The Structure of Procurement and Contract Packages in SPF
Figure 1: Complete procurement package in SPF
Figure 1 illustrates the structure of a procurement package within SPF. For every package defined, a root package (black tile) is created in accordance with the prescribed naming convention for the project. Every root package has several sub-packages. Commercial and technical sub-packages (blue tiles) collect items created by the contracting party for commercial and technical information respectively. In support of the pre-award processes, the yellow sub-packages represent submissions from various bidders (one sub-package per bidder). In support of the post-award processes, the orange sub-package supports the vendor as information is provided back to the contracting party.
SPF forms the structure by defining relationships between the objects in question. Some relationships are automated while others need to be managed by different users through the relationship builder. Refer to Creating Relationships between Objects.
The package to sub-package structure is created by the system administrator when packages are instantiated or through a support ticket, in case an item has been missed. The contracting party builds relationships between the commercial/technical sub-packages to documents and/or document revisions. These relationships to the commercial and technical sub-packages govern the information that is available to be sent to SMat. Refer to Transferring the Commercial Documents of a Procurement/Contract Package to SMat and Transferring the Technical Documents of a Procurement/Contract Package to SMat.
The files belonging to bid submissions are automated by the bid import process (refer to Importing Bid Submissions). The vendor-to-document relationships should be established by the contracting party when allocating documents (placeholders) in SPF for the vendor to use.
Figure 2: Contract package in SPF
Each CWP is related to the contract using the relationship builder. Refer to Creating Relationships between Objects. With exception to a current limitation, the CWPs are included as part of the technical information when determining the items available for transfer to SMat.