Agenda

1. eTendersNI background

2. General tips on using the system

3. Registering

4. Getting to know the home page

5. Setting up your procurement categories

6. Adding additional users

7. Browsing for tenders

8. Expressing an interest

9. Creating a tender

10. Setting reminders about a tender

• New way for NI central government, agencies and arm’s

length bodies to advertise tender opportunities

• Phased introduction over the coming months

• Continue to check eSourcing NI until further notice

• eTendersNI service is provided by CPD

• Will be available for all public sector organisations

• Registration and use is free of charge to all suppliers

• Supplier database for registering, and completing

supplier profile certificates

• Automatic notifications about relevant tenders

• Secure arrangements around submission of tenders

• Advertising for sub-contractors

• Uploading product catalogues after contract award

From a supplier perspective,

what does eTenders NI do?

Suppliers are referred to as Economic Operators (EO)

Tender opportunities are Calls for Tenders (CfT)

Buyers are referred to as Contracting Authorities (CA)

Understanding the eTendersNI language...

Each organisation chooses an Economic Operator

Administrator, who is able to:

• Edit the organisation details

• Add / delete other users

• Complete Supplier Profile Certificates

• Publish subcontracting opportunities

The Administrator should carry out the registration

process, and after this they can add multiple other users.

Understanding supplier roles using the system

Other colleagues in your organisation chosen to become

Economic Operator Users for eTendersNI can do the

following:

• Express an interest in a Call for Tender

• Submit a request for clarification and view responses

• Prepare and submit tender returns

• Accept / reject contract awards

Understanding supplier roles using the system

General tips on using the system...

Information displayed in tables often

has arrows in the table header – use

the arrows to sort the results in

ascending or descending order

Table headers may also contain this

symbol – use it to hide or show a

number of fields in the table

Use the arrows to move

between pages of information

The ‘Calendar’ button allows the

user to select a date

The ‘Search’

button is used

often

The ‘Clear’

button will clear

any items the

user has

previously

selected

Registering your organisation

for eTendersNI

• Supplier data has not been transferred from eSourcing

NI

• To ensure there are no multiple registrations by the

same organisation, the system requires a D-U-N-S

number

• Once the D-U-N-S number is confirmed, organisation

contact details will be completed automatically

Registering for eTendersNI

Select ‘Register as a Supplier’ from the home

page options on the left of the screen

The ‘Register

Supplier’ screen

is easy to

complete

Look for the red

* symbol, as

these fields are

compulsory to

complete

Start by completing your ‘Organisation Name’

Then select ‘Retrieve company data from D&B to proceed’

To prevent duplicate registrations, all suppliers require a

D-U-N-S number to register for eTendersNI

The D-U-N-S number is a unique nine digit code to

identify your business

www.dnb.co.uk/forms/new_duns

A new window will pop-up, offering options

Choose the appropriate D-U-N-S number and then the

‘Select’ button

The organisation contact details are now completed on

the screen, as shown below

• Once the organisation details are confirmed, you should

provide details for your Administrator, including

password

• Opportunity to register interest in all tenders published

by a particular CA – skip if not relevant

Registering for eTendersNI

• A green success message will show your registration

was accepted

• The Administrator receives an email seeking verification

• Read and accept the User Agreement

• eTendersNI will check for system requirements –

download Java Runtime Environment

• Confirmation email will issue to Administrator

Registering for eTendersNI

You now reach the home page

dashboard – welcome to

eTendersNI!

Getting to know the homepage

- Your first steps

Spend some time getting used to

the new home page!

Start with the ‘Correspondence’

section

The ‘Correspondence’ section of the home page is

really useful. Select any message and then the ‘View’

button to read the email

The first messages kept in your

Inbox will relate to your registration

The home page: CfT Management

Now look at the ‘My CfTs’ section on

the home page

Once you associate your

organisation with a Call for Tender,

the title will be displayed here on the

home page, for easy access

The home page: EO administration

‘EO Management’ lets you edit your

organisation details, select

procurement categories, and

complete Supplier Profile

Certificates

‘User Management’ lets you add

more users, or change your

eTendersNI administrator

‘Auditing Reports’ lets you track your activity

on eTendersNI – e.g. when you placed a

particular bid, or added a new user

The home page: Information section

Link to Procurement Pipelines for

all Centres of Procurement

Expertise

Frequently Asked Questions by

suppliers using eTendersNI

Link to helpful information for

suppliers new to public sector

tendering

Return to the

homepage at any

time using this

link

Download the

Supplier User

Manual using this

link

Contact the

helpdesk by

email or

telephone

eTendersNI offers the option to receive email alerts about

tenders relevant to your organisation!

