Import and Process Bids

Electronic bid processing, which is done through the "Import and Process Bids" screen, allows you to import and process bids from vendors without having to key in each bid manually. Bids entered by a vendor into a specially-formatted file can be imported into the database. You can then reviews the bid information to decide which bids to accept in order to update the existing bid and contract information.  

 

1. Under the Purchasing menu, click Import and Process Bids.
2. If necessary, click the Funnel (Filters) icon and use the "Status" filter to determine which files to view: 'All', 'New', 'In Process', or 'Completed'. Click Apply to refresh the list.
3. If you need to import a bid file, display the steps by clicking HERE. Otherwise, go to Step 4.
   

1. To import a bid file, click the Import button.
2. Click Choose File to select the file(s) to be imported, select the file and click Open.
3. Click Import. When the validation process is complete, the Vendor/Market Combinations screen will be displayed.
4. To view a validated file before it is imported, click the File Name link. The Imported Products window will display the details of the file, including any errors.
5. When finished, click X (Close) to return to the Vendor/Market Combinations screen.
6. Click Import to save the validated files to the database so that they can be processed.

4. To process a bid file, click the Process link for the appropriate file. If the Effective Date for the bid sheet is in the past, you will be prompted to select a new one.
   The Bid Processing Detail screen will open as a split screen; the columns on the left are locked and the columns on the right will scroll.  For details on locking and unlocking columns, click HERE.

• To lock or unlock a column, hover the mouse over the column header, click on the down-arrow that appears, and select Lock or Unlock from the pop-up menu.
• To show or hide columns, select Columns from the pop-up menu, and select or deselect the desired column(s).
• If necessary, click and drag the column headers to rearrange the order of the columns within each section.

5. The following fields appear in the detail screen; most cannot be edited by the user except as indicated:

• Accept – See step 9 for details.
• Reject – See step 10 for details.
• Contract – This box will be checked for primary vendor bids if the current vendor is contracted for this product in this market. A user CAN check/uncheck this box if transferring a contract from a discontinued Vendor Product to a new Vendor Product linked to the same Company Product; this cannot be checked for secondary vendor products.
• The Split Unit box and/or Substitute box will be checked if this product is currently configured as an Alternate Vendor Product that is designated as a "Split" or "Substitute" item. If not checked, these boxes can be checked if the product is NOT currently contracted with this vendor.
• Alternate Primary – Check this box to allow the product to be ordered as an alternate primary vendor product.
• Product Name/Description – See step 6 for details.
• Conv. – See step 7 for details.
• Conv. Price – The imported bid price for the item, in Inventory Units and Market Currency.
• Inv. Unit – The package type assigned to the related company product.
• Vendor Product # – The product number provided by the vendor.
• Vendor Price – The price of the item, in Vendor Units and Vendor Currency. This price will may include or exclude of taxes, depending upon the setting in Vendor Details, and will display to four decimal points.
• Vendor Unit – The package type provided by the vendor.
• Vendor Description – The product description provided by the vendor.
• Brand – List the brand name(s) provided by the vendor.
• Discontinued – If checked, this indicates that the vendor will no longer supply this product; the "Accept" box will be checked by default. The End Date for the existing bid will be set to the current date, meaning that this product can no longer be ordered from this vendor. This box may be checked for primary and secondary non-contracted vendor products.
• Conv. Last Bid – The existing bid price for the item, in Inventory Units and Market Currency.
• Last Bid Date – The date on which the existing bids became effective.
• $ Variance = [ Converted Price – Converted Last Bid ]. A positive variance means the price went up; a negative variance means the price went down.
• % Variance = [ (Converted Price – Converted Last Bid) ÷ Converted Last Bid ]
• Effective Date – The date on which these new bid prices will become effective.
• Bid Sheet – The bid sheet on which the related company product appears.

Notes: The columns for Converted Last Bid, Last Bid Date, and Variance are only populated if there are existing bids for these products from this vendor in this market. They are used for comparison purposes when a vendor updates its prices.

The Reference Number, Line #, and Expiration Date columns will be visible only when the "Vendor Bids Include Contract Information" Purchasing preference is enabled.

6. To change which company product is selected for a particular vendor bid, click the Product Name/Description selector. In the pop-up window, click the Select link for the appropriate Company Product.
   

7. Enter or edit the Conversion (Conv.) factor if necessary. This indicates the number of inventory units in one vendor unit
   
8. Click the Validate Data button to check for any data errors; if any are found, a red (!) icon will appear in the first column in the left pane; hovering the mouse over the icon will display the error in a pop-up message.
9. Check the Accept box for each product that should have the bids and contracts updated. Bids can only be accepted if the vendor product is linked to a company product that is on an active bid sheet in the current market for the effective date of the bid, the conversion field is not blank, and the effective date is greater than or equal to the current date. To accept all products for which the bids and contracts are to be updated, click Accept All.
   
10. Check the Reject box for all other products. To reject all products, for which the bids and contracts are not to be updated, click Reject All.  {Note}: Bids and contracts cannot be updated until each line has been either accepted or rejected.
11. To assign the contract for all of the products to this vendor, click the Contract All button; this will automatically check the "Contract" box for all products. Or if necessary, click the End All Contracts button to remove the contracts for those products that are currently contracted to this vendor; this will automatically uncheck the "Contract" box for those products.
12. Click Save & Process. An alert dialog box will appear asking if you want to change bids and contracts for accepted products.
13. Click OK. Another dialog box will appear asking if you want to update the bids and contracts to multiple markets.
14. To update other markets, click OK and proceed. To update just the current market, click Cancel and skip to Step 16.
    
15. If updating other markets, in the pop-up window select the markets to update by checking the appropriate boxes, or click the All link in the Select column to update all the markets.
16. Click Continue.
17. Click Close to return to the Bid Processes screen.
    

 

Accepted bids update the existing bid and contract information in the following manner:

• New bids will be created using the Effective Date indicated in the import file.
• The Effective Date of each new bid will be used as the End Date of the existing bid.
• All tax codes from previously-existing bids will be applied to new bids.
• Each bid’s taxed and untaxed prices will be calculated based on the setting of the vendor’s Prices Include Tax setting.
• Newly-created bids will be given the End Date of the existing bid sheet.
• If a product is contracted, the application will end-date the existing contract with the new effective date and will create a new contract with the new effective date, bid price and conversion. The end date of new contract will be the end date of the bid sheet.

 

Note: When bids are accepted and updated here, the new bid information can be seen in the Vendor Bids, Bid Analysis, and Market Master screens.

 

 

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