In Spain, Bergé Manutención follow pretty much the same process – initially, at least. “We will ask the client what they want to include in the service contract and to identify any particular incidents or issues they have had with forklift trucks in the past,” said Ana Martínez, Bergé’s product manager. Questions of fleet size and specification will also be raised – whether it is large enough and appropriate for the jobs – and they will be looking for ways to do things better and provide more value. For Impact Handling in the UK, the first step will often be an RFI – a request for information – that is drawn up by the client. It is a substantial document that will go into quite some depth of detail in describing forthcoming requirements including terms of supply, details of product range and operating locations.

Documentation

“We will complete the customer questionnaire which generally comprises of: a copy of our company accounts for the past three trading years; company accreditations, a list of the Impact Handling team involved with the tender and their skills, the relevant products to be supplied, a draft copy of the SLA (service level agreement), and information on the geographical location of our service depots to the customer sites, parts support capability, contract management support and the details of the funding to be provided to provide the leasing terms of the equipment,” said Peter Walker, Impact Handling’s manager – major accounts. As his answer reveals, it is an extensive process, and most UK customers are seeking flexible leasing arrangements, which have their own particular attributes. The length of time taken to provide initial information to the clients varies. Aprolis says that the more information is provided initially, the sooner the initial tender will be prepared. For Bergé, it depends on whether it is a private sector client or a government department or agency.

First steps

“Private client tenders normally take more time than those for government, where milestones are very well defined,” Martínez said. By contrast, the experience in France is that the level of detail in public sector tenders is significant and failure to meet all specifications can result in exclusion. For Impact, the RFI document will be prepared by a team of around four people and can be presented in as little as a week. The pool of potential suppliers will then be whittled down to a shortlist and the real work begins. “The shortlisted suppliers will carry out a thorough assessment of the products to be handled and site conditions,” said Walker. This process will also reveal operational hours and involve interviewing operating staff. Discussions with local management will crystallise their needs and safety requirements. “This process provides an opportunity to offer advice, to discuss product benefits, and to investigate the possibility of reducing costs, without changing site efficiencies.” The client will then receive individual presentations from the shortlisted suppliers, which presents Impact Handling with the opportunity to clearly describe its flexible finance terms, benefits of certain products, service support capability, and reduced “out of contract” cost by dedicated contract management and short term hire capability. “Our objective is always to focus on quality, to identify what the customer is not receiving from their current supplier and to determine what best suits their industry needs.” In general, the average time taken from initiation of a tender enquiry to order placement is about six months.