e-procurement Tool - QuoteFX ???

Does anyone have any knowledge or experience about utilizing QuoteFX as an e-procurement tool for supplier online bidding auctions? It’s supposed to be somewhat similar to Ariba.

Thank you.

- Kelly

QuoteFX seems to be a good tool to handle sourcing events on-line, it's easy and quick to use.
You need to evaluate if it is really what you need though.
How?
It depends on what you negotiate, and how often.
If you negotiate very different categories of material and services on a regular basis, it may be interesting for you to go for a more advanced solution, that will be configured according to your business model and specific requirements.

The monthly fee of QuoteFX seems a little bit high, but it's not if there is no long term commitment required.

My advice would be : unless you already know you need a more advanced model, go for QuoteFX for a couple of events. It will help you explore eSourcing capabilities, and find out more easily what your real needs are.

Do not hesitate to contact me if you want more info on what to look for.
Regards

omaurandy,

Do you have any tips on what to look for, or any specifics that you would focus on?

Thank you.

Hi Kelly,

Well, this kind of software should allow you to customize your RFQs.
It means, for example:

- Set-up items categories in the event, for example : one category for "Plain film" and one for "Printed film" if you negotiate Packaging items)

- Pick the suppliers you want to invite from a data base : if their supplier portal is fully open, you may receive too many offers and it may become counter-productive. You have to be able to shortlist the suppliers to invite before you publish your event

- Set-up your own decision criteria : what characteristics, other than price, are you going to evaluate the bids on (it can be delivery options, it can be the quality level of the items, the thickness of a plastic, compliance with certification required by your company, etc...)

Other functionalities can be reverse auction (not recommended in a lot of situations, but you may be in one of the few situations where it can apply), email notifications for each offer received (convenient not to have to go online every hour to check the offers inbox)...

Let me know if this is helpful and if you need more information on any specific point.
I'd be happy to help you and suggest alternatives for you.

Regards

We are looking for a way to perform reverse auctions, what solutions can anyone suggest?
thanks
Dee

I have done a few reverse auctions with a company called eBridge and had very positive experiences with major savings. The challenge (in my circumstances) were finding suppliers that I deemed qualified & that were willing to participate. You also have to be extremely careful with the up front spec design, because the supplier will kill you with change order fees after the fact to make up on all the savings you'll get.

We currently utilize K2Sourcing as a web based RFx and Reverse Auction tool. It is a straight forward tool, easy to use and a small enough company that they listen to feedback and suggestions for improvements.