The Negotiations Home page is the starting place for all your sourcing tasks. Using the Negotiations Home page you can:
Search for negotiations in which to participate.
View information on any negotiations to which your company has been invited.
Create, view and/or edit any draft responses.
Create and submit responses to negotiations.
Monitor the progress of any published responses.
Create and monitor any deliverables required by negotiations in which you are participating.
View information on any awarded, rejected, or disqualified responses.
Maintain your profile.
Finding Negotiations in which to Participate
Viewing Negotiation Details Before Responding
Viewing Notes and Attachments Associated with a Negotiation
Placing a response
Responding to a Request for Information (RFI)
Submitting a Bid or Quote Online
Downloading a Spreadsheet and Bidding or Quoting Offline
Understanding Special Terms and Conditions for a Negotiation
Using Line Attributes and Cost Factors while Responding to a Negotiation
Understanding Modified Response Price
Responding to a Deliverable Defined for a Negotiation
Responding to a Service-Related Line
Placing a subsequent response
Rebidding or Requoting on RFQ or Auction
Responding to a Negotiation that has gone to an Additional Round of Responding
Responding to an Amendment to a Sourcing Document
Using additional response tools
The Negotiations Home page is the central point of access for all your negotiations. From here, you can respond to all public negotiations as well as those negotiations to which you have been specifically invited. You can also monitor negotiations in which you are participating and manage any draft responses you have. If you have Oracle Procurement Contracts installed, you can manage your contract deliverables from this page as well .
To search for negotiations to which you have been invited:
Check the Your Company's Open Invitations section on the Negotiations Home page for negotiations to which you have been invited. To access a negotiation, click its Number link. This will take you to the negotiation summary page from which you can perform additional tasks such as placing a response or viewing response history.
The Active and Draft section shows negotiations in which you are participating by either having placed an active response, or by having a draft response that is in progress. Note that this section only displays the five negotiations with the most current expiration date. To see the complete list of invitations, click Full List.
If your company has multiple sites that are known to the buyer who created the negotiation, a separate invitation might have been sent to each site. If this is the case, you may see multiple entries having the same negotiation number but associated with different sites. You can place a response on behalf of either or all sites.
To search for negotiations in which you are already participating or for which you have prepared a draft response:
Check the Your Active and Draft Responses section to see any negotiations in which you are currently participating or for which you have prepared draft responses.
The Response Status column shows whether you have an active response against this negotiation or whether you are in the process of drafting a response.
To see information on the negotiation, click the Negotiation Number link. This takes you to the negotiation summary page.
To see your current response or draft information, click the Response Number link. This takes you to the Details page.
Note that the Your Active and Draft Negotiations section display only shows a limited number of your responses according to the time remaining. To see all the active and draft responses for your company, click Full List.
To search for open negotiations in which to participate:
You can access any open negotiation even if you were not specifically invited. To find open negotiations, use the Search Negotiations fields at the top of the page. You can search by:
Negotiation title.
Negotiation number.
Negotiation creator (contact).
Line (negotiations for a particular item or service).
Category (negotiations with lines in this category).
Event (negotiations associated with this sourcing event).
Select a search parameter, enter a value for the parameter, and click Go. On the Active Negotiations page, you can
Select the negotiation and click Respond to create a response.
Click the negotiation number link to view details of the negotiation.
Click All Responses to view the responses to this negotiation.
Click "Your Company's Responses" to see details of any current responses from suppliers at your company.
Click "Unread Messages" to view any online discussion messages.
Under Open Invitations, click the negotiation number to access the Negotiation Summary page for the negotiation in which you are interested.
Alternatively, use the Search Negotiations fields to access the Active Negotiations page. Click the negotiation number to access the Negotiation Summary page.
The negotiation summary page displays all the current information for this negotiation. This includes such information as the open and close dates, negotiation terms, and if the Requester field is visible, then you can view the owner of the negotiation. You can also view header attribute information if the Additional Header Attributes (Buyer & Supplier) is visible and any notes or attachments at the header level. The countdown clock at the top of the page shows you the time left before the negotiation is closed. If staggered closing is in effect, the clock shows the time remaining before the next line closes. If there is an abstract associated with this negotiation, you can view the abstract information by selecting View Abstract Details from the Actions menu. You can easily navigate to a particular section of the page (such as the item information section) by clicking the appropriate tab links.
Clicking the Lines link displays information on the negotiation lines, including such information as the negotiation quantity, the current best response (if the buyer chooses to display this) and the number of active responses. If the buyer chooses to allow you to access response information, clicking the number link displays information on responses to this line.
To see a line's attributes, price factors or notes/attachments, click the description link in the Line column.
Clicking the Controls link displays the response controls set by the buyer when the negotiation was defined.
Clicking the Contract terms link displays any negotiation contract deliverable defined to this negotiation. (Contract terms can only be defined if Oracle Procurement Contracts is installed and licensed).
If the item has attributes, cost factors, or price breaks associated with it, you can view information on the item attributes by clicking the "View" link under the Details column. The Notes and Attachments section displays any text messages from the buyer and any attached files. Attachments can be viewed by clicking the paperclip icon. If the negotiation is open, you can review any current responses by clicking the number link under the Responses/Quotes/Bids column. If the negotiation is closed, you can only see the response history if you are the buyer. If the negotiation is sealed, no one can see the responses until the negotiation is over and unsealed.
In addition to the typical negotiation information, on occasion the buyer may need to communicate or request additional information such as specialized requirements. The buyer can use the note text box for short communications or use attachments for larger amounts of information. Notes and attachments can be assigned to the negotiation header or the negotiation lines .
To view the notes and attachments:
From the Negotiations Home page, click the negotiation number link under Your Company's Open Invitations to view negotiations to which you have been invited. Alternately, search for an open negotiation by selecting a search criteria, providing a search value and clicking Go.
Click the negotiation number link to display the negotiation summary page.
The negotiation summary page displays all the information on the negotiation broken down into a tab-oriented form so you can easily view the information contained in the different sections of the negotiation. By default, the page displays the negotiation header information.
