E-Procurement

E-Procurement is the portal to be introduced in new business venture of website being launched ,

the online Small Business and  These systems have a new look and feel and can only be accessed

through the new web-based  system.

An e-procurement system manages tenders through a web site. This can be accessed anywhere

globally and has greatly improved the accessibility of tenders

The following sub-phases of the electronic public procurement process could be identified:

eSourcing: preparatory activities conducted by the contracting authority/entity to collect and

reuse information for the preparation of a call; potential bidders may be contacted, if

admitted by the legal rules, by electronic means to provide quotations or manifest interest.

eNoticing: advertisement of calls for tenders through the publication of

appropriate contract notices in electronic format in the relevant Official

Journal (national/EU); electronic access to tender documents and specifications as well as

additional related documents are provided in a non-discriminatory way.

eAccess: electronic access to tender documents and specifications as well support

to economic operators for the preparation of an offer, e.g. clarifications, questions and

answers.

eSubmission: submission of offers in electronic format to the contracting authority/entity,

which is able to receive, accept and process it in compliance with the legal requirements.

eTendering: is the union of the eAccess and eSubmission phases.

eAwarding: opening and evaluation of the electronic tenders received, and award of the

contract to the best offer in terms of the lowest price or economically most advantageous bid.

eContract: conclusion, enactment and monitoring of a contract / agreement through

electronic means between the contracting authority/entity and the winning tenderer.

eOrders: preparation and issuing of an electronic order by the contracting authority/entity

and its acceptance by the contractor.

eOrder Status: preparation and delivery of status information against the eOrder.

eInvoicing: preparation and delivery of an invoice in electronic format.

ePayment: electronic payment of the ordered goods, services or works.

EXAMPLE -

E-procurement software may make it possible to automate some buying and selling. Companies

participating expect to be able to control parts inventories more effectively, reduce purchasing

agent overhead, and improve manufacturing cycles. E-procurement is expected to be integrated

with the trend toward computerized supply chain management.

GOOD AND BAD -

No matter what method is used, there are many advantages to using e-procurement systems as

opposed to those involving paper-based forms or oral communications. The main benefits are

increased efficiency and cost savings. For example, EDI allows business transactions to occur in

less time and with fewer errors than do traditional, paper-based means. It reduces the amount of

inventory companies must invest in by closely tying manufacturing to actual demand, allowing

for just-in-time delivery. By doing away with paper forms, EDI also reduces postage costs and

the expenses and space considerations surrounding paper-based record storage.

In some large organizations, purchasing responsibilities are distributed over several different

areas of the company. E-procurement systems may enable a company to consolidate orders for

similar items with one supplier, resulting in deeper volume discounts and cost savings.

Additionally, e-procurement may allow a company to simplify purchasing by reducing the

number of variables (available products) involved. Instead of having to sort through large

volumes of paper or electronic catalogs, purchasing professionals are able to build custom

catalogs that include only the items the company is interested in. Besides simplifying matters,

this approach also drives up volumes of smaller numbers of items, which is another possible way

of generating volume discounts.

BAD PART -

E-procurement applications are limited in the types and scope of purchasing activity they

address. Managing electronic catalogs with thousands of products, providing employees with the

right mix of products and adequate information about them, and making it easy to search for

items can also be tricky, requiring additional tools and threatening the efficiencies promised by

moving purchasing to the Web