Title: Competitively Bid IDBFunded Projects Creating Winning Proposals and other Submissions
1 Competitively Bid IDB-Funded
ProjectsCreating Winning Proposals and other
Submissions
IDB Procurement Workshop Washington, DC April 9,
2003
2Workshop Objectives
- Develop a better understanding of
- International development
business project opportunities
with through the IDB - Key success factors. (i.e., strategic partnering
marketing effective proposals). -
3The Road to Success
Partnering, Proposals, Persistence
4Four Main Types of Procurement
- Procurement of Goods Equipment
- Procurement of Services (Consulting / TA)
- Procurement of Civil Works
- and, most recently
- Procurement of Information Technology
5Types of Opportunities(for Consultants)
- Direct-hire with the IDB as client (smaller
value short term usually sole source). - Competitively-bid projects with IDB borrowing
country government as client (larger value,
longer term, formal competitive bids). - Subcontracts with other firms. (as partner, as a
team member).
6Large Value Contracts Competitive Bids
7The Project Cycle
- Identification
- Preparation
- Appraisal
- Approval
- Implementation
8The Project Cycle
9Experts agree
- Partnering is perhaps the most critical
success factor. Most successful firms credit good
partnership as the most key success factor and
most firms who fail blame weak partnership as the
main failure factor
10Why Partnering?
- Common Sense (good business sense)
- Locals have knowledge of the culture, political
situation, business and legal environment - Locals have the personal contacts
11Local firms winning more..
- IFI contract award trends companies from
developing countries winning more and more and
more and more of the business - Not just local firms international firms
within region are global competitors (ie.,
Brazilian firms winning contracts in Colombia,
Peru, Mexico, and in Africa Asia too)
- So If you cant beat em, join em.
12Why Partnering
- Having local content is now imperative in order
to earn points in most technical/ consulting
proposal evaluations
13Why Partnering
- Partnering now also a financial imperative in
most World Bank funded technical assistance
contracts. Why? - QCBS
Quality Cost Based Selection
14QCBS Getting Points for Partnering
- Financial Evaluation can now account for as much
as 25 of the overall proposal evaluation - Thus, greater price competition in IDB consulting
bids - Local content typically economizes on budget for
fees.
15QCBS Not all bad !
- Can make your bids more competitive against
traditionally high-priced tough competition.
16Finding a Partner
- Step 1 Profiling a partner
- Step 2 Searching for and Identifying
prospective partners - Step 3 Short listing 2-3 best prospects
- Step 4 Contacting and meeting prospects.
17The Strategic Approach
- Develop a strategy (Country targets, sector
focus commit time resources) - Knowledge (learn about IFI market, the IFIs, your
sectors of activity) - Identify / Research Opportunities (procurement
notices) - Partner, partner, partner
- Participate in the bidding game (EOIs, proposals)
18Types of IDB Project Submissions
- General Letter of Interest (unsolicited)
- The Expression of Interest (EOIs / SOQs)
- In response to advertised requests for EOIs
- The Bid Technical Financial Proposals
- In response to Request for Proposals (RFP)
- ICB Bid (Goods, Equipment, Civil Works)
19Submissions are in Response to
- PUBLIC NOTICES
- General Procurement Notice (GPN)
- Specific Procurement Notice (SPN)
- Requests for Proposals (short-list)
- SUBMISSION
- Letter of Interest
- Expression of Interest
- Detailed Technical Financial Proposal
- Can be in response to direct invitation as
well
20Development Businesswww.devbusiness.com
Where to Find the Bid Notices
DB Online US 495 / year DB Print Only
US 550 / year DB Print Online US 725 /
year DB MOS Only US 275 / year (dont
bother)
(OUCH!)
21Other Procurement Notice Sources
- IDB Online Being Phased Out
- Notices now on IDB Web Site free of charge
- www.iadb.org/ros/notice/notice_eng.htm
22 Development Business - Online Version -
- Electronic version of Development Biz now rules.
- EOI submissions and goods/equipment bids are
sometimes due 30 days from the on-line
publication date, not from the issue date.
- THEREFORE SHOULD LOG IN AND CHECK
- FOR NEW PROCUREMENT NOTICES EVERY
- FEW DAYS (I.e. Monday, Wednesday, Friday).
