we share all questions and answers between the participants and ourselves through this platform.

Analyze the bids

When the bidding round is closed, it is time to review and sense-check all bids to minimize errors. Based on our tender matrix, we run scenarios to try various bid combinations, in order to maximize the cost vs service ratio for your businesses.

Target setting

On ocean and air freight tenders we always compare bids with benchmarks from Xeneta to understand if bids are market-compliant. We then use the intelligence to set our targets, give feedback to the participants, and run the bid cycle again.

Negotiation

We prepare thoroughly before the negotiation. Our lane segmentation and scenario model is focused on the supplier we are meeting. It is crucial to evaluate the cost vs service ratio for your businesses. In addition, we use up-to-date market intelligence to know where to focus our negotiation.

Award & Post Mortem

Share nominated lane allocation with stakeholders. Analyze the tender results from last year vs this year. Calculate your performance compared to last year, but also the market.

Benchmarking

Compare your procurement performance against industry peers or buying power peers. This enables you to drive the continuous improvement process and document the value generated by the procurement function.