eProcureAI / Platform / Sourcing Events
Sourcing EventsAn approved request can go straight to a purchase order, or it can go out to competition first. Quotes, proposals or live bidding, then an award that carries its own reasoning.
This is the real screen. Live procurement records with their own numbers and states.
Most companies run sourcing events far less often than they should, and the reason is almost never strategy. It is that setting one up used to take a fortnight.
Specifications had to be written from scratch, suppliers found and vetted, quotes chased by email, and responses lined up in a spreadsheet that somebody built by hand. By the time it was comparable, the urgency had passed and a buyer had already placed the order.
Because eProcureAI already holds the approved request, the specification, the charge code and a directory of onboarded suppliers, an event starts from something rather than nothing. The decision becomes whether this purchase deserves competition, not whether you have time to organise it.
An RFQ suits a known specification where price is the main variable. An RFP suits work where you need suppliers to propose an approach. A reverse auction suits a commodity with at least three suppliers who want the business. All three begin from the same approved request.
When the Office Supplies RFQ comes back with one supplier $2,755 lower at the same EP Score, the award decision and the reason for it sit on the event. Six months later, when somebody asks why that supplier was chosen, the answer is on file rather than in a memory.
The specification, value and charge code are already there. Nothing is written from scratch, which is what used to make this a two week job.
RFQ, RFP or reverse auction, depending on how well specified the purchase is and how many capable suppliers exist.
Only suppliers who have completed onboarding and hold current documents can be invited, so eligibility is settled before the event rather than during it.
Quotes arrive in a comparable form rather than as five differently formatted emails. In an auction, suppliers see their rank while prices stay private.
The decision and its reasoning sit on the event, and the resulting purchase order is created from it.
A defined specification and several suppliers who can meet it. Price is the main variable, so the comparison is straightforward and the event can be short.
Managed services and similar work where the how matters as much as the price. Suppliers propose, you evaluate against criteria, and the reasoning is recorded with the award.
A clean specification and at least three suppliers who want the work. Suppliers see their rank rather than each other's prices, which keeps the competition real without a race to the bottom.
Straight from the product. Each one still links back to the purchase request that started it.
| Reference | Title | Type | Status | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PR-F5B6E4 | Procurement for Office Supplies | RFQ | Vendor Selection | $3,827 |
| PR-A21C77 | IT Managed Services 2026 | RFP | Evaluation | $86,000 |
| PR-9DA031 | Laptop Refresh, 24 Units | Reverse Auction | Bidding Live | $14,200 |
The system also flags approved requests that have not been attached to any procurement yet, so nothing approved quietly sits still.
Below three genuinely capable suppliers there is no competition, only the appearance of it. Wait until you have a real field.
If suppliers are assuming different scopes, the lowest number is not the best offer. Writing it down is worth the hour it takes.
Suppliers seeing their position rather than each other's numbers keeps the competition honest without pushing anyone to unsustainable pricing.
They usually bid well when they know there is competition, and leaving them out costs you a serious offer.
The question of why a supplier was chosen always arrives eventually. Answer it once, on the event, at the time.
Approved requests with no procurement attached are flagged, so nothing waits quietly for somebody to remember it.
The barrier to running competition has always been effort rather than intent, so that is the part we removed.
Decide whether a purchase deserves competition, then decide who wins. Both are judgement calls.
All the assembly that used to make an event a fortnight of work.
Bring twelve months of spend in one category. That is enough for a real baseline and a sensible invite list.
Book your free demoNext in the chain: Purchasing and Orders