If the bidder has any questions regarding the inquiry, he submits a commercial or technical request for information (RFI) with his questions. Additionally, he can attach files to the questions.
To view and edit the technical RFIs assigned to the quote summary, double-click the bidder on P.30.23 to open Window 2, and click the RFI/Clarifications tab.
In the first (RFIs) block, the RFIs assigned to the selected inquiry are displayed.
You can select an option from the radio group on the top of the block to define what data should be displayed. The available options are:
Inquiry RFIs - All RFIs of the inquiry are displayed.
RFIs available for this Bidder - All available RFIs of the selected bidder are displayed.
RFIs of this Bidder - All RFIs created by the selected bidder are displayed.
The This Bidder's RFIs box shows the color used to highlight the RFIs of the selected bidder.
To create a new technical RFI, click the New record button, type a sequence number in the Seq field, enter the date when the RFI was created in the Date field, enter the subject for the RFI in the Subject field, and click Save.
The available options for the RFI Status are Open and Closed. If the status is set to Closed, the RFI cannot be changed.
The Initiator field shows whether the RFI was initiated by the supplier (S) from Smart Materials Portal, or from the buyer (B). If the buyer is the initiator of the RFI, you can only create questions but no answers. If the supplier has initiated the RFI, you only can give answers but you cannot create questions.
If you want to change the RFI initiator from B to S (if you have created the RFI
on behalf of the supplier because, for example, he cannot acces the Portal), right-click
the Initiator field and select Change to supplier.
If the Finalize indicator is selected, the RFI and the associated questions cannot be changed anymore. Further, the bidder cannot add more questions to the RFI.
The Finalize check box should only be selected by the buyer on P.30.22 if the subcontractor does
not have access to the Portal.
To be able to submit the RFI, at least one question must be assigned. After submitting the RFI, an answer can be entered and submitted by the buyer in the Answers block.
In the second (Questions) block, the questions associated with the selected RFI are displayed. In the Requested By field, you can see who asked the question. The phone number of this person is displayed in the Contact Tel field. The Question Details field shows the question. The green Documents button indicates that files are attached to the question. To view the files, click the button, select a file, and click View.
To submit a question, select Submit Question and click Yes to acknowledge the message. A box opens where you can specify whether to send the question to the selected bidder or to all bidders. When you save, a dialog opens showing all recipients who will get an email with the question. The email is created based on the template assigned to project default ZP_EMT_RQ.
In the third (Answers) block, the buyer can answer the bidder’s question and send it to the selected bidder or to all bidders when submitting the answer.
To be able to enter an answer, the RFI must be submitted.
The person who answers the question enters his name in the Answered By field. You can use the LOV to select a name from the list pre-defined on A.20.05 Users. If you select a name from the LOV, the Contact Tel field is populated with the phone number defined on A.20.05 for this user. Otherwise, you can enter the phone number manually.
The Date Answered field shows the current date when creating a new answer. This date can be changed
Type the answer for the selected question in the Answer Details field.
To attach a file to the answer, click the Documents button, click Upload, select the file, and click Open.
Select the Submit Answer check box to submit the answer. A dialog box opens where you can specify whether to send the answer to the selected bidder or to all bidders.
If the answer is sent to all bidders, the RFI and the question are also included
in the email, but without mentioning the requester and his phone number. The other
bidders do not know who asked the question. If project default ZP_HIDEQ is set to
Y, '---' is displayed in the email instead of the question.
Select the appropriate option from the radio group and click Continue to go ahead or Cancel to stop the process.
After you submit an answer, it cannot be changed.
Select the Addend Rqd check box if an addendum is required. You can add the addendum number in the Addend No. field. After you select the check box and save the change, a message appears if you want to create a new inquiry supplement (if the inquiry is approved). Click Yes to continue, and the software creates a new inquiry supplement. A new message appears: ‘The supplement has been successfully created. Do you want to go to screen P.30.21 Prepare RFQ?’ If you click Yes, the P.30.21 screen opens, where the new inquiry supplement is displayed. If you click No, the P.30.11 Inquiries screen opens, displaying the inquiry with its supplements.
If you click Save after selecting the Submit Answer check box, an email with the answer is sent to the bidder(s).