Procuring PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) can be challenging at the best of times, and during COVID-19 certainly generates additional considerations. Many unique challenges have arisen from the seizing of equipment by governments, through to homemade items and innovative ideas. In all respects the general process has not changed, just more care is needed around quality and delivery. This means you might need more emphasis on physical examples of items or assurance that stock is actually available.
Employers have duties concerning the provision and use of personal protective equipment (PPE) at work.
PPE is equipment that will protect the user against health or safety risks at work. It can include items such as safety helmets, gloves, eye protection, high-visibility clothing, safety footwear and safety harnesses. It also includes respiratory protective equipment (RPE).
Making the workplace safe includes providing instructions, procedures, training and supervision to encourage people to work safely and responsibly.
Market Dojo offers fully on-demand licences that allow a user to run unlimited sourcing events for £500. Alternatively, we have the experience to run it for you, expecting a few days help at £500 a day or try to run it for free.
Like office supplies, this is one of the more popular categories on which to run an eTender. However, many Hosts can underestimate the level of work required to make this category a success. The first point of call is to obtain your previous year’s annual volumes either from your purchasing systems or from your incumbent suppliers.
Our recommendation is to examine breaking the category down into the main constituent elements although this does depend on your spend and desired outcome. Then to create a core list of items (use the pareto rule on your spend), an alternative core list and a basket. See our guides on MLIBS (Multi-Line Item Bidsheet) or download here. This structure will give you the opportunity to consolidate suppliers and your requirements.
The key to the structure is having an idea of what you want the final outcome to look like. Do you want a single supplier, or different suppliers based on geography or even different suppliers based on different groups items. Also what will suppliers bid upon. In other words, you need to consider the supplier facing market categories.
Next you will need to work on your SLA’s (Service Level Agreements). Some of the things you may want to include/ consider: Regulations, Training, Instructions, Maintenance, Storage, Recordkeeping, Stocks Levels, Ethical considerations, Repairs, Minimum order quantities, Lead times, Scheduled orders, ad hoc orders
PPE is a highly competitive category with the majority of suppliers familiar with eSourcing events, even if your spend is low, there are normally specific account managers for lower spends in these large distributors who will find your business sufficiently attractive. Therefore we highly suggest that you’re using a negotiation strategy that maximises your returns from the high level of competition with minimal effort.
There is no magic bullet to finding suitable suppliers. We would recommend simply the obvious: Ask your colleagues, look at internet specialists, directories, social media and ask for referrals.
As an initial part of the tender process, you would most likely need a questionnaire to ensure they at least cover your minimum requirements and also delve into current stock levels and delivery capabilities. See our blog on onboarding suppliers.
Our sourcing software has been built to ensure that you can run events with maximum competition from suppliers. Helping you to save time and money while increasing supplier engagement. We offer a variety of electronic means to negotiate.
We would recommend to first create an RFQ event, with an additional questionnaire as well as a defined lot structure. Further to this, you may want to consider a weighted event, or a multi-stage RFQ or even an eAuction {ranked is most common}.
Please get in touch for any advice. You can get started straight away with our ‘Pay as you Go’ plans that’s as little as £500. Bear in mind that if you do go to an auction, although this typically focused on lowering the price, you don’t necessarily need to go with the lowest bid. You may want to request samples or invite the top suppliers in after the auction to investigate the other areas where they can add value. See our beginners guide to eAuctions.
See the below video for how to access our global templates, we have pre-built a PPE event template for you to get started on a tender.
Market Dojo offers a wide range of capabilities that help procurement professionals get the most out of their sourcing activities with easy to use and intuitive solutions. You can get started on your packaging tender straight away with our ‘Pay as you Go’ plans that start at as little as £500. Designed by procurement specialists, our solutions aim to help you centralise your information and negotiate the best value for your goods and services. Whether you looking to run a simple eSourcing event or combine advanced weighted proposals with integrated procurement solutions we can help with our range of offerings and support.
With Quick Quotes, it's difficult to find reasons not to use it. My team think its great. We were worried everyone would say you send too much stuff but everyone's feedback has been “we love it”.
I managed to generate a 48% saving in 2 hours so was very happy with the result! I would definitely recommend these guys. I honestly don't have a bad word to say about them. Excellent service, excellent software and a fantastic experience.
The company and people are intuitive, young and enthusiastic in nature. Specsavers will be looking to use Market Dojo as a ‘business as usual’ tool and regard it as an integral part of their negotiation toolkit.
