Level of detail by stage

A ‘just in time’ approach to evaluation

Buying teams can make the procurement process accessible, less intimidating and flexible enough to accommodate various types of suppliers by asking for (and evaluating) detailed information only when it is most needed. This can be referred to as a ‘just in time’ approach. It can particularly benefit small to medium enterprises (SMEs), startups and niche innovators.

For the purposes of a procurement strategy, buying teams should consider the minimum level of detail they will need to ask suppliers to provide to support the evaluation at each stage.

As a guide, buying teams should aim in the initial market approach to get an indication from suppliers of which requirements can be met at a future point, without a high burden of proof. This way, the largest number of suppliers spend less time on proposals while still providing information and insights to the buying team. A smaller number of suppliers with a higher chance of success will invest more time into proposals for a later stage.

This approach balances flexibility and informed choices for both suppliers and buying teams.

A sliding scale to guide level of detail

When setting up high-level evaluation criteria for a procurement strategy, it can be helpful to think about the level of detail suppliers will be asked to respond to at each stage. If using a single set of criteria, this might simply mean the burden of proof increases at each stage. This will make it easier to shape response schedules for each stage that link directly to evaluation criteria.

The following sliding scale may be a helpful guide. Suppliers could be asked to:

• acknowledge that something will be required by a future stage – Y/N
• indicate whether something does/will meet a requirement – Y/N
• outline how something meets a requirement – short text
• demonstrate how something meets a requirement – long text
• provide evidence that something meets a requirement – references or certification
• attach a detailed approach – full technical detail e.g. a project plan or technical specifications
• refine the detailed approach – incorporate all feedback.

Buying teams can apply this sliding scale by tailoring a table similar to the one below, to build confident that the high-level criteria they adopt in a project strategy will work across multiple stages.

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