Click the Lines subtab to see details of the negotiation lines. To see the detail information for each line, click that line's number link. On the Line: page, you see any notes and attachments assigned by the buyer to the line. If this line was AutoCreated from Purchasing and there is an attachment at the line level, then the requisition lines attachment is attached to the negotiation line.
Once you have viewed all your attachments, click Return to Negotiations to return to the negotiation summary page. From this page you can continue placing a response .
Suppliers can respond to public negotiations and private negotiations to which they have been invited. To respond to a negotiation you must:
Find a negotiation in which to participate.
If the Accept Terms and Conditions page displays, then select the I have read and accepted the terms and conditions check box. You can view the attachments that the buyer has added in the Attachments region.
Monitor the action in the negotiation in which you are participating.
A Request for Information (RFI) sourcing document is different from other sourcing documents such as RFQ or buyer's auction. The purpose of RFQs and buyer's auctions is to negotiate line price and costs prior to generating a purchasing document.
The purpose of an RFI is to gather information on goods and services a supplier company provides. RFIs may or may not be concerned with line price or costs. Buyers use responses to an RFI to qualify suppliers early in the procurement process. RFIs typically run to several rounds as buyers continually refine the groups of suppliers who can most closely supply the products and services the buyer is looking for. Once the appropriate group of suppliers has been identified, the RFI can be converted to an RFQ or buyer's auction, and the buyer can initiate a regular price/cost negotiation with the targeted suppliers.
To respond to an RFI:
From the Negotiations Home page, search for any open RFIs or RFIs to which you've been specifically invited. RFIs to which you've been invited will appear under Open Invitations. You can find open RFIs by entering search values in the Search Open Negotiations fields and clicking Go.
From the Results: Active Negotiations, select the RFI to which you wish to respond and click Respond.
On the Terms and Conditions page, either accept or reject the negotiations conditions.
On the Create Response page, enter response values as you normally would when bidding or quoting online. If the buyer chose to include the Price and Quantity fields, you are required to provide values for these fields. Otherwise, the Price and Quantity fields are display only and you cannot enter anything in them .
Since the purpose of an RFI is to obtain product and service related information for a negotiation line, most negotiation lines in an RFI have attributes defined. These line attributes identify the questions the buyer has about a particular line. Line attributes appear under the Lines section of the Create Response page. The Attribute Type column shows you whether a response is required or optional. If the buyer has chosen to display an attribute target, this value appears in the Target Value column . When entering responses, be aware of the following size limits:
Attribute: 240 characters
Target: 4000 characters
Response: 4000 characters
When you have responded to all required and optional line attributes, click Continue
On the Create Response: Review and Submit page, verify your response values. If correct, click Submit.
Navigate to the negotiation summary page for the negotiation to which you wish to respond by clicking its negotiation number link under the Open Invitations section of the Negotiations Home page. Alternatively, you can enter search values into the Search Negotiations fields and click Go to list all negotiations in the system, including ones to which you were not explicitly invited to. On the Active Negotiations page, find your negotiation and click the negotiation number link there.
You can see details of the negotiation on the negotiation summary page. If less than 24 hours remain for the negotiations, the countdown clock at the top of the page shows the amount of time left before the negotiation closes in real time. If staggered closing is in effect, the clock shows the time remaining until the next line closes. If you want to view any responses that have already been submitted, click View Quote History/View Bid History. You can only see the existing responses when the negotiation is open or unsealed.
To submit response online:
On the negotiation summary page, select Create Quote/Create Bid from the Actions menu to create a response to the negotiation.
If the buyer has defined Terms and Conditions, you are asked to read and accept the negotiation terms and conditions.
The Terms and Conditions page enables you to accept (or not accept) the terms and conditions that are displayed as follows. After the supplier user selects the Create Quote action, the Terms and Conditions page displays, with the following checkboxes (the wording of the checkboxes may differ from the boilerplate text below):
I have read and accepted the terms and conditions
I do not have the authority to accept terms and conditions but would like provisional permission to participate
By default both checkboxes are unchecked. You need to select one of the checkboxes only (mandatory) before the Accept button is enabled. Click Accept to go to the Create Quote page where you can enter the bid.
On the Create Quote/Create Bid page, enter the following header information.
Quote Currency(Bid Currency) The buyer might allow quotes/bids in currencies other than the RFQ/auction currency (the currency used to create the RFQ or auction). If so, you can select the currency in which you will place your quote/bid.
Note: Before you select a currency, all response prices (such as start price and target price) will be listed in the RFQ/auction currency. After you select a currency, you will see all prices listed in your chosen currency.
If the buyer has allowed it, you can see the exchange rate for currencies other than the response currency.
Quote Valid Until (Bid Valid Until) Enter the date on which your bid or quote expires. You can use the pop-up calendar to select a date.
Reference Number A number you can assign for your own internal tracking. This is different from the quote/bid number which is generated by the system, assigned automatically, and cannot be edited. The buyer can view this value.
Note to Buyer You can enter a short text note to the buyer.
Attachments Click Add Attachments and use the Add Attachment page to supply the buyer with any additional information on, or specifications about your response. You can attach a file, a URL, and/or a short text note. If the negotiation is a two-part RFQ, your response is evaluated by two teams, a technical team and a commercial team. You can target your attachment to either of these teams of evaluators.
Requirements If there are any Requirements, they are displayed in the Requirements table. Enter your response in the Bid Value/Quote Value field .
Click the Lines tab. Enter your values for the following fields:
Quoted This dropdown has two values: Yes and No. When you enter information for the quote (such as item information, or price), and you need to change or remove several field values, select Yes in the Quoted dropdown. You need to provide all the line information again. This is an optional field, and helps you to remove all the quote data with a single click. Otherwise, removing all the filed values in the quote would be cumbersome. If you change item or price information, the system automatically changes the value of Quoted to Yes. By default, the value of Quoted is No.
