HePSReferenceGuide12-16-07

7/30/2019 HePSReferenceGuide12-16-07

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Request for Quotations

HePS Reference Guide


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This abbreviated version of the HePS Request for Quotations Reference Guide covers only the essential basics ofcreating, amending, and awarding a small purchasing Request for Quotation. It is not intended to cover all the functions ofthe HePS system nor explain all of the options or variations available to a buyer. A comprehensive Buyer Manual isavailable online within the HePS system, located under the Main tab on the menu bar.

2007Copyright protected.

This document is Copyright protected with all rights reserved under the Copyright Act 1968. Violation of copyright will be prosecuted to thegreatest extent of the law. Information in this publication is considered confidential and proprietary by its nature. This material may not be used,duplicated or reproduced in whole or part in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by anyinformation storage or retrieval system without the prior express written consent of SicommNet. If permitted, the following notice must appear onthe front page of each copy of such material printed: REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF SICOMMNET. Any other use, reproduction ordistribution is expressly prohibited.

HePSReferenceGuide12-16-07.doc


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Part 1 - Creating and Releasing an RFQ

This section covers filling out basic header information (due dates, delivery and billing address), choosing and customizing the product or service (including

attachments), selecting vendors, adding solicitation instructions and the response due date, and releasing the solicitation to the internet.

The Solicitation Header has 7 Steps.Placing your cursor on the Step number

will provide an explanation in a popup.

Step 1 Optional Document TrackerInformation numbers or text

Step 2 Optional Contact person for thissolicitation buyer is the default

Step 3 Required Delivery Date or Start

and End of Contract

Optional Priority Normal or Rush flagwill appear on emails to approvers

Freight and FOB information, thestandard default is already set

Step 4 Choose a Delivery Point orCreate a New One from the drop down

Click on button to view info

Step 5 Choose a Billing Point orCreate a New One from the drop down Click on button to view info

Optional P-Card Information

Step 6 - Optional Internal Notes

Step 7 Save and Get Items

To begin, click on theCreate a Solic itation Icon and chooseRFQ from the popup


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Step 8 Choose a product or servicethat you are procuring by typing in aword and clicking on GO (or enter)

This will display all the instanceswhere the word appears in thecommodity coding system. Codes areused to identify which vendors will besent notification of the solicitation

You may also enter the commoditycode number if you know what it is.

Step 8continued Select theappropriate item or service. In mostcases the system will continue to drilldown and show you more details

You may stop the search by changingthe Get Selected Item Now to YES

The description you have chosen willbe placed back into the form for yourcustomization, it does not have to beexactly what you want at this time, justthe right general category

Commodity Codes 001 through 899are products Commodity Codes 900through 999 are services. Thepurpose of the coding is for the systemto identify which vendors will get theemail notification


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Step 9 - Enter a Quantity and Unitof Measure you may change theunit of measure using a drop downlist

Now that a quantity has beenentered you can split the items tovarious delivery locations Click onthe Alternate Line Item DeliveryPoint button to split quantities and

assign new Delivery Points

Enter the Estimated Total Price ofthe item or service for internal useonly, not seen by vendors

Optional Allowable variation inQuantity may be entered

Optional tracking number for the itemmay be entered

Step 10 Customize the description,up to 6,800 characters may be used(about one page in a worddocument) to describe the item orservice

The custom description may besaved for future use by using theSave Custom Description dropdown - SelectYES to save

If the commodity code is not correct,you may choose another one bystarting a new search in the bottomframe


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Step 11 - Optionally, you may addattachments by clicking on the Clickhere to attach files link

Click Browse and find your files

Enter in a description for the file inthe space indicated

Click the Upload File button

The uploaded file will be indicated inthe box and may be viewed ordeleted by clicking on the ManageSolicitation Attachments link

Additional files may be attached by

clicking the link again

Any type of file may be uploadedexcept executable files (exe)

Any size file may be uploaded by thebuyer but large files exceeding 4MBsare not recommended as vendorsmay have difficulty viewing and

downloading them large files maybe broken up into smaller files ifnecessary


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Step 12 - Optionally, you may addAccount Coding/Fund Citations tothe solicitation

Click Open Single Fund Citationbutton to open this area

Enter coding - Coding may be savedfor future use and will be displayed ina drop down list called Valid Cost

Accounts

To enter more than one line ofcoding, start by entering the numberof lines needed and then GO forexample; the number 4 will produce4 lines of coding information

