„The program is very advanced. The RIB solution continues to develop consistently. All adaptations to legal requirements are always carried out promptly and quickly. In addition, we appreciate the friendly, personal and highly competent consulting provided by the software company and the always reliable and fast service and support, both for us as the central awarding office and for our bidding companies."
Martina Dietrich, Central Awarding office Rheda-Wiedenbrück
The city of Rheda-Wiedenbrück is one of the pioneers in North Rhine-Westphalia in the field of electronic tendering: software for e-tendering was already introduced there in 2006. This IT solution developed into the modern public procurement platform iTWO e-Vergabe public, which is now particularly in use throughout the state of Berlin and Bavaria.
In the meantime, other electronic awarding platforms have become established in the Gütersloh district as well as in the entire federal state. Nevertheless, Rheda-Wiedenbrück, the second largest town in the district, will continue to use RIB iTWO e-Vergabe public. "The programme is very progressive", explains Martina Dietrich, who has been with the central awarding office of the municipality in North Rhine-Westphalia since 2006. "The RIB solution continues to develop consistently. All adaptations to legal requirements are always carried out promptly and quickly. In addition, we appreciate the friendly, personal and highly competent consulting provided by the software company and the always reliable and fast service and support, both for us as the central awarding office and for our bidding companies," she continues.
Martina Dietrich and her colleague Marina Wiens, who joined the group a year later, are frequently invited to the meetings in the district as well as in the country and are given insights into the IT systems used there. However, the RIB solution does not remain the favourite in Rheda-Wiedenbrück for technological reasons alone, but, as both employees emphasise, also convinces with a very well maintained manual, clear videos for users and the opportunity to exchange information with colleagues throughout Germany at regular intervals at user meetings and, in addition, to learn about new approaches in lectures and working groups. "Whenever necessary, we receive help very quickly from RIB," reports Wiens. "This is a clear argument in favour of RIB for our municipality," she adds.
The proportion of digitally submitted offers by the bidding companies has risen significantly in recent years: While it was still 1.7 percent in 2016, the central awarding office in Rheda-Wiedenbrück already recorded a very good rate of 12 percent in 2017. After the first proceedings this year, Dietrich and Wiens expect an even greater upheaval in 2019 because more and more companies, including small and medium-sized companies from the civil engineering sector, tend to submit their offers electronically. This consistently increasing acceptance among bidders is not only due to the comprehensive support that the companies receive from the municipal central awarding office. The gradual accompaniment of bidders through the procedure, so that everything is more transparent for the companies, is a factor that favours this increased acceptance of bidders. However, the employees of the central awarding office see this as being mainly due to the new legal requirements. "In recent years, numerous obstacles have been removed," reports Dietrich. "Many procedures, such as the digital signature or the sheath sheet, were not universally accepted by the companies. Of course, also the fact that the submission of offers, including acceptance and rejection notifications, has been made mandatory in all EU-wide procedures in October 2018, has played its part. If the bidding companies do not prepare themselves now for the electronic submission of offers, which in the medium term will also become mandatory at national level, they will be left behind at some point. The companies are of course aware of this," she adds.
„In our city we focus on egovernment, which is why we are dealing with new approaches regarding the digitisation.“
Central awarding office Rheda-Wiedenbrück
Another important aspect is the legal security of the RIB solution iTWO tender, with which the bidding companies submit their offers. The IT system helps the companies to provide all relevant information with only a few clicks. A plausibility check ensures that nothing important can be forgotten, for example prices within a GAEB* file.
"The feedback of the companies on iTWO tender is consistently positive", Marina Wiens shares. "While about ten years ago, the download of tender documents was almost universal, but hardly anyone wanted to use the possibility of digital bidding, the inhibition threshold has now fallen significantly," she continues. The team at the central awarding office in Rheda-Wiedenbrück is therefore confident that it will probably be able to abandon paper tenders completely in the near future. "eGovernment is in the spotlight in our city, which is why we are looking at completely new approaches to digitisation," the two employees explain. "We want to make use of our many years of experience in the field of digital awarding and continue to develop consistently in this area so that we remain pioneers in the years to come," Wiens and Dietrich conclude.
*GAEB (Joint Committee Electronics in Construction). GAEB project groups regulate the format and structure of GAEB files for the digital exchange of information on construction projects in the Federal Republic.
> highly progressive program
> prompt and quick adaptations to legal requirements
> friendly, personal and highly competent consulting
Rheda-Wiedenbrück with modern tendering platform
e-Awarding as standard in a total of six subject areas
NORTH BAVARIAN HIGHWAY DIRECTORATE DEVELOPS LARGE-SCALE PPP PROJECT FOR THE FIRST TIME WITH E-TENDERING
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