Power Bid If you are rebidding and wish to use the Power Bid functionality, enter a number representing the percentage by which all your bid prices should be reduced. Click Recalculate to display your new prices. Note that the buyer may have defined a minimum value by which prices must change, and if your new bids are not acceptable, you receive an error message. Power Bid is disabled if any of the negotiation items contain cost factors. If you wish you power bid decrements to be applied only to lines on which your is not the best bid, click "Apply reduction to losing lines only". Also, if this is a large negotiation, power bidding is discouraged; if it is a very large or complex work negotiation, power bidding is disabled.
Proxy Bid Decrement (auctions only) If the buyer allowed proxy bidding, enter the value by which you wish your bid to be reduced. This can represent either a percentage or monetary amount depending on the settings defined by the buyer. If the buyer wants the bid to decrease by a monetary amount, the currency sign will appear after the Proxy Bid Decrement field. If the buyer wants the bid to decrease by a percentage, the percent sign will appear after the Proxy Bid Decrement field. Proxy decrements are always calculated based on the best bid. Proxy bids are not applied to any line having a cost factor . If all lines in the auction have cost factors, proxy bidding is disabled and this box does not appear.
Note: proxy bidding is discouraged for large negotiations and disabled for very large negotiations.
Alternate Lines The Create Alternate Lines page enables you to create all the line types supported in Oracle Procurement : Amount Based, Quantity Based, Fixed Price and Rate Based Temp Labor line types. The Attributes region is available on the Create Alternate Line page. Attributes are copied from the main line(s).
You can create an alternate line and associate it to one or more negotiation lines using the following methods:
Click the Add Alternate Lines icon in the row of the RFQ line, if you wish to associate the RFQ line to the alternate line. This opens the line details page. The Related to RFQ Lines region displays in the line details page. The Related to RFQ Lines region shows you the RFQ lines that the alternate line is associated to. Also the relation of the RFQ line could be an additional line, or an alternate line. This can be specified in the Relation with RFQ Lines dropdown. Click Add RFQ Line to add one or more negotiation lines that you want the alternate or additional line to be associate with. You can delete an associated RFQ line by clicking the Delete icon at the end of each RFQ line row.
In the Alternate Lines region, select the Create Line action, then click Go. The line details page displays. Enter the quote / bid details such as Description, Quote Quantity, Quote Price, etc. You can also create your quote / bid with descriptors (attributes). Descriptors from the source lines are also available in the alternate line. You can associate the alternate line to one or more negotiation lines using the Related to RFQ Lines region. Save your work by clicking Apply or Save Draft to return to the main Lines page of the quote.
The Alternate Lines region enables you to delete alternate lines and their association with negotiation lines. Select a line and click the Delete button ; you could also delete a line by navigating to each row and clicking the Delete icon at the end of each row. The Actions dropdown also enables you to delete all lines by using the Delete All Lines option and clicking Go. Use the pencil icon at each row to update information for the alternate line.
The Ship-To address is copied from the negotiation header if the alternate line is associated with multiple main lines. If the alternate line is associated to a single main RFQ line, the Ship-To address is copied from that single main line.
Multiple Active Offers
Search for the negotiation for which you submitted a bid or quote online and open it. Select Create Quote from the Actions dropdown to open the Create Quote page. A warning message displays on the page, informing you that you have already created quotes for the negotiation. You are prompted to select whether to modify or revise the existing quote or to create a new quote. If you wish to modify an existing quote, click the Modify or Revise the Existing Quote radiobutton and the Submitted and Draft Quotes page appears. In the Current Quotes region, select the quote you wish to modify and click Revise. The Create Quote page displays, enabling you to make the required changes to the quote. You could revert to the active quote by clicking Revert to Active Quote.
If you wish to create a new quote that will also be active, along with the previous quotes, select the Create a new Quote radiobutton. The Create Quote page displays, and you can enter the relevant information, and save the quote as another active offer.
The home page has an Active link in the Responses section. Click the Active link to open the Active and Draft Responses page. In addition to all the offers that you, as a supplier, have created, this page also shows you the multiple active offers for a negotiation.
Quote/Bid Price Your price for one unit of the item or service.
If the buyer has specified a starting price, that price is displayed in the Start Price column, and you must offer a lower price.
If the negotiation has a negotiation style of Open and there are existing quotes/bids on this line, the current winning price is displayed in the Best Bid/Best Quote column.
If the buyer has specified a target price for the line and chooses to show it, that price is displayed in the Target Price column. If this is a complex work negotiation, any target price for buyer created pay Items will be shown if the buyer has specified a target price for the pay item and has chosen to show the target price for line.
Bid/Quote Price Enter the price you are offering for one unit of the line.
If the line contains cost factors, this field is display only, and you enter your price in the Bid/Quote Value field for the Line Price cost factor.
If the negotiation line is contained in a lot, you can respond at the lot level, the lot line level, or both (if this is a complex work negotiation, complex work attributes only appear at the lot level, not the lot line level).
If the negotiation line is contained in a group, you must respond at the group line level. You cannot respond at the group level.
Bid Proxy Minimum(auctions only) If the auction allows proxy bidding, enter your minimum bid. If the bidding drops below this amount, automatic bidding on your behalf is discontinued, and you must enter new bids manually. You can rebid specifying new proxy bid values.
Lots are awarded as a unit. Therefore, any proxy minimum values are specified at the lot level. You cannot define a proxy minimum at the lot line level.
Quote Quantity/Bid Quantity Number of units on which you are Quoting/Bidding. If the buyer set bid controls to allow only full quantity bids, this field is display only and shows the quantity entered by the buyer. If Quantity has been scored and weighted, this field is display only, and you enter your quantity value in the Quantity attribute for the line.
Promised Date Use the pop-up calendar to enter the date by which you will deliver the item or service . If the negotiation outcome is Standard Purchase Order or this attribute is weighted, Promised Date is required.
If there is a circular icon to the right of the line description, there are line attributes or price factors to which you must respond. Click the pencil icon to update the line and add additional information for any of the following:
Complex Work Attributes If this is a complex work negotiation, financing and retainage attributes will be displayed. You can enter values for the attributes that are specified as negotiable in the sourcing document. Values for non-negotiable attributes cannot be changed and are view only.
