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Buyer Help
This document outlines the buying process used by RigSupplies.com RFQ. The instructions presented below are intended to aid a buyer through the process of purchasing in the virtual business-to-business marketplace using RFQs (Request for Quotes). This document was created with the buyer in mind, and mall administrators should refer to the RigSupplies.com RFQ Administration Guide. Note that RigSupplies.com RFQ is used for Request-for-Quote transactions in a business-to-business environment, and therefore a buyer can also be a supplier, but this guide focuses on the buying process only. For more information on the supplier options, please see the RigSupplies.com RFQ Supplier guide. (NOTE: if registered as a supplier, there are both buyer and supplier options available, though if registered as a buyer, there are only buyer options.) The first time you visit the RigSupplies.com RFQ site, you will be able to log in as a guest and view limited areas of the site. When you want to become a buyer, choose the Register link (which may be on the top or side menus, on the home page, or some other obvious place, but you may have to log out if you are logged in already, as a guest user for example). Registering is as easy as filling out the form. Some fields are required, such as the e-mail address (for invoice notification). Phone numbers are optional, but they will help us notify you in case there is some problem. The demographics section is optional. Note that the nickname you enter here will be the one you will use for your future log-ins in to the site. Choose a name and password that are easy for you to remember, but difficult for anyone else to guess. Please verify that the information entered is correct before pressing the Submit Registration button. Once your form is submitted, a site administrator will review your application, accept (or reject) it, and notify you by email. Once you have received notification of acceptance, you are a registered buyer for the site. Note: Before you are accepted as a buyer, you may still log in with your nickname/email and password and browse the site as a guest user. Once you are a registered buyer you can log in with your nickname/email and password, and you will be presented with several buyer options. (These options may be available as soon as you log in, on your 'home' page, or you may have to select a link such as 'Your Account'.) These include RFQ options, such as Quick Select and Apply to Suppliers, as well as personal options, like Change Contact Information. All of these options are explained in detail below. There is also a Search feature that is available throughout the site that allows you to search for products site-wide. To use the Search feature, simply enter something to search for in the textbox. You can enter an item or a category, a single word or a phrase, even a single letter. Then press the Go button. This will bring up a pop-up window with search results. It will also change the main window to the Quick Select page (see below). The results will be listed in the form of Category>Subcategory>Item. There may be more than one page of results, which you can navigate through with the previous, next and page number links at the bottom of the list. You can click on any category, subcategory, or item link in the search results, and the selection tree in the main window (Quick Select page) will be expanded and the pop-up window will close. The Search function will still be available at the top of the Quick Select page. In the pop-up Search window and at the top of the Quick Select page, there is an extra search option. You can narrow your searches by selecting a general category (zone) from the drop-down selection list before entering an item and pressing Go. The item will be searched for only in that zone. The RigSupplies.com RFQ Quick Select feature is designed to allow you to quickly and easily scan the master product list, set up personal RFQ folders that contain materials lists that you often order, and submit your RFQs effortlessly to many suppliers, all within a few screens. When you first open the Quick Select page, you will see several boxes across the top of the page, the left most filled with a list of top-level products/materials. If you performed a search to get to this page, some or all of the other boxes may also have products in them. These boxes comprise the material selection tree, with each box being a sub-level of the box to its left. You will notice that each of the top-level products has a general category zone in brackets beside it. There is a drop-down selection box below the tree where you can select a zone to narrow the top-level materials shown, or choose to display all (the default when the page first opens). Each of the top-level materials has a ">>" to its right to show that there are sub-products under it. If you click on one of the top-level materials in the list it will be highlighted and the box to the right will fill with sub-materials for that product. If you click on a sub-material with a ">>" symbol, it too will highlight and fill the box to its right. When you see a material with a "*" symbol beside it, you know it is a bottom-level material, with no sub-materials. For example, a top-level material might be Hand Tools (General Supplies). General Supplies would be the zone, meaning that Hand Tools would only appear in the top-level box when General Supplies or Display All was selected from the zone selection drop-down list. When you click Hand Tools, the next box might show Wrenches, Screwdrivers, and Hammers. Clicking on Screwdrivers might fill the next box with Flat, Philips, and Robertson, and so on, until a bottom level of Stanley was reached. NOTE: At any time if you find the text in the material selection tree difficult to read, you can change the size of the text displayed with your Internet Explorer browser. Select View from the browser menu at the top of the screen, then Text Size. Making the text larger will make it easier to read, but less will fit in the boxes. Making it smaller will allow you to see more of the text but make individual words more difficult to read. Try different sizes until you are comfortable with the result. (In a