23The General Procurement Notice (GPN)
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27General Letter of Interest(..in response to
GPN)
- Brief one-page letter (a mini EOI)
- Introduce firm and generally express keen
interest in project - Ask to be put on so-called mailing list
- Enclose minimal material
- Dont rely on so-called mailing list Track Dev
Biz for Specific Procurement Notices. - Copy IDB Project Officer ?
28Travel to the Country?
- .. Expensive, yet critical to the process
29The Specific Procurement Notice (SPN)
(Request for Expressions of Interest Consulting
Services)
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35The Formal Expression of Interest
- Cover letter (ideally one page)
- Convey interest and awareness of project/issues
- State why you should be short listed
- Intent to incorporate local experts (Identify
em) - Ask to be short listed !
- Accompanying 3-6 page pre-qual statement
- Description of Firm and a few key staff (CVs?
Depends) - Project Experience (Relevant Ones Brief
Snapshots) - Language capabilities (Should EOI be translated?)
- Brochures (Keep to a minimum)
36Preselection Criteria(Making the Short List)
- Legal Capacity (eligibility).. (Yes/No)
- Financial Capacity (Yes/No)
- General Technical Background and
Capability (40) - Experience in Similar Work. (35)
- Experience in the Country,
- or Similar Countries (10)
- Language Capability. (10)
- Use of Local Consultants.. (5)
37Goods Equipment Procurement Notices
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40Goods Equipment Prequal. and Bidding Documents
41Standard Bidding Documents (Goods)
- - Inter-American Development Bank Standard
Bidding Documents for the Procurement of Goods
www.iadb.org/regions/goodsidb.pdf - - Users Guide for the IDB's Standard Bidding
Documents for the Procurement of
Goods www.iadb.org/regions/uggoods.pdf
42You Made the Shortlist! The RFP
- Letter of Invitation
- Other short-listed firms
- QCBS (Quality Cost-Based Selection) or QBS
- Data Sheet
- Estimated person-months
- Evaluation criteria
- Prescribed Proposal Format (Standard Forms)
- Terms of Reference
- Draft Contract
43Key Proposal Evaluation Criteria
Actual criteria vary depending on nature of work,
country, etc.
Approx../- Qualifications/experience of team
members (CVs) .. 40 pts Approach, Methodology
Work Plan .. 40 pts Language Proficiency
... 10 pts Local Content (use of
local consultants) 10 pts
100 pts
44Other Evaluation Criteria
- Demonstrating understanding of difficulties of
assignment 10-15 pts. (Response i.e., proposing
Results-based management principles, and by
including Logical Framework - Local Participation
- (Ranges from 10-20 points out of 100)
- Hence, having locals on team is essential to
winning the contract - Financial Capability
-
45Evaluation Grids
- A model can be found on World Bank website
- www.worldbank.org/procure
46The Proposal Process
- Timing (youve got just 3-4 weeks!)
- Strategy go or no go.
- Budget? Get more info / intelligence
- Request an extension?
- Assemble a Project Team
- Assign tasks
47The Proposal Process
- Assign tasks (i.e., Production,
graphics, packaging, cover, logistics) - CVs (start early)
- Get cracking, crank out a draft
- Drafter(s) proposal should have one voice
- Be compliant but be innovative
48Key Sources of Info for Your Proposal (i.e.,
Project Background, Objectives, Budget)
- IDB Project Report (now available for free on
line!). - In-depth info on the project.. as a guide for
preparing technical (and financial) proposal - Example follows
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51Total Compliance is Imperative
- Follow bidding instructions and terms of
reference to the letter. - Be Compliant.. But you can still strive for
originality and innovation in the work plan and
methodology
52Technical Proposal A Standard Format
- Section A Submission Letter
- Section B The Firms References
- Section C Comments and Suggestions on TOR
- Section D Methodology and Work Plan
- Section E The Team and Tasks Assigned
- Section F Curricula Vitae of Team Members
- Section G Time Schedule Team Members
- Section H Project (Work) Schedule (GANT)
- The Cover
53 The Cover
- Nice packaging conveys professionalism,
creativity, innovation - Use quality paper, binding, lots of color, and
creative graphics
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56Section B Firms References
- One-two page project quals / profiles (formal
requirement) - Can be also useful to include
- Narrative section describing firm and introducing
team via 2-3 sentence bios. (sell, sell, sell) - This section is where you sell your
qualifications.. With particular focus on
individual team members.
