Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Gold/Mining/Energy : Unitec Int. Controls Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Link Lady who wrote (275)	4/7/1998 1:43:00 PM
From: John B. Smyth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 856

Hi Wendy, I get over Jet lag quickly, but I caught something on my return and am working from home while I recover from it. Review of bids take different times depending on the customer, complexity and size of contract and number of competitors. Typically, with a public single envelope bid (technical and price together) the prices are announced immediately after the tender is closed in a public opening. Each of the bidders know where they stand and assuming that the technical and administrative requirements are met, the winner is identified. In some cases on review of the technical submissions, the low bidder may not be the winner. For example, our bid to the City of Abbotsford was more 12% higher than the lowest bidder (who was a very capable supplier). On review of the technical presentation, Unitec was selected at the higher price. I thought that we had lost the bid, and was surprised at the result. When I inquired why we won, their consultant advised that even if the other bidder's hardware and software was as good as Unitec's, they still felt more comfortable with us. As you can see, price is important, but technical merit ranks high in many cases. This process took 45 days from the tender opening. In the Curitiba (Brazil) contract, which was a two envelope bid, as I recall, Unitec's technical points totaled somewhere around 7.6 while the next closest total was 6.7. Following the technical evaluation, the other bidder appealed the ratings claiming Unitec's score was too high and their's was too low. The evaluations took 30 days and the appeal took another 60 days. The ratings stood after appeal and the price envelope was opened. Unitec's bid was $1,000 lower than the competitor. The closing was private and the results took 120 days. The Indonesian tender closes May 4. It is a two envelope tender, and only the technical proposal will be opened. They anticipate calling two of the highest scoring bids for final clarifications, presentations and discussions of the submissions unless there is a clear technical winner. Following the presentations, the price envelope will be opened. The technical proposal will be weighed against the price to determine the final selection. I expect that this process could take up to 180 days. We recently submitted a proposal to Petrobras, the Brazilian State Oil & Gas Company (second largest in the world). Our agent advised that within days of closing, they were calling him with questions. He said that is unusual for Petrobras and inferred that they must have liked what they saw. We are keeping our fingers crossed on this one as it will break new ground for us in a number of areas. I mentioned in earlier postings the importance of building strong relationships in Asia. During my meeting with PLN in Indonesia, I was advised that Unitec was the only bidder being consider for one of their expansion programs. While our technology gave us a competitive position, I think our continued support for them during this period of difficulty also had some bearing on their consideration. Carlson On-Line links to the Sedar page and our own, but I will look at all our News lists for updating. Regards, John