Netscape browser, it's View, Increase/Decrease font size.) If you click on the bottom level product, the Material Selected box (below the zone selection drop-down) will show something like Screwdrivers> Philips> #1>7" long> Stanley. Press the Add To List button to put the item on your RFQ list, below the Material Selected box. You can continue adding products in this way until your list is complete. If you want to take an item off your list, simply click on it and press Remove From List. At any time you can press Clear List to start over. There is also a button labeled Send RFQ on List. If you press this before applying to suppliers you will get a message saying that none of your suppliers carry any of the requested material, and reminding you that you must register and be approved by a supplier before you can submit an RFQ to them. Registering with suppliers is explained below, as is sending RFQs. Once your list is complete, you can add it to a folder by pressing the Move List to Folder button. If there are no folders, you can create one by typing in a name and pressing the Create Folder button. Once you have folders, there will be a drop-down list of folders to choose from. If you want to delete a folder, select it from the drop-down list and press the Delete Folder button. To view the contents of a folder, select the folder and press the View Folder Contents button. Notice that items on a RFQ list that are in a folder have a "#" symbol in front of them. To remove a product from a folder, highlight the product in the list and click Delete Selected From Folder. There is also a button labeled Send RFQ on the Selected Folder Contents. This is used to quickly send RFQs for commonly used products. First, you would create a folder of commonly ordered items. Next time you wanted to put an RFQ out on those items, you could select that folder, view the contents, select the items you want to RFQ, and press this button. This saves you the time selecting the products each time. However, if you press this before applying to suppliers you will get a message saying that none of your suppliers carry any of the requested material, and reminding you that you must register and be approved by a supplier before you can submit an RFQ to them. Registering with suppliers is explained below, as is sending RFQs. When you choose the Apply to Suppliers option, you will see a table of suppliers with contact names. To apply for an account, check the Apply box beside the supplier you are requesting. If you have a previously existing account with the supplier enter your account number in the space provided. Once you have checked all of the suppliers you want to apply to, press the Submit Application button at the bottom of the page. When you have submitted your application, the status beside the suppliers you have applied to will change to ‘Pending’ from ‘Unregistered’. You will be notified by each supplier via email informing you if your application has been approved or rejected. When you receive the notification, the application status will change again, to either ‘Registered’ or ‘Declined’. If registered, there will be an account number and an option to ‘Unregister’ with the supplier. You can now send RFQs to the suppliers you are registered with. (See Quick Select, above, and Send RFQ, below.) Whether you pressed Send RFQ on the Selected Folder Contents or Send RFQ on List, you will view the RFQ submission page. At the top of the page, the status of the RFQ will be ‘Unposted’. You fill in the RFQ/Project name, and select the deadlines for quote submissions and delivery of products. Under the parts list, enter the quantity required for each item and select an address to ship the product to from the drop-down address selection boxes labeled ‘Ship To’. Each can be shipped to a different place, or you can choose the ‘Ship All To’ address selection box at the right if the entire order is to be delivered to the same location. You can use the Add or Modify an Address link below the table to add or change addresses in the selection box. (See Manage Address Book, below.) The bottom of the table consists of rows of suppliers that carry the items you are requesting a quote on. Only suppliers you are registered with will appear. (See Apply to Suppliers, above.) Each supplier row will have checkboxes under each item that that supplier carries, and each checkbox is checked by default. You uncheck a checkbox under an item you do NOT want a quote for from that supplier. Each supplier will receive a RFQ email with the items that are checked in their row. You can select (check) the entire row for a supplier by pressing the Select Row button, or uncheck the whole row with Clear Row. Select All and Clear All at the bottom of the table will check/uncheck all boxes in the table. These options can speed up entry of the RFQ immensely. Below the table is an area where you can enter any special requirements or requests. Next, you have the choice of requesting responses only from suppliers who can completely fill the order. There is also the opportunity to make this RFQ a Direct Purchase. Use the Direct Purchase option for the times when you want things fast and you know which supplier you want them from. You must only check materials in the table from one supplier. When the supplier reviews your Direct Purchase request, they will be notified that this is a Direct Purchase request, and to ship the materials immediately. The shipping instructions must be entered in the comment area (the area for special requirements/requests). When you have completed the above steps, press the Submit RFQ button to send the RFQ to the supplier(s). You will be shown a summary page for your RFQ, and be sent an email as well. The supplier(s) will be notified, each receiving an email indicating only materials pertaining to your request. Remember that at no time are suppliers aware of which other suppliers you have contacted. With a Direct Purchase, you must create the purchase order after submitting the RFQ. Enter a purchase order number, select a carrier (or carriers if you chose more than one ship to address), and press the Create Purchase Order button at the bottom of the page. You will receive an email notifying you when a supplier responds to your RFQ. At