5. How to choose a supplier objectively?

Comparative view

Received proposals in Fluenta One are automatically arranged in a comparative view. Rows are the questionnaire fields, columns are the suppliers—at a glance you can see who answered what and where the differences are.

The comparative view can be exported in Excel, PDF, and RTF formats. The complete response package (all documents from all suppliers) can be downloaded as a single zip file with one click—this is particularly useful if detailed analysis happens offline or if an audit package needs to be assembled.

Evaluation events

Structured scoring of proposals takes place within an evaluation event. This can be separated from the base event: the issuer manages the tender's operational part, while evaluators work on their own interface.

When creating the evaluation event, you can determine:

  • Who the evaluators are
  • Which parts of the proposal evaluators see (role-based access)
  • What criteria they score by
  • What scale (e.g., 1-5, 1-10)
  • What weight each criterion carries

Blind evaluation

If minimizing bias is important, supplier names can be hidden from evaluators. In this case, the evaluator sees the proposal content but doesn't know who it came from. This is common, for example, in tenders where existing suppliers and new entrants compete together.

Separated evaluation

A common scenario is that technical and commercial evaluation is done by different people—and one doesn't see the other. Fluenta One supports this: the evaluator only sees the fields they have access to. Thus, the technical evaluator cannot be influenced by price, and the commercial evaluator doesn't see technical details.

Scoring and weighting

Multi-criteria evaluation is a basic element of modern sourcing. A typical setup:

Criterion
Weight
Evaluation method
Price / TCO
35-45%
Automatic: lowest price = maximum points
Technical compliance
25-35%
Manual scoring (1-5 or 1-10 scale)
References, experience
10-20%
Manual scoring
Delivery terms
5-15%
Manual scoring
ESG, sustainability
5-10%
Manual scoring or binary (compliant/not)

The system automatically calculates the weighted total score. The result is not binding—the decision-maker can deviate from it—but the deviation must be documented.

Internal consultation

Fluenta One's internal comment function enables communication between the issuer and internal stakeholders during the tender—invisible to suppliers. Comments are part of the event and are archived.

Online auctions

If further price competition is warranted after the RFP process, Fluenta One enables launching an online auction directly from the event. Supported types:

Auction type
Description
English auction
Classic reverse competition where suppliers bid against each other in real-time
Japanese auction
Price changes in steps, participants decide at each level whether to stay in
Dutch auction
Speed-based competition where the first valid bid wins
Multi-criteria auction
Besides price, other parameters can be bid on, ranking determined by weighted total score
Sales auction
For selling company assets, where buyers bid against each other to raise the price

Results announcement

At the end of the tender, the issuer must make a decision. Fluenta One provides a structured results announcement process:

  1. Assigning status to each bidder: Won, Did Not Win, or Not to be Evaluated
  2. Consistency check of the decision (is there a winner?)
  3. Sending notifications (automatically or individually)
  4. Closing the event

If no proposal is suitable, the event can also be closed without a winner—the system documents this as well.

The activation moment

The sourcing cycle ends with the activation moment: extracting the selected proposal and concluded contract's metadata (unit prices, payment terms, item numbers) and converting them to operational parameters. This transformation ensures that negotiated savings and conditions are realized in subsequent orders without manual intervention or error.