Submitting your bids

There are two ways to submit your bids using Sourcing Optimizer:

• Offline: Download the bid sheet, complete it, and then upload it to Sourcing Optimizer.
• Online: Complete the bid sheet online on the Bid Sheet page.

Whether you use the offline or online method, after you successfully submit your bids, Sourcing Optimizer displays a green success banner. This banner closes if you navigate away from the page.

Submitting your bids using offline bidding

You can download the event’s bid sheet on the Bid Sheet page. The bid sheet is in Excel format and features two worksheets: an Overview worksheet which provides detailed information about the event and instructions on completing the bid sheet; and a Bid Sheet worksheet, which you use to enter your bids.

On the Bid Sheet worksheet, the yellow cells are bidder-input cells. Columns with an asterisk (*) are mandatory. Ensure that you complete all related mandatory cells for each lot you are bidding on.
There are two different flows for submitting your bids using offline bidding, depending on whether bidding is offline-only or if both online and offline bidding are available.

If bidding is offline-only, complete the following steps:

1. In the event, click the Bid Sheet tab.
2. In the top-left of the page, click Download Bid Sheet, and save the file.
3. Open the downloaded Excel bid sheet file.
4. Click the Bid Sheet worksheet.
5. Enter your bids and all required information for every lot you want to bid on.
6. Save the file.
7. Upload your bid sheet to Sourcing Optimizer.
   1. On the Bid Sheet page, click Upload Bid Sheet.
   2. Navigate to the location of your Excel file, select the file, and then click Open.

If you want to download the latest bid sheet, in the top-left corner of the page, click Download Bid Sheet. The Re-download button in the Bid Summary area refers to re-downloading older bid sheets and not the current bid sheet.

If both online and offline bidding are available, complete the following steps:

1. In the event, click the Bid Sheet tab.
2. In the top-left of the page, click Bid offline.
3. Click Download, and save the file.
4. Open the downloaded Excel bid sheet file.
5. Click the Bid Sheet worksheet.
6. Enter your bids and all required information for every lot you want to bid on.
7. Save the file.
8. Upload your bid sheet to Sourcing Optimizer.
   1. On the Bid Sheet page, click Upload Bid Sheet.
   2. Navigate to the location of your Excel file, select the file, and then click Open.

Submitting your bids online

You can submit your bids online on the Bid Sheet page. After you enable bidding, you can enter your bids. You may have to scroll to see all the bid data and bidder-input cells. Use the pagination controls at the top-right of the page to see more lots, if required.

The yellow cells are bidder-input cells. If a column is mandatory, the accompanying text above the column displays Mandatory. Ensure that you complete all related mandatory cells for each lot you are bidding on. Your bids are not submitted until you click Submit changes and the processing is successful.

To submit your bids online, complete the following steps:

1. In the event, click the Bid Sheet
2. In the top-left of the page, click Bid online.
3. Enter your bids and all required information for every lot you want to bid on.
4. When you are ready to submit your bid sheet, in the top-right corner, click Submit changes.

Finished bidding status

The Finished bidding status feature is activated by a Purchaser for a standard RFQ event. The purchaser retains control over this setting, with the ability to switch it ON or OFF before, and during an event. Once the Finished bidding status is enabled, Bidders may signal that they have concluded their bidding activities. If a bidder wishes to resume bidding, they can do so by clicking on the Resume bidding button.