How do I use Bid Lists?

Optimum Control has bid functions that you can request and/or receive bid prices and decide which pricing is the best from which supplier. The lowest price per recipe unit will be analyzed and the order window will select the supplier with the best price. You are able to override the selection.

All items can receive bid pricing and if a current bid is in place, that price will be used for making orders.

To Manually Enter a Bid:

1. Choose "Orders" (main menu toolbar).
2. Select "Bid List" (order toolbar).
3. Click a supplier from the list.
4. Choose an end date (the date until the bid pricing expires). Each row has an end date, but to simplify this process, enter the date the bid prices are good until in the date field at the top of the rows of items. Once entered, all rows will now have the same end date. This should be the date their bid is valid until, but you can overwrite the bid date by item as necessary.
5. Filter by group to detail bids based on meat and produce for example.
6. Enter the bid pricing for each item.
   NOTE: it is desirable to export the sheet to a supplier and have them fill it in and send back to you.
7. Click "Save".

Import and Export Supplier Bid Sheets

Exporting bid lists to suppliers is a quick way to set bid prices. Supplier can fill in the bid price and date the bid is valid until and send back.

To Export a Bid Sheet to Supplier:

1. Select the supplier you wish to send a bid list to.
2. Click "Export" from the Bid List Toolbar.
   This will create a file in CSV format (comma separated values), this file can be emailed to the supplier and opened in Excel. Then once they enter their bid pricing and dates, they can save as a CSV file and email back to you.
3. Save the file to your desktop or somewhere you can quickly locate. Email this file to your supplier and ask them to open in Excel and add their bids to the bid price column, followed by the date the bid is good until. You can then ask them to send it back to you in the same CSV format.

To Import the Bid List:

1. Open the "Bid List" window ad select the supplier the bid is from. 
2. Click "Import" from the Bid List Toolbar.
3. The pricing for the items they sent a bid for and the date the bid is valid until should be populated.
4. Review the amounts, taking special note of items by the pound, checking to see that your supplier did not send a case price or vice versa.
5. Click "Save".

Request Bids from the Order Window

In some cases, you may want to create an order within the order window and define which items and amounts you'd like to order. Once defined, you can request bids from the supplier who have pack sizes set up. The advantage to this process is that suppliers will only bid on what you want to order rather than submitting bids on toothpicks, for example, every week. Also, if you bid on 250 kilos of Prime Rib, you may get a better price than not.

To Request Bids from Order:

1. Open order window, choose "New Worksheet" or indicate an order guide.
2. Build the list of items as desired.
3. You can request bids with all item amounts set to 0 or fill in the amount required.
4. Click "Request Bids".
5. You will be presented with a list of supplier and the number of items to bid on. The email address will be displayed if previously entered into the supplier window, otherwise manually enter.
6. A CSV formatted file will be emailed to the desired email addresses. You will need to have an email client on the Optimum Control computer. You can also choose to print the bid order.
7. When the CSV is returned from the supplier import into the bid list window.
8. Ensure the ending date for the bid is correct.
9. Click "Save".