Open / Close Advertisement

Baosteel Builds China’s First On-line Tendering Platform

12/30/2008 - Baohua Tendering, a unit of Baosteel Group, has successfully developed and put into operation the first total process on-line tendering platform in China.

Baohua Tendering Co., Ltd., a unit of China’s Baosteel Group, has successfully developed the first total process on-line tendering platform in China. Completion of the first on-line tendering (for network equipment and relevant technical service project) confirmed the independently developed platform’s success, which has since been officially put into commercial operation.
 
Electronic tendering is designed to achieve paperless bidding and tendering through data telegrams using the modern IT system and network. Electronic tendering can greatly improve the efficiency of bidding and tendering, cut down the cost of bidding and tendering, and prevent corruption. Due to the inability to break through core technologies for on-line bid opening and evaluation, electronic bidding and tendering in China has been confined to the publication of notice for bid invitation and bid awarding information; a total electronic bidding and tendering system in the real sense had not previously been developed.
 
To improve the operating efficiency of Baosteel's bidding and tendering business, Baohua initiated the independent development of a comprehensive on-line tendering platform among the domestic tendering agencies from November of last year. With the support of Baosight, etc., the Baohua Tendering project team successively overcame a series of technical difficulties including security secrecy, CA encryption and decryption and on-line bid opening hall by utilizing electronic signature CA certification technology. The team eventually completed its feasibility study, and completed a basic design, detail design, integration and testing, on-line preparation within as little as one year.
 
Bidding and tendering through the on-line tendering platform can significantly reduce costs for traveling, paper printing and communication, etc., thus reducing the bidding and tendering costs for each participating party. Baohua Tendering estimates it can save 9 tons of paper for bidding documents each year as a result of implementing paperless on-line bidding and tendering.
 
Once the on-line tendering platform is put into operation, Baosteel’s former centralized bid opening will be replaced by scattered bidding opening in different places, so that the tenderer, bidder, evaluating expert and supervisor can participate, complete and supervise the entire business process through the network, significantly improving process efficiency. As an example, bid opening used to take 30 to 40 minutes, but will now take only 2 to 3 minutes using the on-line tendering platform.
 
The online bidding and tendering platform also successfully utilizes core technologies such as security encryption, so that the total process of bidding and tendering can be supervised and retrieved. This promotes the publicity and transparency of tendering work and brings convenience for each participating party to monitor the project’s progress, business procedure and claim handling.
 
Successful operation of Baosteel’s independently developed total process on-line tendering platform has also caught wide attention from governmental authorities and tendering agencies. Shanghai Economic & IT Committee, Shanghai Mechanical & Electrical Equipment Bidding & Tendering Leading Group Office have recently visited to learn about operation of the platform, and unaffiliated owners in relevant bidding and tendering fields have also come to discuss their intention for cooperation with Baohua Tendering.