Supplier Bid Response Quick Tutorial
Welcome to Electronic Bidding!
This Quick Tutorial provides instruction on navigation of this organizations Ion Wave Technologies (IWT)
software system, locating bid requests, and creating and submitting a bid response.
Log in to the system. Once you have logged in, the system will open to the ‘Available Bids’. (See Figure 1.)
Figure 1
The available bids are displayed in to two different areas: “My Invitations” (bid events which are based on the
commodity affiliated with your business) and “Other Bid Opportunities”. Click the bid number to view the bid
opportunity.
NOTE: If you do not see the bid you are looking for, you can search by typing the bid number into the search
boxes near the top of each section. Multiple pages of bid opportunities may exist. Click to the next page (located
on the bottom of each section) to access additional pages. (See Figure 1.)
After selecting the desired bid, an Intent to Bid window may pop-up requesting a response of your intention to
participate in the bid event. (See Figure 2).
Figure 2
If you choose not to respond via the pop-up window, a reminder will appear at the top of the bid opportunity
screen. You can register your intent by selecting the ‘Intent’ function in the top toolbar. (See Figure 3).
Figure 3
Once the desired bid opportunity has been selected, a series of tabs may be present. If one of the tabs listed
below does not appear on your bid, then it is not applicable to the solicitation. (See Figure 4).
Figure 4
Event Details Tab – Information specific to the bid opportunity will be displayed on this tab, including: bid notes,
contact, ship to, and bill to information.
Messages Tab – Messages sent by the buyer, specific to the bid request, will be displayed here.
Questions Tab – If this tab is displayed, you will be able to submit bid specific questions (until the Cutoff Date
and Time provided) by clicking ‘Ask Question.’ Questions and answers provided will be reviewed at the Buyers
discretion. (See Figure 3).
Activities Tab – Any events, specific to this bid opportunity, will be displayed here for you to review and respond
(as applicable). Activity types may include:
• Participation Activity: activity requiring your participation
• Non-Participation Activity: activities provided for informational purposes
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Attachments Tab - The buyer may include a number of attachments to the bid opportunity for a number of
reasons which include, but are not limited to, the following: Informational purposes and/or to provide the
supplier with a form to complete and submit as a response attachment. Do access the documents:
• Click the ‘Download’ function located to the left of the document.
• Open and Save the file to your desktop or another drive.
Attributes Tab – The attributes tab contains a series of questions or notes from the buyer to suppliers
responding to the bid opportunity. Many of the questions will be required, and you will not be able to submit
until you have responded. Here are a few additional notes covering the attributes:
• Read and/or answer all attributes.
• Required attributes have a red asterisk (*) to the right of the required field.
• A required attribute must be answered in order to submit the response.
• Click ‘Save’ (to save your responses)
• Click ‘Error Check’ (to determine if you have missed any required responses) (See Figure 6).
Line Items Tab - Enter your response in the price or percentage field provided. Click on the save button to retain
your entries. Once the information has been saved, an extended price will be calculated. (See Figure 7).
Figure 5
There may be some additional responses required on the Line Items Tab. These may include the following:
• Item Attributes – Additional questions related to the bid line item may be included. Answer the
questions, complete specification requests, and review additional terms and notes specific to the
line item. (NOTE: Line attributes may not be present on the bid request). (See Figure 8).
Figure 6
• Item Attachments – The buyer may include some additional documentation related to the bid line.
Click ‘Download’ to access the file(s) pertaining to this line item. (NOTE: Item level attachments may
not be present).
• Required fields have a red asterisk (*) to the right of the response field.
• A required field must be answered in order to submit the response.
• Click ‘Save’ (to save your responses).
• Click ‘Error Check’ (to determine if you have missed any required price fields). (See Figure 7 above).
• A line item may include one or more of the following options (See Figure 9):
Figure 7
Add Alternates option– Where allowed, you can bid an alternate.
• Click ‘Add Alternate’ and enter the fields requested. (See Figure 10).
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Figure 8
• If an alternate is added in error, click ‘Delete Alt’ on the right of the screen.
No Bid – Unless specified by the buyer, you do not have to use the ‘No Bid’ function at the
line level. If using the ‘No Bid’ function, do the following:
• Click ‘No Bid’ (if you prefer to ‘no bid’ a line). (NOTE: a pop-up window will appear
asking you to confirm you wish to ‘no bid’ the line item. Select “ok” to ‘no bid’ the
line. (See Figure 11).
Figure 9
• To remove the ‘no bid’, click “Clear No Bid”. (See Figure 12).
Figure 10
Add Notes – Where allowed, click ‘Add Notes’ to enter comments for buyer review.
Please Note: A response of zero ($0.00) entered in the price field is defined by the buyer using one of
the parameters below:
• Zero is a valid response – An extended price of $0.00 is displayed and stored, upon save.
• Zero is considered a ‘No Bid’ – No Bid is displayed upon save.
• Zero is not a valid response – A response of '0' (zero) is cleared and ‘No Response’ is
displayed, upon save.
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Response Attachments Tab – The buyer may request a bidding supplier to provide documents for the buyer’s
review. A red asterisk (*) located to the left of the requested file name indicates that it is required. (See Figure
13).
Figure 11
• To attach a file, click “Upload”.
• Click “Select File” in the pop-up window.
• Highlight the file to be attached and click ‘Open’.
• The file will upload, then click ‘Save’.
Other Response Attachments – Suppliers may be provided the opportunity to include additional
documents for buyer review. Availability of this feature is at the buyer’s discretion. (See bottom of
Figure 13). To attach an additional document,
• Click “New”
• Click “Select File” in the pop-up window
• Highlight the file to be attached and click ‘Open’
• A description of the file is required. Enter a description of the attached file in the space provided
and click ‘Save’.
If you wish to view the attached document, click the Download Button (located at the left of the file name).
To delete an attached file, select the Delete Button (located to the right of the file name) – Click to remove the
attachment. (See Figure 14).
©2019 Ion Wave Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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