The Pay Items region displays the pay items defined by the buyer. Provide the values for price, promised date etc. for each pay item. If the buyer has specified a target price and chosen to display it, this value appears in the Target Price field. You can modify the pay items and add additional pay items if the buyer has granted such privileges. Use the plus sign icon to upload attachments to a pay item, if needed.
Attributes If there are line attributes defined for this line, enter your responses to each attribute. The Attribute Type column shows whether a response is required or optional.
If a negotiation is created for temporary labor, and if there are descriptors associated to the negotiation line based on the Job-Purchasing Category-Shopping Category combination, the supplier can view the descriptors (attributes) during the Quote process. The supplier can respond to the attributes on a rate based negotiation line.
Cost Factors Cost factors are displayed if they have been added to an item by the buyer.
Target Value If the buyer have specified a target value for this cost factor, and has chosen to display it to you.
Bid Value Enter your value for this cost factor. When you click Continue, the item price, the bid value and the pricing basis are used to calculate the bid price.
Pricing Basis The method by which this cost factor is used to calculate the bid price:
Per-Unit - The value is added to the item price.
Fixed Amount- The value is divided by the quantity of units bid and added to the item price.
% of Item Price - The value is divided by 100, then multiplied by the item price, and the result added to the item price.
Price Breaks (Blanket or Contract Purchase Agreement Only) Price Breaks are displayed if they have been added to a line by a buyer and if the buyer has allowed the supplier to offer price breaks.
Ship-To Specifies a location name for which the buyer expects a price break. If there is no value displayed or if the column does not appear, the buyer does not wish to receive location-specific price breaks.
If price breaks are optional, this field specifies the list of location names for which you may or may submit price breaks. If you select a blank or null value, you do not wish to offer a location specific price break. i you do not offer a price for a price break line, you must delete the price break line.
View Address If price breaks are optional you can view the state, city, and street address for the corresponding Ship-To location by clicking the eyeglass icon.
Quantity If Required, specifies the quantity for which the buyer expects price breaks. If there is no value displayed or if the column does not appear, they buyer does not wish to receive quantity-based price breaks.
If Optional, you can specify the quantity for which you wish to submit price breaks. You may also overwrite the quantity. If you do not wish to offer a price for a price break line, you must delete the line.
Target Price The target price the buyer has specified for the price break.
Price or Discount % How the price break is calculated: either as a price in the bid/quote currency, or as a discount percentage of the line price.
Price Your bid or quote value. This is either a price in the bid/quote currency or a discount percentage of the line price.
Effective From/Effective To If Required, specifies the date range for which the buyer expects price breaks, If there is no value, or if the column does not appear, the buyer does not wish to receive
If Optional, specifies the date range for which you wish to submit price breaks. You may also overwrite any dates supplied by the buyer. if you do not wish to offer a price for the price break line, you must delete the line.
Notes and Attachments If necessary, enter a text note to the buyer to supply additional information on your response to this line.
You can attach additional line information to your bid. You might wish to do this to respond to any attachments from the buyer or simply to include detailed information. If you have added attachments, you see the paperclip attached to a page of paper.
You can view the Contract Terms region in the Create Response page. The contract terms that the buyer specified is viewable in the region. Use the Contract Terms region to make revisions to the contract terms and share the updates with the buyer.
Click Preview Contract to view the contract as a PDF document.
Click Download Contract to save the contract as an XML or an RTF file to your local drive. When you complete adding new clauses, updating, redlining, and editing the contract terms, save the changes.
Click Upload Contract to upload the revised contract terms as part of your quote/response.
You can review the uploaded contract using the Review Uploaded Contract page, and then continuing with the quote.
Click the Update icon to update a specific clause. The system indicates which clauses are mandatory. You can preview or export the clause as well.
Buyers can view the revisions that were made, using the Review Contract Deviations action.
When you have entered responses to all your line responses, click Continue. This returns you to the Create: Review and Submit page.
If the negotiation is a large or very large negotiation, click "Validate" if you wish to have your response values checked for validity. This is an optional step. Validation is performed by a concurrent program. You can check the status of the job by clicking the link to the Manage Negotiation Drafts page Once the status is complete, click "Review and Submit" to return to the Create: Review and Submit page.
When you are satisfied with your bid, click Submit.
If the response controls only allow a single bid per round, you receive a warning message to that effect when you submit your response. Also, if the negotiation is a two-part RFQ, you receive a warning message explaining the two-part RFQ process.
Note: For large and very large negotiations, submission is performed by a concurrent program. You can check the status of the job during execution by clicking the link to the Manage Negotiation Drafts page.
Note: If for some reason you do not wish to submit your response immediately, click Save Draft to save your response information for a later session. Your draft will be assigned a number which you can use later when accessing the draft for editing or completion. You can access your draft responses by clicking the Manage Draft quick link from the Negotiations Home page. You can access the draft for editing or for submission.
Drafts can be used to spread the response definition over several sessions. This is common in situations where the response is complex and requires the input of several collaborators. In this case, the draft can be accessed and edited as needed until the final version is ready for submission.
If multiple responses are allowed, a single supplier organization can have multiple draft responses against the same negotiation; however, a single supplier user can only have one draft response outstanding against a single negotiation. If they buyer allows only a single bid, a supplier organization can have only one draft response against a particular negotiation.
Note: You can print a copy of your response to retain for reference of for offline review and/or approval.
To print a copy of your response:
On the Create: Review and Submit page, click Printable View.
You can open the file and view it online or save the file and print it offline.
When the prompt box appears, open and inspect the print directly, or save it to a location on your machine and review the document there.
Importing your responses using a spreadsheet is helpful if there are many lines in a large negotiation.
To download a spreadsheet and prepare your bid or quote offline:
Access the open negotiation to which you wish to respond.
From the negotiation summary page, select Create Quote/Bid/Respond from the Actions menu and click Go.
On the Create Quote/Bid/Response page, click Quote/Bid/Respond By Spreadsheet.
On the Quote/Bid/Respond By Spreadsheet page, select the type of spreadsheet format you wish to use: XML Spreadsheet or Tab-Delimited (you can open the XML Spreadsheet in Excel if you have version 2003 or later). If you choose Tab delimited, you will also have to select which spreadsheet you wish to download: Requirement or line. Click Export.