Multiple lines of coding allows funds

to be split by percentage, estimateddollars, or quantity

Step 13 Optional internal notesmay be added

Step 14 Select an Action bychoosing from the drop down:

Save Item 001/SAVE AND FILEDOCUMENT save as a requisitiononly is not a RFQ yet and will besaved in Solicitation Manager/New

Save item 001/Select item 002 -back to Step 8 to add another lineitem

Create eRFQ Click Execute


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In Steps 114 you have created allthe elements found in a basic

requisition

In order to turn this information into aSolicitation there are 3 moremandatory steps (numbered asSteps 1-3 on this page) and a fewoptional ones

You may also review and edit all

information entered so far

This page uses collapsedfunctionality meaning that in order toreview and edit the information youmust click on the underlined links toopen that area clicking on the linkagain will close the area clicking onthe button called Open All Areas inthe upper right will open all areas ofreview at once

To review and edit the information onthe line item click on the Edit buttonin the bottom frame this willcovered a few pages later

Steps 1-3 are detailed on the nextpage


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Mandatory Step 1

Item Response - if the solicitationhas multiple line items you can setthe system to require vendors torespond to all line item (all or none)or allow for individual responseusing the drop down selection

Select Solicitation Recipients -vendors may be selected using

eitherAgency Domici led Vendors(meaning Hawaii only) orAl lRegistered Vendors (entire systemincluding the mainland and foreigncountries) selected vendors maybe viewed by clicking on the Review

Above Recipients button there isan option to add additional registeredvendors to this list

Solicitation Email Date - optionally,the solicitation may be kept on holduntil the date entered for its release the default is todays date

Solicitation Responses Due - Entera due date and time (closing date) system default is 4:30 PM HST

Solicitation Header FileAttachments - optionally headerfiles may be added these are notthe same as the line item files youmay have added earlier

Review Required Delivery Date orLength of Contract and Freight info edit if necessary


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Mandatory Step 2

Review and edit if necessary the BillTo and Deliver To information thatwas selected earlier

Mandatory Step 3

Choose Solicitation Instructions there are a number ofmandatoryinstructions for vendors that willautomatically appear on yoursolicitation (transaction fee, taxrequirements, upload and downloadinstructions, etc.)

In addition there may be a number ofoptional pre-built instructions thatyou may choose to add to the

solicitation by clicking on the squarebox on the left side of the instruction

There is also a box for you to enterinadditional instructions orinformation that you may need please contact your systemadministrator if you would like tohave additional mandatory or

optional instructions added to the listfor future use


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Optional Solicitation SectionsThe following areas are all optionalfeatures that may be used in creating

your solicitation:

Contact and Buyer Information review and edit as necessary

Header Notes review and edit asnecessary

Line Item Quick Edit allows you

to change quantities, unit ofmeasure, and estimated dollaramount, but not description

Optional Solicitation Tile andDescription may be added

Pre-Bid Conference used fornotifying vendors of a pre-bidconference or pre-site visit

requirements choose a date, time,place, and add notes

Questions/Answer Section allows for vendors to submitquestions online choose to showthe vendors name, a deadline forquestion submittal, and a time atwhich your answers will be published

to all vendors

Prior to completion the line item maybe reviewed and edited also seethe next page for information or tocomplete the solicitation choose:

Release Solicitation - sends it toapproval routing or to the internet

File Solicitation for later action will save and place it in SolicitationManager/On Hold for future edits


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Line Item Edit

Prior to release of the solicitation theline items(s) may be reviewed andedit if necessary the optionsinclude changing the quantity, unit ofmeasure, editing the description,editing attachments, changing thecommodity code, and addingadditional line items

Click on the Edit button in thebottom frame in the line item area.

The process is the same as Steps 9-14.

Editing the Existing Line Item click on the Click here to continuewith commodity number which willopen a different window with the

same Steps 9-14

Choose a Different CommodityBelow allows you to select a newcommodity code to replace theexisting one the process is thesame as in Steps 8-14

Adding Another Line Item Clickon the Add Item 2 button in thecenter of the bottom frame theprocess is the same as Steps 8-14


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When all reviews and edits are done,click the Release RFQ button in theupper frame.

The solicitation will be checked forapproval routing.

The solicitation will be displayed onthe On Internet page. The pink areawill contain information aboutwhether the solicitation has beenreleased to the internet or has beensent to approval touting.

If in approval routing, you will get anemail confirmation that thesolicitation has been released whenthe last approver has approved it.

