When any government agency at State or Federal level is contemplating purchasing something (goods or services) there are two important factors to be considered:-
* The proposed purchase is likely to be sizeable and of high value.
* It will be paid for out of tax payers’ money.
Accountability
When spending other people’s money, there could be a tendency to be less than careful plus a temptation to favor friends and even attempt to skim some money off the top. To protect the public from careless spending and/or fraud, all transactions have to be conducted with total openness.
Obviously, the officials making the purchases have to be totally trustworthy and beyond reproach but that should also apply to the companies or individuals supplying the government. For the Government Suppliers; they have to be of sound financial standing so as to be capable of completing delivery of whatever has been ordered from them. They also need to have a history of successful commercial supply for their product or service. Finally, the product or service that they are wishing to supply to government has to be in line with or better than the government’s specifications.
In most cases, these Government Suppliers would have undergone a thorough vetting procedure which might have included a full government audit of all their activities. On successful completion of this, they will become an accredited or registered government supplier who will be eligible to enter the competitive bidding process for award of supply contracts relevant to their activities.
Accreditation Has To Be Earned And Kept Active
Gaining government’s approval for your company and its products does not guarantee you lifelong business. Many of your regular competitors will also be government accredited and they too will be bidding for any of the tenders that government might issue. For it to win, your bid has to be convincing on at least four fronts:-
* Price is obviously important but is not necessarily the sole deciding factor.
* Ability of your product to do the job both by meeting or exceeding the tender specifications and a judgement on the service warranty it carries.
* Your required delivery times could be more important than your price.
* Is your business sound enough financially for it to be able to complete the contract should it be awarded to you?
If your company has a consistent record of not winning any tenders, government may well consider removing you from their list of approved Government Suppliers. Additionally, it is common practice for you to have to repeat the accreditation audits on a regular basis.
The Independent Metal Strap Company is proud to be one of the Government Suppliers within their field of steel strapping strips. Check out their range online .
