Section: Volume B

Section: Volume B
Explanation:
12.1.3.3 Procurement Documents
Procurement documents are used to solicit proposals from prospective sellers. Terms such as bid, tender, or quotation are generally used when the seller selection decision will be based on price (as when buying commercial or standard items), while a term such as proposal is generally used when other considerations, such as technical capability or technical approach are paramount. Common terms are in use for different types of procurement documents and may include request for information (RFI), invitation for bid (IFB), request for proposal (RFP), request for quotation (RFQ), tender notice, invitation for negotiation, and invitation for seller's initial response. Specific procurement terminology used may vary by industry and location of the procurement.
The buyer structures procurement documents to facilitate an accurate and complete response from each prospective seller and to facilitate easy evaluation of the responses. These documents include a description of the desired form of the response, the relevant procurement statement of work (SOW) and any required contractual provisions. With government contracting, some or all of the content and structure of procurement documents may be defined by regulation.
The complexity and level of detail of the procurement documents should be consistent with the value of, and risks associated with, the planned procurement. Procurement documents are required to be sufficient to ensure consistent, appropriate responses, but flexible enough to allow consideration of any seller suggestions for better ways to satisfy the same requirements.
Issuing a procurement request to potential sellers to submit a proposal or bid is normally done in accordance with the policies of the buyer's organization, which can include publication of the request in public newspapers, in trade journals, in public registries, or on the internet.
Process: 12.1 Plan Procurement Management
Definition: The process of documenting project procurement decisions, specifying the approach, and identifying potential sellers.
Key Benefit: The key benefit of this process is that it determines whether to acquire outside support, and if so, what to acquire, how to acquire it, how much is needed, and when to acquire it.
Inputs
1. Project management plan
2. Requirements documentation
3. Risk register
4. Activity resource requirements
5. Project schedule
6. Activity cost estimates
7. Stakeholder register
8. Enterprise environmental factors
9. Organizational process assets
Tools & Techniques
1. Make-or-buy analysis
2. Expert judgment
3. Market research
4. Meetings
Outputs
1. Procurement management plan
2. Procurement statement of work
3. Procurement documents
4. Source selection criteria
5. Make-or-buy decisions
6. Change requests
7. Project documents updates