TheOn Internet page displays information about the solicitationincluding; number of responses, list

of vendors emailed, questions andanswers, pre-bid conference. It iswhere amendments are done(Amend) and when a solicitation canbe cancelled (Remove). It has a linkto the actual view that a vendor sees(Vendor View).


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Part 2 Amending a Solicitation and Managing your Solic itation

This section covers how to amend a solicitation that is on the internet. It allows for every aspect of the solicitation to be reviewed and edited as necessary.

Vendors are notified by email of all amendments and the system tracks all changes.

To begin, click on theOn Internet Icon

Amending a Solici tat ion

All parts of a solicitation may bereviewed, edited, or amended asnecessary in addition this pagecontains this information:

Click on the small round buttonnext the number of responses toview names of vendors who haveresponded prices are not displayed

Pre-Bid Conference vendors mayoptionally signup to attend. Click onthe check box to view attendees

Question/Answer Period Clickhere to view and respond to vendorquestions

Vendors if Agency DomiciledVendor option was chosen, click onhere to review that list

Solicitation Files click on the linkto view your attachments

To begin amending a solicitation,click on the wordAmend which is alink.


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Mandatory Step 1

Before anything can be changed on

the page you must first enter in areason for the amendment by typingin your reason in the REASON TEXTbox. This information is included onemail notifications to the vendorregarding your amendment.

Mandatory Steps 2-4 may bereviewed and edited. Click on thetext links to open those areas.

Optional Solicitation Sections maybe opened by clicking on the textlinks.

To amend information on the lineitem (quantity, unit of measure,description, attachments, commoditycode) click on theAmend button in

the lower frame. The process is thesame as when you were editing theoriginal solicitation described earlier.

To add another line item, click on theAdd Item 2 button in the center ofthe page in the lower frame. Theprocess is the same as describedearlier in Steps 8-14.

To finish and release theamendment, click on the Release

Amended Solici tat ion button or youmay choose to save your changesand File Amended Solicitation forFuture Release.


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The amended solicitation may bechecked for approval routing just likethe original release depending upon

your internal setup.

If approval routing is found, you willreceive an email notification when itis approved and released.

It will again be displayed on the OnInternet page.

Notice that the Current Version haschanged to 01. The smallmagnifying glass icon opens adisplay of theprevious versionreasons.


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Solicitations can be set to close atanytime during the day. However,the system will batch the responses

at night and make the resultsavailable the next morning. An emailreminder that the solicitation hasclosed will be sent.

Optionally, you may manually closethe solicitation and show the resultsat anytime after the closing date andtime without waiting for the overnightbatch processing.

From the On Internet page click onthe word Remove.

In the upper frame, click on theClose for Award button on thebottom left below the optional emailto vendors.

Popup confirmations will appear.The solicitation will be moved to theAwards Managerarea where youcan open and view the responses inthe normal fashion.

Note: The Remove function is alsowhere you can cancel thesolicitation, move it to on hold status,

temporarily remove it, or demote itback to a requisition. It has anoptional email to vendors that can beused to notify them of your actions.


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Vendor responses are displayed ontheAbstract page in order fromlowest to highest cost. Responses

are separated by a dark blue line.

At the bottom of the page you canoptionally click to create the abstractpage as an Excel fil e.

The page shows all relevantinformation about the vendor andtheir quotation and has links toHawaii Compliance Express andFederal Excluded Parties Listwebsites.

Intent to Award opens an emailsystem where you may send anotification of intent or ask foradditional documents (Compliancedocuments). There is also anoptional email that can be sent to the

non-selected vendors.

Award is where you choose theawarded vendor and create theaward notification.

The vendors name is a link to theirprofile information.

Vendor comments and fileattachments will appear if a vendorsubmits that info.


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Hawaii Compliance Express

When you have selected your

vendor and are ready to award, clickon theAward button. HePS willautomatically access the HCEsystem to check for vendorcompliance and show you theresults.

In this example, the vendor iscompliant in 3 areas only and not the4

tharea, so they are not compliant.

If compliancy is not required for thisaward notification you may optionallycontinue the award process byclicking on theAward button.

You may also justClose this windowand go back to the Abstract pageview. The results of the HCE checkare placed on the Abstract page

directly below the vendors response.


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Hawaii Compliance Express continued

This page shows the results when avendor is not a part of the HCEsystem.

The vendor will be displayed as NotComplaint and you have options tocontinue with the award (Create the

Award) orTry Again Later) orcontact the vendor by using theCreate an Intent to Award emailsystem.

