Selection Protocol

Procurement of Goods (Supplies, Property, and Equipment)

Policies:

  1. T-MARC shall deal only with established and responsible suppliers who possess the potential ability to deliver successfully under the terms and conditions of the proposed procurement. T-MARC shall consider matters such as supplier integrity, record of past performance, financial and technical resources, or accessibility to other necessary resources.
  2. The following procedures shall be followed:
    1. Services whose value is $500 or less may be procured without obtaining offers/proposals.
    2. Purchases whose value is greater than $500 and up to $2,500 may be purchased after obtaining at least three oral quotations and justifying vendor selection.
    3. Purchases whose value is greater than $2,500.00 and up to $50,000 may be purchased after obtaining at least three written quotations and justifying vendor selection.
    4. For purchases whose value is greater than $50,000 and up to $1,000,000, at least two written quotations from open and advertised solicitation will be obtained.  Quotes will be evaluated by a Procurement Selection Committee based on established criteria.
    5. Where at least three quotations cannot be obtained, selection of supplier will be justified.
    6. Where quotations were obtained for an item within the past 120 days, and the previously selected supplier has agreed to supply the item at the originally quoted price, it is not necessary to collect fresh quotations. However, if the amount exceeds $2,500, new quotations will be obtained.
  3. Where appropriate, an analysis shall be made on lease and purchase alternatives to determine which would be the most economical and practical procurement.
  4. Solicitations for goods shall provide the following:
    1. A clear and accurate description of the materials to be procured.  In competitive procurements such a description shall not contain features, which unduly restricts competition.
    2. Requirements that the bidder must fulfill and all other factors to be used in evaluating bids.
    3. The specific features of “brand name or equal” descriptions that bidders are required to meet when such items are included in the solicitation.
  5. A system for vendor administration shall be maintained to ensure vendor conformance with terms, conditions, and specifications of the procurement and to ensure adequate and timely follow up of all purchases.  T-MARC Company shall evaluate vendor performance and document, as appropriate, whether subcontractors have met the terms, conditions and specifications of the procurement requirements.
  6. The winning bid, as presented internally in a Vendor Selection Matrix, shall be the basis for the preparing the Purchase Orders (PO’s).
  7. At no time shall the authority to prepare POs and to disburse checks rest with the same individual.
  8. All POs are approved by the Managing Director.

Procedures:

  1. Requesting party sends requests for the procurement of goods to the Procurement Manager.
  2. Based on the request, the Procurement Manager performs procurement procedures stated above.
  3. Based on the Vendor Selection Matrix, the Procurement Manager prepares two copies of the PO.
  4. If the procurement was not competitive, the requesting party shall prepare a sole source justification for the Procurement Manager approval.  Sole source procurements are only justifiable in cases where the contractor is uniquely qualified to supply the goods. 
  5. PO is sent to the winning bidder for signature. One copy is issued for the supplier while the other will be kept in Company files.
  6. Check payments in the name of the supplier shall be made based on the Terms of Payment indicated in the PO.

Procurement of Services

Policies:

  1. T-MARC Company shall deal only with established and responsible service contractors who possess the potential ability to deliver successfully under the terms and conditions of the proposed procurement.  T-MARC Company shall consider matters such as subcontractor integrity, record of past performance, financial and technical resources, or accessibility to other necessary resources.
  2. The following procedures shall be followed:
    1. Services whose value is $500 or less may be procured without obtaining offers/proposals.
    2. Services whose value is greater than $500 and up to $2,500 may be procured after obtaining at least three oral quotations and justifying subcontractor selection.
    3. Services whose value is greater than $2,500 and up to $50,000 may be procured after obtaining at least three written proposals/offers and justifying subcontractor selection.
    4. For purchases whose value is greater than $50,000 and up to $1,000,000, at least two written proposals from open and advertised solicitation must be obtained.  Proposals will be evaluated by an Evaluation Committee based on established criteria.
    5. Where at least three proposals cannot be obtained, selection of subcontractor must be justified.
  3. Solicitations for services shall provide the following:
    1. A clear and accurate description of the services to be procured.  In competitive procurements such a description may not necessarily contain features, which may unduly restrict competition.
    2. Requirements that the offeror must fulfill and all other factors to be used in evaluating bids.
  4. A system for contract administration shall be maintained to ensure subcontractor conformance with terms, conditions, and specifications of the contract and to ensure adequate and timely follow up of all procurements. Recipients shall evaluate contractor performance and document, as appropriate, whether contractors have met the terms, conditions and specifications of the contract.
  5. At no time shall the authority to prepare POs and to disburse checks rest with the same individual.
  6. All subcontracts shall be approved by the Managing Director.