If the negotiation you are responding to is a very large negotiation, a concurrent program is generated to create the spreadsheet. When you click Export, you receive a Confirmation message that contains a link to the Download Requests page. You can monitor the progress of the job from this page, and once it completes, you can click the link provided to down the completed spreadsheet.
Save the spreadsheet file to a convenient location.
Open the spreadsheet file and complete according to the instructions in the Read Me file included in the zip. Save the file.
Navigate back to the Quote/Bid/Respond By Spreadsheet page.
Select the format of the spreadsheet you wish to import Browse to the location where you saved your spreadsheet file. Click Import. The system will validate the response information you entered in your spreadsheet.
Verify the details of your quote/ bid/response. If there are errors, click Quote/Bid/Respond By Spreadsheet to access and correct your spreadsheet file. Once you have corrected your file, upload again.
On the Create Quote/Bid/Response page, click Continue to review the details of the quote/bid/response process.
On the Review and Submit page, click Submit to submit your quote/bid/response.
The Bid Confirmation/Quote Confirmation/Response Confirmation page displays your bid/quote/response number.
If this is a large or very large negotiation, the response submission is performed by a concurrent program. You can monitor the progress of this job by clicking the link to the Manage Draft Reponses page. Once the response submission is complete, your response appears with a status of active on the Negotiation Home page under Your Active and Draft Responses.
When you respond to such a negotiation, these terms and conditions are presented before you enter the details of your response. Review the negotiation's terms and conditions, click Accept, then continue entering your response.
If you do not accept the negotiation's terms and conditions, click Cancel. You will not be allowed to enter a response in the negotiation.
When creating a new negotiation, a buyer can add line attributes and/or cost factors to any line(s) in the negotiation. Cost factors identify additional costs associated with an line which need to be negotiated in addition to the line price. When you respond to a negotiation that includes line attributes and/or cost factors, you can view these specific line details (if allowed by the buyer) and enter additional values to target your response.
Line attributes provide extra information about a negotiation line. They define 1) unique specifications that are set for a negotiation line, and 2) the details that a negotiation participant should provide when entering a response for that line. Line attributes make a negotiation line more descriptive and can be used to ensure that all responses submitted for the line include details not included elsewhere in the line information.
Line attributes also allow you to provide more information and details when entering responses. By providing line details and specifications in line attribute fields, you can set your responses apart from your competitors' responses and enable buyers to make better-informed award decisions. In Multi-Attribute Weighted Scoring negotiations, your responses to a line's attributes are scored and weighted to allow the buyer to make more informed decisions.
Using cost factors allows you to target additional costs related to a particular negotiation line. Such costs can include discrete charges such as import duties or activities such consulting or training costs.
You may notice occasionally that when responding to a negotiation line, the price you enter for the line is increased or decreased, that is, it is changed or "transformed." This happen when transformational bidding is in effect for you for that line, and the buyer chose to show you the transformed responses. Transformation responding is a method by which certain cost factors can be applied to your response price. The addition of price factors could transform your response price by increasing it.
When responding to a line for which price factors are in effect for you, you enter your response price in the Line Price field. After you click Continue, you are taken to the Create: Review and Submit page. The Quote/Bid Price column shows the transformed price, and the applicable price factors are displayed in the Price Factors table if the buyer chose to show you them. this provides an explanation of how the modified amount was calculated.
Deliverables are additional requirements a buyer may request of a supplier over the course of a negotiation. Deliverables are part of the contract terms the buyer may have defined and are typically additional pieces of documentation that must be provided by the supplier. If Oracle Procurement Contracts is implemented by the buying organization, there may be deliverables to which you must respond .
You use the Create Response page to enter your response to the buyer's negotiation. This includes responses to any contract terms the buyer has defined. Contract terms are displayed in the Contract Terms section of the page.
If there are deliverables, they will be listed in the Deliverables section. Each deliverable has a due date, and you must respond to these deliverables before their dates expire. If there is an exclamation point icon in the Alert column, the due date for completion of that deliverable has passed and that deliverable is late. If there is an X icon in the Alert column, the responsible party failed to perform the deliverable.
Once you have completed the tasks outlined in the deliverable, you respond to the deliverable and update its status. Click the Update icon.
On the Update Deliverable page, you can perform the following modifications (note that changes to the deliverable status are tracked and can be displayed):
Change the deliverable status.
Modify or delete an existing attachment, or add a new attachment
Change the status to Submitted and click Done.
Continue responding to the negotiation .
When you are responding to a service-based negotiation, the fields to which you can respond depend on the type of line.
Responding to a temporary labor, rate-based line You can respond to the following fields:
Bid Price
Attributes (if any)
Price differentials (if any)
Location Pricing
Responding to a temporary labor, fixed-price line You can respond to the following fields:
Bid Price
Attributes (if any)
Responding to General Services, fixed-price line
Bid Price
Attributes (if any)
Responding to Price Differentials
You can respond to price differentials at the line or location (price break) level if they are marked as optional or required. If it is possible to enter a value, it must be higher than the targeted multiplier defined by the supplier.
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While monitoring the responses to an open auction, the negotiation Monitor will indicate the rank of your responses. You can tell that a better response has been submitted if your bid's rank goes from "1" to a lower number, or from "Win" to "Lose". Also, you may receive an online message indicating that this negotiation has entered its last autoextension. This indicates that a new triggering bid has been received in the closing minutes of the negotiation. In either of these situations, you may wish to rebid on one or more lines of the negotiation.
Access the negotiation on which you wish to rebid/requote. Click the negotiation link to access the negotiation summary page.
On the negotiation summary page, click Create Quote/Bid.
On the Create Bid/Quote page, enter your new bid information and click Continue. If this negotiation is an auction, the buyer may have required that you submit a bid that is a certain amount or percentage lower than your last bid or the current best bid.
On the Review Quote/Bid page, check your response information. If correct, click Submit.