You may also Close this window andgo back to the Abstract page view.

If the HCE system is unavailable amessage will appear (not pictured).


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Once a vendor has been selected bychoosing the Award button, you willbe taken to theAward Input page.

Mandatory Award Section -Click the link to open this area andchoose theAward Type,AwardInstructions , Basis of Award,Competition Type, Signed By, andoptionally you canAssign/ManagepCard and add CompetitionComments that can be seen byapprovers and auditors.

Optional Award Sections -Click on the links to open theseareas and enter optional informationon the award.

Lag Days set a future release datefor this award

General Comments addcomments and attach vendorcomments

Line Item Attachments add orremove attachments

Line Item Award Instruct ionsInternal Comments Area


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The final step before releasing theAward Notification is to click on theReview/Edit Award button on the

lower right of the page.

All parts of the award are availablefor review and editing as needed.Pay special attention to the deliveryorstate/end of service dates to besure they are accurate.

Optionally you may add line items,delete line items, add comments,

change descriptions andattachments, and adjust quantitiesand pricing if necessary to completethe award.

The bottom of the page has a link toopen an optional email to notifyvendors of any significant changesyou made to the award.

Choose the Close No Act ion buttonis no changes were made or theSave Changes button on the bottomof the page.

You will be returned to theAwardInput page for final release action.Click on Select an Action, choose

Complete Award and click onExecute Action.


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The completedAward Not if ication will be displayed. A popup willindicate if the award is being sent to

approval routing or if it is beingreleased to the vendor.

Actual email of the award to thevendor does not go out until thenightly batch process. The awardcan be edited at anytime before thebatch is processed.

The bottom of the page has a Print

Button if you wish to have a hardcopy of the award.

The award can be found again inAward History.


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To create awards by Line Item(Split Awards) go to theAwardsManager/RFQ page as before and

selectLine Item instead ofLumpSum.

The line items will be displayed inthe bottom frame. You can selectwhich item to work on. It will bemarked as In Work and the Abstractwill display the prices for that lineitem only.

There are two options for awardingby line item. 1) You can select avendor for a line item and completethat award, then do another, or 2)you may select the vendors for allthe line items first and then createthe awards.


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After reviewing the abstractinformation, check the box next to InWork.

Then select the awarded vendorfrom the drop down list in the centerof the bottom frame,AwardChecked To:

This will assign the first line item tothe vendor you have chosen. Theysystem will also check the HCE forcompliance.


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Confirm your choice of this vendorselection in the popup.

You will then be asked if you wish toaward this line item now (OK) orcontinue selecting vendors for theother line items (Cancel).

Normally it is best to continue toselect all the vendors for each lineitem first, then do the awards later. Ifyou choose to do the award for oneline item only, the other line items

will remain in the abstract waiting foryou to process.

Your first line item will be marked asAwarded and you can select thesecond line item (In Work) andchoose a vendor from the drop downexactly as before.


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When all line items have beenreviewed and a vendor selected foraward on each of them, go to the POGeneratorsub tab on the menu bar.

You selections will be displayed in alist. Choose to eitherCreate orUn-

Award.

Create will take you to the AwardsInput page where you process theaward in the normal fashiondescribed earlier.

Un-Award will cancel your vendorselection and move the line itemback to the abstracts page.


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Part 4 Finding and Managing Awards

This section will describe how to find your awards and manage them, including editing or cancelling an award, multiple awards, cancel and re-stage for

award to another vendor, change orders, copying and reusing the RFQ used for the award, and printing of the PO Summary Report.

You can access your awards by using theAward History tab, then selectingSearch Awards on the left side of the menu bar, orAl l RFQs on the right side.

.

Or begin by clicking on theAward HistoryIcon and choosing Search Awards fromthe popup

There are 3 ways to search forawards on this page.

First By days. The default is 31days but can be changed up to 9999.If you change the number of days,selectGO and allow time for thesorting. The choose from the dropdown Select an Award from theList Box

Second By number. You canenter the award number in the Get

Award for Document area.

Third By text search. Enter inwords that appear in the line itemdescription on the award you aresearching for and click on Find by

Text. A list of awards will display

Note: You can search your awardsonly or those of the whole agency.


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Your award or the award of others ifyou had chosen to show awardsfrom others will be displayed.

Scroll to the bottom to access otherfunctionalities.