To receive these emails, you must select the relevant

procurement categories (CPV codes) and save these on

your profile.

You can do this, and edit the categories at anytime using

the EO Administration section of the home page.

Select the ‘EO management’ link

from the left of the home page

screen

Select the ‘EO management’ link

from the left of the home page

screen

Select the ‘Edit CPV Codes’

option from the main options on

this screen

CPV codes are used across all the EU countries to classify

contracts into categories

Most codes are 8 or 9 digits, but eTendersNI allows you to

search without knowing your code – start by selecting the

‘Search’ button (magnifying lens symbol)

Selecting procurement categories: using a word search

Type in the ‘Search’

text box and select the

‘Search’ button

The results will be

listed

Select a CPV category

from the results and

the ‘Add to List’ button

Select ‘Submit’ to save

your categories

Selecting procurement categories: search by category tree

Alternatively, search through the categories. Each main

heading breaks into several sub-categories, each with

further sub-categories. Be very specific!

Using the category tree to find the exact category

Use the + and – symbols to navigate through the layers

Double-click on a title you are certain you want to select

Categories selected will appear in the

‘Selected Items’ list

Continue to search for as many categories as

relevant to your organisation, before selecting

‘Submit’ to move on

On this screen select ‘Finish’ to save your

changes, and receive a success message

Your organisation Administrator will now receive email alerts

about tenders published in the selected categories

Adding additional users for your organisation

Select ‘User Management’

from the EO Administration

options on the left hand

side of the home page

Each current and previous

user will be listed

The ‘Status’ column shows

users which are active and

inactive

Viewing the current users

Select ‘Add User’ to add

another member of staff

Select whether the new user will

replace the Administrator, or

simply be an additional user

Adding the new User details

Fill in the details and

select a username and

password

The new user will be listed as ‘Inactive’ until the staff

member receives an email with their transaction number

and activates their account

Using eTendersNI to browse for

Calls for Tender

• Remember the new phrase ‘Calls for Tender’ (CfT)

• eTendersNI offers suppliers an extensive range of

search options

Search by key word

Use the Advanced Search functionality

Read a list of all opportunities and re-order the results

Browsing for tender opportunities

Use ‘View current

opportunities’

Use the simple

‘Search’ function

Use the advanced

‘Search’ function

The ‘View

Current

Opportunities’

list of CfTs is

in order of

the tender #

allocated

Use the

arrows to

move to the

next page, or

go back

Use the arrows in the table heading to re-order the titles in

alphabetical order (this example is Z to A)

Use the arrows in the table heading to re-order the

contracting authorities in alphabetical order

Alternatively use the key word search engine – in this example

searching by ‘taxi’ and seeing the results listed below

Search by ‘Buyer

Organisation’

Select

either

‘Supplies,

Services or

Works’

Search by

the CPV

code

Examples of an Advanced ‘Search’

Examples of an Advanced ‘Search’

Search by

‘Workspace Status’

Select ‘Search’ to

display the results

Using eTendersNI to

download tender documents and

associate your organisation

with a tender opportunity

• Express an interest / associate your organisation

• View tender documents

• Submit clarification questions

• Start creating a bid

• Specify alerts on a particular

tender

The Call for Tender Menu

Returning to the ‘taxi’ example – select the link in the CfT Title

column to access the tender documents and the CfT Menu

Reaching the Call for Tender Menu

• Receive notifications about a

particular tender – e.g. When

a clarification query is raised

• Use the Cft Menu

• Select whether all the users

should be associated or just

you

Expressing an interest

• Initial screen shows link to

the Contract Notice

• Move to the ‘Contract

Documents’ tab to download

the tender documents

• Download files one by one, or

as a zip file

• Save the files to your

computer to access them

offline

Viewing CfT documents

Submitting a clarification question online

through eTendersNI

Requesting clarifications

• This process enables tenderers to raise questions & clarify

requirements

• Responses are copied to all tenderers unless commercially

confidential

• Opportunity to discuss requirement with Client

• Develop full understanding of the requirement

• No negotiation

• Clarifications already posted

will be shown on screen

• Complete a Clarification

Request Form

• Procurement Officer will post

a reply

• Other organisations who

have expressed an interest

will be notified

• Download clarifications as a

zip file

Clarifications

Creating a tender online

• Express an interest first

• Use the ‘Tender’ option

• Download Java plug-in

• Wait for the Tender

Preparation Tool to load

• The tool can only be open in

one browser at a time

Creating a Tender

The LEFT panel of

the tool displays

the envelopes for

the contract type

(e.g. Eligibility

Criteria, Technical,

Financial)