Procedures:

  1. Approximately eight weeks prior to the start of an activity, a Technical Manager or designee develops Terms of Reference (TOR)/Scope of Work (SOW) describing the services/products needed.
  2. Based on the Terms of Reference TOR/ SOW, the Technical Manager, in consultation with the Procurement Manager, prepares the Request for Proposal (RFP).  An RFP includes the following:
    1. Background
    2. Scope of work
    3. Deliverables, Reporting Requirements, and Timing
    4. Proposal Guidelines
    5. T-MARC Company Involvement
    6. Selection Criteria
    7. Mode of Payment
    8. Instructions and Procedures
      • Proposal Delivery
      • Acceptance and Rejection of Proposals
      • Offer Validity Period/Language/Currency
      • Disposition of Proposals
    9. Contract Period (Tentative)
    10. Timeline
  3. The Technical Manager prepares letters of invitation to prospective subcontractors.
  4. The Managing Director signs letters of invitation with the attached RFP.
  5. The Procurement Manager sends RFPs to identified organizations. A minimum of three written bids is required for a subcontract greater than $2,500 and up to $50,000.  An open and advertised solicitation is conducted for procurements greater than $50,000.

    Note: In certain rare occasions, sole source procurement may be justified. Generally, this is justifiable if the firm is uniquely qualified to do the work or no other firm in Tanzania is capable of doing the required work. If a Technical Manager feels that sole source procurement is justified, a detailed justification memorandum is submitted to the Procurement Manager along with the Terms of Reference.  The Procurement Manager reserves the right to reject requests for sole source procurements if they do not meet the required criteria.

  6. Subcontractors submit proposals to the T-MARC Company.
  7. The members of the Evaluation Committee (composed of the Technical Manager plus at least two from among the other Technical Managers, Managing Director, and/or client personnel) makes individual evaluation of the proposals based on the established selection criteria stated in the RFP.  The basis for the decision will be determined by the Evaluation Committee and the Procurement Manager. The selection may be made on one of the following bases: 
    1. Best Value (cost primary factor)
    2. Best Value (delivery primary factor)
    3. Best Value (technical approach primary factor)
    4. Best Value (past performance primary factor)
    5. Best Value (all factors equally weighted)
    6. Cost
    7. Negotiated (sole source)
  8. The Technical Manager notifies winner/losers as per specifications in the RFP, typically at least three weeks before the start of an activity, though this is subject to variations.
  9. The Technical Manager may negotiate budget and request supporting documents from subcontractor.

 

RFP
  1. RFP stands for Request For Proposals
  2. A Request For Proposal is an invitation for suppliers, through a tender process, to bid on a specific product or service. An RFP is usually part of a complex sales or enterprise sales process.
  3. An RFP involves more than the price.
  4. Other requested information from vendor may include basic corporate information and history, financial information, technical capability, product information such as stock availability and estimated completion period, and customer references that can be checked to determine a company's suitability
  5. Procurement & Compliance requires 3 working days to prepare it after MD’s approval
RFQ
  1. RFQ stands for Request for Quotation
  2. It is used where discussions aren't required with bidders (mainly when the specifications of a product or service are already known), and price is the main or only factor in selecting the successful bidder.
  3. This method is used when the basis for decision is price (Lowest Price).
To Bid or Quote the Job
(RFP or RFQ)
  1. Bidding or quoting is decided based on the estimated total cost of the procurement.
  2. T-marc procurements that a cost over $5,000 requires to “bid” and demand sealed bids.
Quoting
  1. For “Quote” projects, the dollar threshold is below $500. It is sometimes referred to as Oral Quote
  2. It does not require a sealed bid when vendors submit quotes
  3. A quote requires soliciting three or more quotes; which could be by direct phone conversations, FAX or e-mail.  You would contact the appropriate vendors and request that they reply with a Quote by a specific date.
Response by Bidders:
  1. For a Quote, bidders requires lesser time to respond; it can take up to 3-5 days depending on the complexity of the item and circumstances.
  2. For RFP, bidders  require more time to prepare bids and submit. The enough time to submit bids for a normal procurement is two weeks (10 working days).
Bid Opening & Evaluation
  1. Bids can be opened immediately after submission deadline. Bidders can be invited in the opening ceremony.
  2. Tenders will be evaluated against pre-determined criteria and will focus on demands and how to deliver as per the required specifications
  3. Evaluation criteria are set forth in the tender documents (RFP) in order that bidders are made aware of them and so can focus their bids accordingly.
  4. Selection of suppliers is based on those whose tender, in the opinion of the Evaluation Committee is the most economically advantageous in terms of price, quality, functionality, and service or other factors contained in the evaluation criteria.
VAT Exemption Processing:
  1. It is a process that requires time; it involves the vendor, T-marc, USAID, MoH, and TRA
  2. On average it takes about 2-3 weeks to have the forms approved
  3. Delays in obtaining VAT exemptions may jeopardise T-marc relationship with vendors

For more information, please contact info@tmarc.or.tz.