Bidding Web App for Machine Parts Seekers and Suppliers

Business Requirements

Manual Bidding
Process
High Turnaround
time
Limited
Resources

What was the Problem?

The client had identified a pain point in the Machine Parts Supplier market of the USA. Client observed that the industrial machine manufacturers that required various machine parts had to follow a lengthy process to identify, contact and get personalised quotations from Machine Parts suppliers. While each supplier took their own time in sending the quotation, there also existed a problem that there was no standard format of quotations and also the comparison of quotations was done manually by the customers.

Bidding
Platform
Quotation
Request
Standard
Quotation Format

And What was the Need?

Based on the pain points identified, client wanted to develop an online platform that would allow Customers to search Machine Part suppliers based on the parts that they required and request for a quotation from available suppliers. Client also needed a bidding platform for suppliers where they could analyse and submit a quote for all the requirements mentioned by the client. An additional requirement was to establish a commission based business model so that the client can earn from each transactions and he also wanted a priority based bidding processes for the repeat customers.

What Zealous Proposed?

Single Intermediate
Platform

Instead of creating multiple systems, we proposed a single intermediate platform that would serve both customers and suppliers.

Role
Definition

Platform users can be a customer or supplier and based on that, customers can request quotes and suppliers can bid on the quote requests made from the customers.

Payment Intermediary
system

Instead of forming a direct transaction between customer and supplier, all the payments by would be first made on the platform and then later distributed to the suppliers.

The Journey

Client
Meetings
A senior business analyst and a project manager were dedicated to understand the client requirements.
Scope
Documents
Based on the various meetings with clients, a detailed scope document was prepared.
Backend
Development
Our technical experts designed the UX and based on that entire backend of the system was developed.
Frontend
Development
Our best designers were assigned on the project and engaging UI was prepared of the system.
System
Deployment
Once the whole system was developed and tested, it was then deployed and hosted on the client’s server.

A Tough Fight

Experience and Expertise leads to simplified Solutions of Complex Problems

To make the platform airtight, it was decided that the names and information regarding the customers and suppliers will not be revealed till the time a quotation is finalised by the customer. Because of this, the biggest challenge was to determine the payment flow of the whole transaction. Also, since the suppliers didn’t know who the customers were, it was essential that they could trust the platform when they bid for a customer’s quote.

To solve the problem, we at Zealous proposed that the customers will first have to make the complete payment to the Platform and once the quotation is finalised and transaction completed, the platform will then transfer the payment to the supplier after deducting their fee from the transaction. This way the whole process was made airtight and trust was established between the customers and the suppliers.

From Flaws to Features

Quote Requests
The customers can use the platform to request quotes from different suppliers.
Bid Quote
The suppliers can analyse the quote and bid on the quote with their best offers.
Quote Review
The platform allowed customers to easily review and compare all the bids that were made by the suppliers.
No Subscription
Customers do not have to pay any subscription amount for using the system.
Upload Documents
Customers must upload supporting documents while requesting for a quote.
Award or Reject Quotes
Customer will have an option to award or reject the quotes which are given by the shops.
Re- Ordering
Both customer and shop will be able to re-order the order which they have made in the past from this system.
Consecutive Failures
If a shop fails to submit a quotation consecutively 10 times, then the system will automatically remove that shop from the system.
Notification
If the customer approves or rejects the bid, then the shop will be notified.
Verification
The system must verify all the documents which are uploaded such as ISO and other certificates.