A buyer can decide to close an active negotiation and restart it. There are several reasons why this might happen. If the negotiation is an RFQ, the initial round might have been simply for information gathering purposes, or the buyer may decide to change negotiation criteria such as terms and conditions, Quote/Bid controls, or the invitation lists. Once the buyer has published the updated RFQ/Auction, notifications are sent to the original and any newly added participants.
You respond to a second-round negotiation the same way as to the initial negotiation. After you have located the negotiation in which you wish to participate, you can respond with your new Quote/Bid. If the buyer has updated an item for the new round, you will need to respond to that item again. Your prior response price may have been carried over as the start price for the new line in the new round. If so, when you rebid on that line, you are required to submit a lower price than your bid in the previous round. If the item is unchanged from the previous round, your prior response is carried over to the new round.
Once you have displayed the new negotiation, you can easily identify the updated information by clicking View New Round Summary. The Multi-Round Modifications Summary page shows you negotiation information that has been updated since the previous round.
After you have analyzed the updated negotiation information, you can continue placing your response.
After publishing a negotiation, the buyer may need to update some of the information defined in the sourcing document. Such updates are called amendments. Once a document has been amended, you must review and acknowledge the amendments and place a new response.
To respond to a negotiation that was amended before your first response:
If the amendment was made prior to your first access, you will only be able to respond to the amended version.
Search for the negotiation.
Select the negotiation and click Respond.
You are informed that the negotiation has amendments and are prompted to acknowledge them. Click Yes. To be eligible for an award decision, you must have reviewed all the amendments and placed a response to the latest one.
On the Acknowledge Amendment page, review the document information, click the checkbox and then click Acknowledge.
If there are multiple amendments, you must review and acknowledge each one.
Once you have acknowledged all the amendments, you can continue to respond to the negotiation normally.
To respond to a negotiation that was amended after your first response:
If you placed a response before the amendment was made, the next time you access the system the status of your initial response will have been changed to Resubmission Required in the Your Active and Draft Responses section of the Negotiations Home page.
Click the negotiation number link to view the original negotiation and its updates.
The negotiation summary page shows the original version of the negotiation.
Click "View Amendment History" to see the changes made to the original negotiation.
The Amendment History page has entries for the original negotiation and any subsequently amended versions. The amended versions are suffixed with an incrementing counter. The currently active version has the highest number and is the first entry in the table .
Click the suffixed number links to see the different versions of the sourcing document, or click the Review Changes icon to see what information changed between a version and its prior version . The Review Changes page identifies the information that has changed. You can toggle between the current version and its prior version using the buttons .
Click Acknowledge Amendment. To be considered for an award decision, you must acknowledge that you have viewed the amendment and placed a new response .
On the Acknowledge Amendment page, you are presented the first amendment. Review the information, and then click the checkbox acknowledging you have reviewed the amendment. Click Acknowledge .
You are presented any additional amendments, which you must review and acknowledge .
Once you have acknowledged all the amendments, you can place a new response on the negotiation .
If the buyer has enabled quote withdrawal on a negotiation, then you can use the Active and Draft Responses page to revise or withdraw your offer, depending on your requirement. For example, you may wish to revise or withdraw your bid because the amendment to the solicitation now contains terms and requirements that you had not anticipated. Note that you can withdraw only active offers and also offers that are for solicitations that are currently open for bidding and on negotiations on which quote withdrawal is allowed.
To withdraw a quote:
Navigate to the Active and Draft Response page and select the Response Number for which you wish to withdraw your quote.
Click Withdraw.
On the Withdraw Quote page that displays, enter a Withdrawal Reason, and click Submit.
Alternatively, navigate to the Quote page, select Withdraw Quote from the Actions menu, and click Go.
On the Withdraw Quote page that displays, enter a Withdrawal Reason, and click Submit.
The Quick Links section of the Negotiations Home page provides easy, one-step access to your most commonly performed Oracle Sourcing tasks. The links are organized by task and negotiation type so you can find the link for the task you wish to perform. Simply clicking the link takes you to the page where you initiate the operation.
The table below shows some of the operations available to Sourcing Buyers and Sourcing Suppliers by using Quick Links.
| Buyer Operations | Supplier Operations |
| Creating negotiations | Responding to negotiations |
| Creating templates and reusable lists | Monitoring active responses |
| Managing draft negotiations | Managing draft responses |
| Creating and managing sourcing events | Viewing award decisions |
| Updating profile information | Updating profile information |
AutoRefresh enables you to continuously monitor the bidding in an auction before or after you submit a bid.
Locate an open auction in which you'd like to bid. Select the auction and click Respond.
On the Create Bid page, click AutoRefresh On.
On the AutoRefresh page, you can adjust the AutoRefresh interval setting to change the length of time between page refreshes.
If you want to display only those auction items that are included in a specific category, select the category from the View menu, then click Go.
The AutoRefresh page updates the current best bid price and your bid status for each item in the auction. Your bid status is No Bid for any item on which you have not placed a bid, Win for any item on which you have the current best bid price, and Lose for any item on which you have been outbid.
Click Create Bid to deactivate AutoRefresh and place a bid on the auction.
Power bid allows you to expedite your rebidding when you have bid on several items in the same auction. When you use power bid, all of your bids (losing and winning) in an auction are improved by the percentage you enter in the Power Bid field. Power bidding cannot be used if any of the auction items contain price factors.
To use power bid:
On the Create Bid page, enter the power bid percentage by which you want to decrease each of your bids in the auction. Enter numbers, for example, 7.25.
Click Recalculate to preview your power bid prices. The recalculated price appears in the Price field. Because you are only previewing your power bids, your bid status does not change yet, even if your new bid price exceeds the current best bid for any auction item. Your bid prices so not take effect until you click Submit Bid.
If you want to return to your original bid prices, click Clear Changes. You can then enter a new power bid percentage and click Go to revise your power bid.
When you are satisfied with your power bid prices, click Submit Bid and review the details of your bid.
By activating proxy bidding, you allow the system to automatically rebid on your behalf whenever a competing bid price beats your bid price.
In an auction that includes more than one line, you can proxy bid on some lines and bid manually on others. You cannot proxy bid on any lines that have cost factors.
