IFMI: What are the critical elements for a successful tender?

The virtual session of the International Fleet Managers Institute (IFMI) on 14 October focused on a vital question for the post-pandemic period: How to make a tender successful? 

Experts presented insights about every step of a tender process with a specific focus on the OEM tendering exercise, as this is in general the most complex and important one. 

Why tendering? 

Andrew Wilson of MHC Mobility presented the aspects of a tender before preparation and the key factors for success. For Wilson, a tender must present a fair price and provide the best value for undertaking the work they want to provide. 

The first key factor to do is understanding the needs of the business, taking all the people, policies and processes along with it. Another critical fact is to evaluate the value provided to the OEMs, especially when the chip shortage is to continue for at least a year. Eventually, tenders must address the requirements of OEMs and must differentiate in terms of providing value. 

How to prepare an OEM tender? 

David Wefers Bettink of LeasePlan underlines the importance of communication in the preparation process of a tender. Receiving information from all the stakeholders is critical in understanding the expectations of the possible clients. The follow up in the preparation process must be determining strategic priorities and asking an essential question: Where do you want to end with your tender? 

Bettink underlines the importance of using the clearest and easy to understand data. Gathering the data must be balanced as receiving little information will not provide enough information and too much data will be too complex to process. 

How to run the OEM tender?

Daniel Schessler of SEAT underlined two key elements for a tender: a clear strategy and transparency. Strategy guidelines must be evaluated by the company and the subsidiaries to not overlook any criteria and answer the goal of the tender: What the tender tries to achieve for the client. 

Schessler took note of how hard it is to go through complex tenders. So, being transparent and presenting what exactly is to be provided is important. 

How to analyze the tender? 

For Nicolas Michel of Arval, harmonizing the data from tenders is the hardest phase in the analysis process. Therefore, a tender must provide a clear perspective with ambitions and strategies set. A clear view must present all the categories and criteria, harmonized depending on the geographies. 

In the final step, a comparison of the strategy must take place as well as criteria according to their level of importance. In the end, lease companies must go through all tenders and see the benefits in terms of savings, electrification, ecology and other critical aspects.

Adapting the policy?

Benjamin Huvé of ALD Automotive reminds us that tenders are also an opportunity to update the car policies of companies. 

The opportunity first appears if a car policy doesn't exist as companies reach the ability to describe the right strategy when preparing a tender. A tender also helps update an existing car policy, while it can also be integrated with e-mobility and existing car policies. No matter which one, companies must consider EV related aspects of fleet management. 

How to implement the OEM tender? 

Manon Bouwman of Unilever provided the four key elements of a winning strategy for a tender. The first one is to set decarbonizing strategies to cut fleet emissions. The second step includes consolation of the supply base and setting the right work and supplier to expand the strategy to the global policy. The third step includes diving into advanced technologies such as AI and IoT to improve fuel solutions. Lastly, vigorous governance including all markets is a must. 

During these processes, external views in the fleet space must be respected to understand the market readiness, company view, impact of the external market.

The next session of the International Fleet Managers Institute will be organised on 9 November at the 2021 Fleet Europe Summit in Brussels. During this session you will learn how to manage your international fleet post-Covid. 

The International Fleet Managers Institute (IFMI) is the educational platform for international corporate fleet managers only. The IFMI provides information and learnings, via expert presentations, lively workshops or interactive discussions. The IFMI is an organisation of media Fleet Europe in partnership with ALD Automotive, Arval, LeasePlan, MHC Mobility, and SEAT CUPRA.

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