57Section C Comments/Suggestions on TOR
- Heres where you demonstrate understanding of the
assignment - Make suggestions as to other objectives, results,
deliverables - Largely narrative section basically reiterating
the TOR.. But perhaps more clearly than they were
written.
58Section D Approach, Methodology and Workplan
- The guts of the proposal
- Use graphics/models to illustrate your strategy
and approach - Use lots of tables (logical framework style) to
lay out methodology and workplan. - Divide project into Activities and Tasks (as with
Work Breakdown Structure, WBS). - Summary tables, frameworks, bullet points make it
easy for them to read, understand, and evaluate.
59Logical Framework
- LogFrame is now the global project planning
tool of choice - Facilitates work plan and methodology
- IDB offers an on-line training session on
learning how to build a logical framework - Go to www.iadb.org/int/rtc/ecourses/
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62Logical Framework
63Section E Composition of Team
- Lists team members, their titles, and
responsibilities in 3-column table - Include a team/project Organization Chart (often
not requested, but its effective)
64Section F CVs of Team Members
- CVs of Team Members
- Follow prescribed format for all CVs.
- Try to keep reasonably short (i.e., not more than
3-5 pages max.) - Make sure theyre signed, even if by proxy
- Photos on CVs ? (Pros and cons)
65Section G Project Time Table
- Level of Effort of individual team members
- Bar Chart showing person days for each team
member for each activity - What theyre looking for here is to make sure
youre giving sufficient days to the key
experienced people (and to the locals). - Youll have a chance to reallocate days (to an
extent) during negotiations, inception and
implementation
66Section H Activity (Work) Schedule
- Project time-table (Activity by activity)
- GANT/Bar Chart showing timeline of project,
activity by activity, dates of key deliverables - Section H.2 a table/listing of deliverables and
due dates.
67The Financial Proposal
- Separate Envelope.. Will be opened in public and
only after Technical Proposals are evaluated - Costing proposal can be tricky. Often you have an
idea of the budget or, at least, expected total
person months. - LUMP SUM CONTRACTS (QCBS)
- Pricing will depend much on analysis of the
competition knowledge of their rate standards - Research applicable taxes.
68Producing and Submitting the Proposal
- Print, Sign, Signature
- Copy, mark original and copies
- Packaging
- Delivery
- - Fedex?
- - Fly someone over?
- - If its late, its doomed!
- - Get a reciept.
69After the Submission-The Waiting Game
- Wait (1-3 months on average Bid validity)
- How do you know when theyve decided
- Letter announcing public opening of financial
proposals - Technical and Financial Scores read out
- Composite Score calculated (in QCBS)
- Invitation to Negotiate to winning firm
- CONTRACT AWARD
- Project Implementation
70Protests
- Not happy with outcome?
- Think the evaluation was conducted unfairly? (ie.
as in a recent case where financial proposals
were opened and prices announced, but technical
scores were not.) - Can protest.. Directly with borrower/client
- At best, protest would result in a re-bid.
- Without strong case, protest will likely fail.
- Our usual advice fuggedaboutit.
- Rather Analyze lessons-learned.
71Negotiating the Contract
- Invitation to negotiate
- Negotiation Strategy (Target Outcome)
- Negotiation Issues
- Duration (Start-Finish dates)
- Scope of Services (Add-ons? More budget?)
- Deliverables Timetable (Maintain control !,
avoid linking them to factors not in your
control) - Terms of Payment
- Reporting Requirements
- Follow-on work
- Contingencies
72Project Implementation
- Do good work
- Keep IDB officer(s) informed of progress
- Keep eyes open for related opportunities
- Leverage presence and experience
- Document project (I.e. photos, videos) for future
bids
73Questions and Comments
hewilk_at_earthlink.net 3 Main Street, Suite
108 Burlington, VT 05401 USA t 802.658.1688
f 802.652.5165