Proxy bidding is discouraged with large negotiations and is disabled for very large negotiations.
To activate proxy bidding: When you place a bid on an auction, you can enter your proxy bid information in the appropriate fields on the Create Bid page. Use numbers, for example, 10.75. To submit a proxy bid for any auction line, you must provide the following information:
Note: If at any time you wish to change your proxy bid information, you can cancel your proxy bid and submit a new bid with the updated proxy information.
Proxy Bid Decrement You must enter the exact amount by which you want each of your proxy bids to decrease. The Proxy Bid Decrement field will indicate whether you can enter the amount as a percentage or monetary amount (this is determined by the buyer). Your proxy bid decrement amount is based on the current winning bid in the auction, not your own current bid. For example, if you have submitted a $3,500 bid in an auction with a proxy bid decrement amount of $100, and a $3,400 bid is subsequently submitted, the system will automatically submit a proxy bid of $3,300 (current best bid of $3,400 - your proxy decrement $100) on your behalf.
Proxy Minimum Bid You must enter the lowest price you are willing to proxy bid for any auction line. Whenever your bid price is exceeded by a competing bid price, the system will continue to automatically rebid (by the proxy bid decrement amount you specify) until your proxy minimum bid price is met.
Note: After you have submitted your proxy minimum bid amount, you cannot change this amount unless the minimum amount is met in the auction bidding or you cancel the proxy bidding on the line.
Proxy minimums are specified at the lot level. They do not apply at the lot line level.
When bidding on an auction that contains more than one line, you can proxy bid on all or selected lines. Enter your proxy bid decrement amount, then enter a proxy minimum bid only for those lines on which you want to proxy bid. You cannot enter different proxy bid decrement amounts for each line.
If the bidding on an auction line in which your proxy bidding drops below your proxy bid minimum amount, automatic proxy bidding is discontinued. You can then do any of the following:
Enable another round of proxy bidding for the line Enter new proxy bid information. You can change your proxy bid decrement if all lines on the bid do not have proxy enabled. You can also change the proxy bid minimum amounts. Then submit the bid as normal.
Bid manually on the line Continue bidding on the line by submitting bids manually.
Discontinue bidding on the line
Proxy bidding allows a bidder to have the system automatically rebid whenever a competing bid is received. The bidder specifies the amount of the price decrement (expressed as a percentage or a flat price reduction) and the minimum price to offer. Once enabled, the system will continue to rebid at lower prices until the bidder's minimum bid price is reached. At this point, proxy bidding in suspended.
Canceling proxy bidding
In most cases, once proxy bidding has been initiated, it can be allowed to run to conclusion. However, there may be certain instances in which the bidder needs to end proxy bidding early. Usually, this happens when the bidder needs to update bid information. For example, the promise date offered by the bidder may need to be updated due to unforeseen situations at the time the proxy was begun. Or in a multi-attribute weighted negotiation, the bidder may wish to update the non-price related information to improve the price to total score ratio. In both these cases, the bidder may wish to halt the proxy bidding to update bid information.
To cancel proxy bidding.
Once you have placed a bid using proxy bidding, you can monitor its progress by locating the negotiation number under Your Active and Draft Responses section of the Negotiations Home page. To view the details of your current bid, click the Response number link.
Click Create Bid to create a new bid.
On the Rebid page, click Cancel Proxy at the bottom of the page.
The Cancel Proxy Bidding page shows all line items for which you have proxy bidding enabled. Select the items for which you wish to disable proxy bidding, and click Cancel All Proxies. The Cancel Proxy Bidding page redisplays without the line item(s) for which you just disabled proxy bidding (you can choose to retain proxy bidding on some line items but not others) .
To continue placing a new bid, click Create Bid. When the Rebid page appears, continue entering your new bid information (including new proxy specifications if desired).
Suppliers - Monitoring Negotiations
Monitoring Negotiations as a Supplier
Tracking the Status of Responses
Communicating while a Negotiation is in progress
Viewing the Disqualified Responses Page
Viewing the Awarded Items Page
Viewing the Rejected Items Page
From the Negotiations Home page, you can easily monitor the status of negotiations to which you have responded. The Your Active and Draft Responses section lists all negotiations to which your have either submitted an active response or to which you are still creating a draft response.
Click the Negotiation Number link to see details of the negotiation such as negotiation items, terms and conditions, and response controls.
Click the Response Number link to see details of your current responses.
Also on the Negotiations Home page, you can use the Response Quick Links to see the status of your awarded, disqualified, and rejected responses.
You can view your response while the negotiation is in progress. See: Monitoring Negotiations as a Supplier
As a supplier, you can monitor your negotiations in progress to track the status of your responses. In an open auction you can see the rank of your response and the current best price, so you will know how to respond if you need to (and can) rebid. Depending on how the system is configured, in RFQs and blind auctions, you may or may not be able to view the best price and your response rank.
The information displays based on the negotiation document type (auction or RFQ). The information refreshes according to the value in the AutoRefresh menu. You can change this value by selecting a value from the menu and clicking Set.
Within twenty-four hours of the close date/time, the countdown clock at the top of the page displays the remaining time before the negotiation closes. If staggered closing is in effect, the clock shows the time remaining until the next line closes. Also, if the negotiation controls allow you to choose which lines to respond to, you can select to have only those line appear on the display. Or you can choose to have only lines which you are currently not winning to be displayed and monitored.
To monitor your negotiations:
From the Negotiations Home page, click the negotiation number link in the Your Active and Draft Responses region for the negotiation you wish to monitor. Depending on the negotiation document type, you view the Auction or RFQ page.
On the Auction or RFQ page, select Monitor Auction or Monitor RFQ as applicable from the Actions menu and click Go.
When a negotiation in which you have participated is awarded, the system sends you an e-mail notification listing the number of negotiation items you won (if any) and lost (if any).
To view the status of your responses:
From the Responses Quick Links section of the Negotiations Home page click:
"Awarded" to access the Awarded page showing information on all your awarded business.
"Rejected" to access the Rejected page showing information on all your rejected responses.
"Disqualified" to access the Disqualified page showing information on all your disqualified responses.