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Scroll to the bottom and us theSelect an Action drop down to viewall available functions

The primary areas you will accessare:

Create a New Solic itation willcopy the original RFQ so you canuse it again

Create Change Order ChangeOrder, Contract Modification,

Amendment, or Extension

Print Document

Email Document to Below enterin any valid email address in thespace provided

Re-email Document to Vendor

Modify Document Description cancel the award, create a multipleaward, re-stage for award to anothervendor

Certificate of Vendor Compliance view and print a copy of HCEcompliance certificates

PO Summary Report a full historyof the procurement from first creationto final award, has all the detailsneeded for approvers and auditors

Click from the drop down and clickonExecute Action to open thatfunctionality


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Part 5 Approvals Manager

This section will describe how to find and view your approval routes and how to check on the status of a solicitation or award that is in approval routing.

To begin click theApprovals Managertab.

Await ing My Approval are documents that you are the approver for. Click on the sub-tab to display a list for your approval.

My RFxs are your RFQs that need approved by someone else. Click In Approval to see those still waiting for approval. Click Dis-Approved to work on

those that have returned to you as rejected by your approver.

MY POs are your awards that need approved by someone else. Click In Approval to see those still waiting for approval. Click Dis-Approved to work onthose that have returned to you as rejected by your approver.

This is a sample that shows anaward that is still waiting forapproval. To see this type of info

click on the View Approvals buttonin the blue area on the left of thepopup. This is the info for this oneparticular award,

Additionally you can review all theroutes assigned to you by clicking onthe white Show Approval Routes inthe center, This shows all routes

assigned to you.


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You assigned approval routes arealso viewable under Miscellaneoustab, Session Info sub-tab.

If you have approval routes whereyou are the approver they will belisted underApprovalResponsibilities. Approval routesassigned to your documents arelisted underAssigned WorkflowRoutes.

In addition this page shows the

number of current documents inwork and their status.

It also has a copy of the login pageinfo scroll to the bottom to see thisinfo.


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Part 6 Search System

This section will describe how to use the search functions in the system. It includes Review Documents, Review Commodities, Review Notepad, andReview Vendors.

To begin click the Search System Icon and choose anything on the popup display.


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There are 4 searches all on thissame page scroll down to seeeach one. Search criteria is enteredin the top frame and results appearin the bottom.

Review Documents

Document Type - Pick a documenttype from the drop down

From and To - Select search dates

Click on Review Documents

The bottom frame will show alldocuments found in your searchcriteria for the time specified

The fourth column will show thecurrent status of the document

This example shows all Request forQuotations between 8-1-07 to 12-14-07.


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Review Commodities

Text/Number enter either a wirdor the commodity code number andselect Review Commodities button

Show Classes From click on thebutton below Show Classes from tosee a complete list of all the toplevel 3-digit class codes(approximately 260). Click onReview Commodities button

This example shows a search allcommodities that contain the wordwater


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Notepad

Saved notes can be retrieved byentering in information in the search

area

Search by Document and Line ItemNotes, other notepad entries, or byVendor Notepad

This example shows notes on HawaiiVendor 1 that have been entered bybuyers

You may enter a new notepad entryand click on Save Note in the bottomof the popup window.


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Review Vendors

The vendor database may besearched by:

Name

Commodity Code (a number fromthe search above)

City

County

State

Zip

Click on Review Vendors to see theresults alphabetically in the bottomframe

This example shows vendors forCommodity Code 206 located in theState of Hawaii

Click on View to see moreinformation on the specific vendor,including name, address, email,awards, commodity codes, notepad,and profile.


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Part 7 Miscellaneous

This section will describe how to use change your User Profile and Password and find documents you have saved and need to open and work on again.

When creating a solicitation you may have chosen the option to Save Item/SAVE AND FILE DOCUMENT. This saved your requisition underSolicitationManager/New. It is not a RFQ yet, only a requisition. Click onManage to open and continue working on this document and turn it into an RFQ.

After a solicitation has been created there is an option to File RFQ for Later Act ion . Your solicitation can be found again underSolicitation Manager/OnHold. Click Manage to open and continue working on this document.

If you leave the AwardInput page while creating a Notice of Award, your vendor selection is saved underAwards Manager /PO Generator. Options are tocontinue to Create the award or Un-Create the vendor selection and return it to the Abstracts page.

Profile and Passwordinformation is found underMiscellaneous/MyProfiles on the Menu bar.

Passwords must be atleast 7 digits long, containa minimum of 2 capital

letters and 2 numbers.

Click on the Update UserInfo button to applychanges.