RFI page

A request for information (RFI) is a formal business process to capture information about bidders and the goods and services they provide. Sourcing Optimizer enables you to create customized RFIs, as basic or advanced as you require, to gather all the necessary information for your sourcing event.

The RFI page features two tabs: the Questions tab, and the Settings tab.

Questions tab

On the Questions tab, you can configure your RFI; add, edit, and delete questions; view an RFI summary; and search and filter questions. From the Questions tab, you can also download a Keelvar RFI Design template, upload RFI Excel files, and copy existing RFIs from other events.

Questions tab
Figure 1. Questions tab
  1. Summary: This area provides a graphical and text summary of the RFI, displaying the number of questions and question types; the number of question categories; the number of questions with reference support documents; and the number of gating questions requiring a response before a bidder can access the event's bid sheet. You can open or close the Summary area by clicking Show or Hide in the top-right corner of the page.
  2. Search and filter: The search area provides a range of criteria for searching your questions. You can search the Title, Description, and Identifier. After you select the search option, enter the text you are searching for. The list of questions updates as you type. The filter area provides two criteria — Category and Response — by which you can filter and refine your questions. Click either of the filters to open a dropdown list of filter options. After you select an option, click Apply to update your question list. Click Reset to reset the filter.
  3. Import RFI: Click to open the area for downloading the Keelvar RFI Design template, uploading RFI Excel files, and copying existing RFI designs from other events.
  4. Add question: Click to add and configure a new question for your RFI.
  5. Actions: Click to open additional options to manage categories, arrange questions, or delete all questions.
  6. Questions: All of your created questions appear in this list. You can add, move, edit, and delete questions in this area. For additional information, see Creating an RFI online.

Settings tab

On the Settings tab, you can configure when bidders can submit or update responses to RFI questions. You can configure these settings before or during an event.

Settings tab
Figure 2. Settings tab

By default, RFI responses are allowed during active rounds.

The following options are available:

  • Allow responses before round 1 start time
  • Allow responses between rounds
  • Block RFI responses after round 1 closes
  • Block all RFI responses

To configure RFI responses, complete the following steps:

  1. Go to Design > RFI.
  2. Click the Settings tab.
  3. In the RFI Responses area, depending on which settings you want to enable or disable, set the relevant toggle switches to ON or OFF.