this time, you can view the pending RFQ for details on the response (see below). You may receive an email notifying you that a supplier cannot fill a Direct Purchase request. Once you have placed an RFQ, you can track it with this option. Select an RFQ from the drop-down selection box showing RFQ/Project names and expiry dates. There will also be two numbers in brackets beside the expiry date. The first is how many responses you have received on that RFQ, and the second is how many suppliers you submitted the request to. For example, if it said (3/5) that would mean three out of five suppliers that you requested quotes from have replied. Press the View RFQ button to see the details of the selected RFQ. You can delete the selected RFQ by pressing the Delete button beside the selection drop-down box. Note: Direct Purchase RFQs are not shown in the selection box. On the RFQ viewing page, you will see RFQ name, dates, status, and delivery address followed by the suppliers/parts list table. When suppliers have responded to the RFQ, you will see prices under the products that they can fulfill along with checkboxes. Prices in red squares are the lowest submitted price for an item. In the case of a tie, the first supplier in the table with that price will have the price in red. Once all of your suppliers have responded, or the deadline has past, you can select which products you want to order from each supplier. You can do so by checking each box individually, using the Select Row button to check all the boxes for a particular supplier, or Select Lowest Prices to check all of the lowest price boxes. If you Select Lowest Prices, in the case of a tie you will be asked to make a selection yourself. Clear Row and Clear All will uncheck a row of checkboxes or all the checkboxes respectively. As the checkboxes are selected and cleared, you will notice that a box under the table shows the total of all the selected products. You may view supplier’s general comments near the bottom of the page. If a supplier had a comment on an individual item, a little pencil symbol will appear next to the supplier’s name. Click on the pencil symbol, which will open a pop-up window showing material specific comments entered by that supplier. General supplier comments can be viewed in the area below the table entitled ‘Suppliers Comments’. When you have selected all of the materials you wish to order, enter your password and press "Accept RFQ" at the bottom of the page, to complete the RFQ and generate a purchase order. For each supplier you must enter a unique purchase order number. For the shipping requirements, simply select a carrier from the drop-down box. If you are requesting items from more than one supplier you must provide shipping information for each supplier. Once done, press the Create Purchase Order button at the bottom of the page. There are three types of purchase orders to view: uninvoiced, invoiced, and archived. By default, this page will show uninvoiced orders with links to Invoiced Purchase Orders and Archived Purchase Orders. This will effect what is shown in the purchase order drop-down selection box. Simply select an order from the box to view its details. When viewing invoiced orders (orders which have been assigned an invoice number by the supplier), there will be an Archive button to press if you want to archive the order, like when it has arrived and/or been paid for. For both invoiced and archived orders, you will also see options to view a Printer Friendly Format (which will open a pop-up window with an order easier to print) and to enter Accounting Codes (which opens a pop-up window allowing you to enter an accounting code beside each product). RigSupplies.com RFQ allows you to enter multiple shipping destinations in a virtual address book. You can have any number of addresses defined, and can ship orders to any of the address book entries simply by selecting the appropriate address from a drop down menu. Address book entries are referred to by nicknames. That is, each address in a list is given a nickname so that it is easy to tell what the address is (e.g., "Site 5", "The Shop"). Your default mailing address always uses your login ID as its nickname. On the Manage Address Book page, type in a nickname for the person in the field provided and click the Add button. Simply fill in the address fields and press "Add" to create the entry. Modifying an Address Book Entry On the Manage Address Book page, select the nickname for the address you wish to modify from the drop down menu and click "Update." A form will appear where you can edit the details for the address. Please note that you cannot modify the address’s nickname. Removing an Address Book Entry If an entry in your address book is no longer valid and you wish to remove it, simply select its nickname from the dropdown menu and click "Delete." The default mailing address for your account is always your personal contact information. To modify this information, click on the Change Contact Information link and edit the information. To complete changes, click the "Update" button. Type in your e-mail address or nickname. The password will be sent to the e-mail address you've registered with. Note: Because e-mail is not secure, you should log in to the system as soon as you can once you receive the e-mail and change your password to something different. Enter your existing password in the textbox labeled Current Password then enter your new password in the field labeled New Password. Retype the new password into the Confirm New Password textbox exactly as you have typed it in the New Password textbox. Click the "Submit" button to change your password. Simply fill out the Supplier Registration form, and press the Submit Registration button at the bottom of the page. Please refer to the RigSupplies.com RFQ - Supplier Guide for more information. NOTE: if you are registered as a buyer and want to become a supplier, you will have to re-register with a new user name and password. Therefore, even though suppliers also have buyer options available to them, you will have to reapply to all your suppliers once re-registered, and will not be able to view all of your old buyer RFQs and orders except when logged in under your old user name and password. |
