Bid Round

This page is accessed via Sourcing > Bid Creation > Bid Round.

The bid round defines the structure for the bidding process. On the bid round, you specify the project to which this bid round belongs, as well as, the open and close dates for the bid round. If desired, you may associate a constraint set used to determine which carriers are invited to bid. The solution ID may be defined later for use during the rating. When creating rates, there is a prompt for a bid round that contains the solution and effective dates to be published.

Note: To allow Oracle Transportation Sourcing to support the use of multiple transport modes, the transport mode specified on the rate record template is ignored. Instead, the transport modes listed in the mode profile ID on the constraint set are used. If different constraint sets are specified on the project and bid round, the constraint set ID on the bid round is used.

Note: When you create a new project, bid round 1 is automatically created for you. For subsequent bid rounds, you can create a new bid round or copy an existing bid round.

Editing the First Bid Round

You may want to use the Bid Round page to change some of the fields that are set automatically when the first bid round is created.

The following values are automatically populated when bid round 1 is created:

• Project ID is automatically created and is the project ID followed by a -1 (for example, <project ID>-1) for bid round 1.
• No CRT configuration ID is specified. You must specify a CRT configuration ID prior to running the Generate Carrier Response Template action or manually creating bids for this bid round.

Note: You cannot make changes to the CRT configuration once it is assigned to a bid round.

Note: Once bids are uploaded for a bid round, you cannot remove the specified CRT Configuration ID from the bid round.

• Bid round open date defaults to the start date specified on the project.
• Bid round close date defaults to 30 days from the bid round open date.
• Bid round sequence is set to 1.
• The status value ID of BID_ROUND_OPEN is set.
• No constraint set ID is specified.

Note: Although this field is optional on the Bid Round page, when your carriers (service providers) attempt to upload their completed CRTs, Oracle Transportation Sourcing needs to know which service providers are allowed to upload bids for this project. So prior to sending out the CRTs to your carriers (service providers), you should double-check to make sure the constraint set ID is specified on your bid round and all of the carriers you want to upload bids are included the constraint set.

Creating a Subsequent Bid Round

A subsequent bid round can be used to fine tune the bidding process. After you review the round 1 bids, you can send out a second, or even third bid round to give your carriers a chance to lower their bid if their first round bid was too high. The subsequent bid rounds should have the same Constraint Set ID as a prior bid round.

Note: These steps are only required for bid rounds 2 and beyond.

Note: The rate record template specified on this CRT configuration ID must match the rate record template specified on the project. Oracle Transportation Sourcing performs a check when the bid round is saved.

Note: You cannot make changes to the CRT configuration once it is assigned to a bid round.

Note: Once bids are uploaded for a bid round, you cannot remove the specified CRT Configuration ID from the bid round.

1. Enter an ID in the Bid Round ID field.
2. Select a domain from the Domain Name drop-down list.
3. Assign the bid round to a Project ID.
4. Enter a CRT Configuration ID.
5. Enter the Bid Round Open Date and Bid Round Close Date. The bid round open date is when the first bid is accepted. The bid round close date is the date when the last bid is accepted.
   
   If you try to enter a bid outside the time range, you will receive an error.
6. Indicate the sequence for the bid round (e.g., 2, 3, etc.) in the Bid Round Sequence field.
7. Enter a Constraint Set ID.

   Note: Although this field is optional on the Bid Round page, when your carriers (service providers) attempt to upload their completed CRTs, Oracle Transportation Sourcing needs to know which service providers (carriers) are allowed to upload bids for this project. So prior to sending out the CRTs to your carriers, you should double-check to make sure the constraint set ID is specified on your bid round and all of the carriers you want to upload bids are included the constraint set.

8. Enter a Solution ID.
9. Click Finished.