The Disqualified Responses page shows you all responses you have placed in any negotiation that have been disqualified by the buyer. The Disqualified Responses page allows you to drill down into detailed information about the negotiation and your response to it. The Disqualified Responses page shows:
Response Number The number assigned to your response by the system.
Your Response Number - The number you assigned your response, if any.
Negotiation Number - The number assigned the negotiation by the system.
Type - The negotiation type: RFI, RFQ, or buyer's auction
Title - The title of the negotiation.
Event Title - The name of the event, if the negotiation is associated with one.
Time Left - Time remaining until the negotiation closes.
Reason - Any explanation provided by the buyer explaining why the response was disqualified.
If the negotiation is still open, you can select your response and click Revise to update your information and submit a new response.
The Awarded Items page shows you all negotiation items for which you have been awarded business. The Awarded Items page allows you to drill down into detailed information about the negotiation items and your responses to them. The Awarded Items page shows:
Response Number - The number assigned to your response by the system.
Your Response Number - The number you assigned your response, if any.
Negotiation Number - The number assigned the negotiation by the system.
Type - e negotiation type: RFI, RFQ, or buyer's auction
Item Description - The description of the item entered by the buyer.
Promised Date - The date by which you said you can supply the item.
Award Quantity - The number of negotiation item units the buyer is contracting to buy from you.
Response Price - The price at which you offered to sell the item.
Order - The purchase order generated from this negotiation.
Reason - Any optional message from the buyer.
The Rejected Items page shows you all items to which you responded but were not awarded by the buyer. The Rejected Items page allows you to drill down into detailed information about the negotiation and your response to it. The Rejected Items page shows:
Response Number - The number assigned to your response by the system.
Your Response Number - The number you assigned your response, if any.
Negotiation Number - The number assigned the negotiation by the system.
Type - The type of negotiation: RFQ, or Buyer's Auction
Item Description - Description of the negotiation item.
Promised Date - The date by which you promised to deliver the item.
Response Quantity - The number of item units you offered to sell the buyer.
Response Price - The price at which you offered to sell the item.
Reason - Any message provided by the buyer explaining why the item was not awarded.
You can print a copy of the sourcing document for viewing and review offline.
On the Negotiations Home, search for the negotiation you wish to print by clicking the Negotiation Number link.
On the negotiation summary page, select Printable View from the Actions menu.
When the prompt box appears, open and inspect the print directly, or save it to a location on your machine and review the document there.
To print response details:
On the Negotiations Home, click the response number for the response whose details you wish to print.
On the response details, select Printable View from the Actions menu and click Go.
When the prompt box appears, open and inspect the print directly, or save it to a location on your machine and review the document there.
To print contract terms only:
On the Negotiations Home page, search for the negotiation for which you wish to print the contract terms by clicking the negotiation number link.
Click the Contract Terms link in the navigation bar.
Click Preview Contract Terms.
When the prompt box appears, open and inspect the print directly or save it to a location and review the document locally .
To be able to successfully conduct business on Oracle Sourcing, you must be able to quickly locate negotiations of interest. There are several ways to search depending on the kind of negotiation you are looking for.
To search for your active and draft responses:
If you are currently participating in a negotiation, or are in the process of preparing a response for a negotiation, information on your responses is displayed under Your Active and Draft Responses section of the Negotiations Home page. From this display, you can:
Click the negotiation number link to see details about the negotiation.
Click the response number link of an active response to see the details of your current response.
Click the response number link of a draft response to continue editing the draft.
To see a list of all your negotiations, click Full List.
To search for negotiations to which you've been invited:
If a buyer has invited you to participate in a negotiation, you will see an entry for that negotiation under Open Negotiations. To access a negotiation, click the Number link for that negotiation. You can see the details of the negotiation and decide whether or not to participate. To see a complete list of negotiations to which you have been invited, click Full List.
To search for all open negotiations:
In addition to the negotiations to which you have been specifically invited, there may be many other open negotiations which you may wish to investigate and participate in.
To search for all open negotiations, use the Search Negotiations fields at the top of the Negotiations Home page. You can search by Negotiation Title, Negotiation Number, Contact (the buyer who created the negotiation), Category (all negotiations having an item from that category value), Item (the item description) or Event (all negotiations associated with a Sourcing event .
After you have selected a search criteria and entered a search value, click Go. The Results: Negotiations page displays all negotiations that met your search criteria.
To access a negotiation, click the Number link. This will take you to the negotiation summary page. Here you can view information on the negotiation and submit a response.
Searching Lines Within a Large Negotiation Large negotiations typically have hundreds or thousands of negotiation lines. Scrolling through the lines display can be tedious and time-consuming for such a large number of lines. You can use the search function to view or process a selected subset of the total negotiation lines. This allows you to access and work with only those lines that meet your search criteria (for example, only lines whose items come from a particular category).
There are two fields that display line number information. Number of Lines specifies the aggregate number of all lines defined to the negotiation, including constituent lot lines and group lines. Last Line Number refers to the last independent and/or parent line number. Lines in lots and groups are numbered as children of their parent line number and so are not reflected in Last Line Number. This means there can be a difference between the two. For example, if you have a negotiation with many lots, the Last Line Number might be 200, while the Number of Lines might be 375
To search large negotiation lines:
On the Lines tab of the Create Response page, enter as many search criteria into the fields in the Search area as are necessary to define the set of lines you with to process. You can search on Line Number Category, Line Description and Item Number.
If you select "Show table data when all conditions are met," the lines retrieved must match each of the criteria you define.
If you select "Show table data when any conditions are met," the lines retrieved must meet as least one of the criteria you define, but not necessarily all.
You can add multiple search clauses by selecting an entry from the Add Another menu and clicking Add. This enables you to search for a range of items (for example, Item Number > 123 and Item Number < 789), or for items from more than one category.
After you have specified your search criteria, click Go to display the results.
Once the lines are displayed, you can process them as you normally would.
Note that if you use a search clause with the comparison type of Contains, Is Not, or Ends With, you must also include at least one search clause having a comparison type that is not one of the type just listed.