Call for tenders¶

Sometimes, companies might want to invite vendors to submit offers for similar goods or services all at once. This helps companies select the cheapest, fastest vendors for their specific business needs.

In Odoo, this can be done by creating alternative requests for quotation (RfQs) for different vendors. Once a response is received from each vendor, the product lines from each RfQ can be compared, and a decision can be made for which products to purchase from which vendors.

Configuration¶

To create alternative RfQs, the Purchase Agreements feature must be enabled in the Purchase app settings. To enable the feature, navigate to Purchase app ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings. Under the Orders section, click the checkbox for Purchase Agreements.

Then, click Save to apply the change.

Create an RfQ¶

To create a new RfQ, follow the instructions in the Requests for quotation documentation.

Create alternative RfQs¶

Once a PO is created and sent to a vendor, alternative RfQs can be created for additional vendors to compare prices, delivery times, and other factors, to help make a decision for the order.

To create alternative RfQs from the original, click the Alternatives tab. Then, click Create Alternative. When clicked, a Create alternative pop-up window appears.

From this window, select an alternative vendor from the drop-down menu next to the Vendor field, to whom the alternative quotation is assigned.

Next to this, there is a Copy Products checkbox that is selected by default. When selected, the product quantities of the original RfQ are copied over to the alternative. For this first alternative quotation, leave the checkbox checked. Once finished, click Create Alternative. This opens a new RfQ form.

Since the Create Alternative checkbox was left checked, the new form is already pre-populated with the same products, quantities, and other details as the previous, original RfQ.

Once ready, create a second alternative quotation by clicking the Alternatives tab, followed by Create Alternative.

This opens the Create alternative pop-up window. Once again, choose a different vendor from the drop-down menu next to Vendor. For this particular RfQ, however, uncheck the Copy Products checkbox. Doing so removes all products on the new alternative RfQ, leaving it blank. The specific products which should be ordered from this particular vendor can be added in as needed.

Once ready, click Create Alternative.

This creates a third, new RfQ. But, since the product quantities of the original RfQ were not copied over, the product lines are empty, and new products can be added as needed by clicking Add a product, and selecting the desired products from the drop-down menu.

Once the desired number of specific products are added, click Send by Email.

This opens a Compose Email pop-up window, wherein the message to the vendor can be customized, and attachments can be added, if necessary. Once ready, click Send.

From this newest form, click the Alternatives tab. Under this tab, all three RfQs can be seen in the Reference column. Additionally, the vendors are listed under the Vendor column, and the order Total (and Status) of the orders are in the rows, as well.

The date in the Expected Arrival column is calculated for each vendor, based on any pre-configured lead times in the vendor and product forms.

Link new RfQ to existing quotations¶

Even if a quotation is not created directly from the Alternatives tab of another RfQ, it can still be linked to existing RfQs.

To do that, begin by creating a new RfQ. Navigate to Purchase app ‣ New. Fill out the RfQ, according to the previous instructions.

Then, once ready, click the Alternatives tab. Since this new RfQ was created separately, there are no other orders linked yet.

However, to link this RfQ with existing alternatives, click Link to Existing RfQ on the first line in the Vendor column.

This opens an Add: Alternative POs pop-up window. Select the desired previously-created RfQs, and click Select. All of these orders are now copied to this RfQ, and can be found under the Alternatives tab.

Compare product lines¶

Alternative RfQs can be compared side-by-side, in order to determine which vendors offer the best deals on the products included in the orders.

To compare alternative RfQs, navigate to the Purchase app, and select one of the previously-created RfQs.

Then, click the Alternatives tab to see all linked RfQs. Next, under the Create Alternative option, click Compare Product Lines. This navigates to the Compare Order Lines page.

The Compare Order Lines page, by default, groups by Product. Each product included in any of the RfQs is displayed in its own nested drop-down list, and features all of the PO numbers in the Reference column.

Once the best offers have been identified, individual products can be selected by clicking the Choose button at the end of each corresponding row.

Once all desired products have been chosen, click Requests for Quotation (in the breadcrumbs, at the top of the page) to navigate back to an overview of all RfQs.

Cancel (or keep) alternatives¶

Once the desired products have been chosen from the Compare Order Lines page, the remaining RfQs, from which no products were chosen, can be cancelled.

The cost in the Total column for each product that wasn’t chosen is automatically set to 0, indicated at the far-right of each corresponding row.

Although they haven’t been cancelled yet, this indicates that each of those orders can be cancelled without having an effect on the other live orders, once those orders have been confirmed.

To confirm an RfQ for which products were selected, click into an RfQ, and click Confirm Order.

This causes a What about the alternative Requests for Quotations? pop-up window to appear.

To view a detailed form of one of the RfQs listed, click the line item for that quotation. This opens an Open: Alternative POs pop-up window, from which all details of that particular RfQ can be viewed.

Once ready, click Close to close the pop-up window.

In the What about the alternative Requests for Quotations? pop-up window, two options are presented: Cancel Alternatives and Keep Alternatives.

If this PO should not be confirmed, click Discard.

Selecting Cancel Alternatives automatically cancels the alternative RfQs. Selecting Keep Alternatives keeps the alternative RfQs open, so they can still be accessed, if any additional product quantities need to be ordered later.

Once all products are ordered, select Cancel Alternatives from whichever PO is open at that time.

Finally, using the breadcrumbs at the top of the page, click Requests for Quotation to navigate back to an overview of all RfQs.

The cancelled orders can be seen, greyed out and listed with a Cancelled status, under the Status column at the far-right of their respective rows.

Now that all product quantities have been ordered, the purchase process can be completed, and the products can be received into the warehouse.