The RIGHT panel

of the tool displays

the requirements

of the selected

envelope

At the top of the Tender

Preparation Tool, the

tool bar shows the

completion % for the

tender

In this example the supplier may tick the check-box to

import one of their Supplier Profile Certificates

Tip: This saves time as it only needs completed once

during the registration process – so before you start

creating a tender, check your certificates using the ‘EO

management’ option from the home page

Alternatively the

user may have

to complete

check boxes,

insert dates, text,

or attach files

In all instances

the instructions

will be clear

Where text is

required, a

maximum

number of

characters will

be specified

Green colour means

this section is now

completed

The completion status

will change to reflect

your progress

The created tender can

be saved at any time

using the ‘Save’ button

above

The user will be asked

to specify a location on

their local environment,

and a copy will be

stored in XML structure

Once the tender is complete, use

the ‘Tools’ menu to select

‘Validate the Tender’

The system will check if all the

mandatory fields have been

completed, with values within

range

If the validation is not successful, the screen

will display the criteria which have not been

properly provided – using red ‘Stop signs’

Once the tender is 100% complete, simply click the

‘Submit Tender’ button

The eTendersNI system will validate the tender, pack it,

encrypt it, and submit it to the contracting authority

Once the tender has been submitted, it will appear in the

List of Submitted Tenders further down the screen, with a

tender receipt ID number, and a green tick

Submitting the tender

Creating a tender using the offline tender

preparation tool

• If you prefer to prepare tenders offline, or have multiple

users accessing the documents

• Save it on your PC as a zip file and uncompress the

contents

The offline Tender Preparation Tool

• The tool works generally the

same as the online version

• In general, download it

before starting to prepare a

bid, to ensure you have the

latest version

Using the offline Tender Preparation Tool

At any time you can use the ‘save’ button to save a partially

completed tender, and return to it later.

Select a known folder, provide a name for the tender, and

‘save’ it to your desktop or another location.

Remember not to let the document be saved in a

temporary folder which the operating system may delete.

Once you are ready to submit, use the ‘Pack’ option to

create a tender package ready for uploading

Use the ‘CfT Menu’ to

select the ‘Tender’

option

Uploading your tender documents (prepared offline)

Use the ‘Manual Upload’

option on screen

Locate your package on

your PC and upload it

Use this link to begin

preparing your offline

tender

Use this link when your tender is complete and you

are ready to manually upload it to eTendersNI

Note that depending on the Call for Tender, you may

not be able to upload tenders at certain times or

dates (e.g. If the deadline has passed!)

Managing notifications about tenders you

are associated with

If you have associated your

organisation with a tender, you

can use this option to specify

when you want email alerts:

e.g. a reminder a week from the

tender submission deadline

If you have associated your

organisation with a tender, you

can use this option to specify

which of your colleagues receive

the email alerts

Using e-Attestations

Select the ‘EO management’ link

from the left of the home page

screen

The ‘eAttestations’ link refers to Supplier Profile Certificates

Using this function, you will be able to save time by saving

information to your profile and uploading the ‘certificate’

when you submit the tender

Final thoughts

• Contracts Awarded archives

• Look at the list of current Pan-Government Contracts

(3-5 years) on the CPD website

• Check Procurement Pipelines

• Remember to check eSourcing NI while it still exists

Preparing for what is likely to be

advertised on eTendersNI...

Online guidance

The CPD website has a number of resources for

suppliers:

Quick Reference Guides

FAQs

Case Studies

Procurement Pipeline

Procurement Guidance Notes

www.dfpni.gov.uk/cpd

Where to find these?

www.dfpni.gov.uk/cpd and ‘Suppliers’ option from home page

InterTradeIreland – here to help you!