PROCEDURE SOURCE:
Purchasing & Material Management
PROCEDURE NO: 100
PAGE NO.: 1 OF 2
SUPERCEDES: 0
TITLE: Bids, Quotations and Proposals –
Evaluation
SUBMITTED BY: Thomas K. Dove
REVISED DATE: October 07, 2011
APPROVED BY: Claire P. Wurmfeld
I.
PURPOSE
To provide basic guidance for evaluating suppliers’ bids, quotes or proposals.
II.
SCOPE
This procedure applies to all University Departments/Colleges.
III.
A.
PROCEDURE
Two or more quotes are required during the Bid process.
B. Evaluating the Bids
Once bids are received, they must be evaluated by the requesting department in conjunction with the
Purchasing Office to determine which supplier will be given the order. If the products offered by each of
the bidding suppliers were of equal quality, if each supplier promised the same delivery date, and if
there were no other considerations, the order would go to the low bidder. However, all these factors
are seldom equal and many orders are, therefore placed with other than the low bidder for good
reasons. No set formula can be devised that can be applied to all products, for all orders. The quality and
service requirements will vary for different orders as well. For these reasons the act of selecting the bid
that best suits the needs of the university is one that requires judgment, and experience, and
communication with the requesting department.
C. Weighing the importance of Quality, Value and Service
In many cases the relative importance of quality, value and service have already been established and
documented. The available information should be reviewed to establish that it is still current and
relevant to the procurement at hand. If the information is current and relevant, use it as a basis for
award. If the information is not current but is relevant, then update the information and use it as a basis
for award.