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Guide for Using Simplix-W
Contents
General Overview of EDI
A complete EDI transaction has three basic steps:
Requesting: The buyer sends out information about what
they want to purchase in the form of an 840-Request for Quotation
electronic form. Bidding: If your company wishes to sell this item, you
will submit your bid in the form of an 843-Response to Request for
Quotation electronic form. Buying: The buyer will send out an 850-Purchase Order form
to the winning firm and an 836-Contract Award publicly, naming the
winning firm and price.
Other steps may be required to complete the sale. For example you
may be required to provide information about shipments, such as the
contents, packaging, and carrier information, or you may receive
remittance advice concerning payment.
Using Your Client Home Page
Your Client Home Page is broken down into seven sections, each
accessible through the grey menu bar near the top of your Client
Account Home Page. Click on the menu item to change to that section.
News - This section appears when you log on and load
your Client Account Home Page. It provides you with information
about changes in electronic procurement policies and requirements,
sites that are having problems, improvements to Simplix's
EDI service, and other information relevant to
your ability to conducting business electronically. Mailboxes:
Private - This section is for messages that you
create, or messages addressed specifically to you. For example, if you
enter a bid, a copy of it will be stored here. Likewise, if you receive
a purchase order, this is where it will appear. Federal EC Profiled - The messages that appear in this section
are broadcast to a large number of recipients. They are public messages
in that they can be viewed by anyone. The vast majority of them will
be Requests for Quotations and Contract Awards. FedBizOpps Profiled - Like Federal EC Profiled Messages,
these are broadcast to a large number of recipients and can be viewed by
anyone. They appear on FedBizOpps may not be biddable electronically.
Search:
Federal EC - Here you can look through Public
Requests for Quotations based upon an ad hoc keyword search, the FSC
(Federal Stock Class) of the solicitation, or by the buying agency. FedBizOpps - Here you can look through Public
Requests for Quotations based upon an ad hoc keyword search or the FSG
(Federal Stock Group) of the solicitation. State and Local - Here you can perform a search for Public
Requests for Quotations based upon an ad hoc keyword search or you may
browse the database by either category or region.
Functions & Profiling Opts. - The commands
found in this area allow you to perform tasks related to
maintaining your account, such as creating account profiles or updating
your user information. Help - The help section contains this file and
other information about your account, such as EDI information
for use with the CCR and other electronic trading partners. It also
provides a mechanism to look up DLA drawing information. Send E-Mail to Simplix: This command is on the bottom
of every Simplix web page and is the best way to get technical
support. You can use it to ask questions, suggest improvements,
or pass along information you think we should know.
If you have a question or problem, tell us about it!
Understanding Messages
The messages in your Private, Federal EC Profiled, and
FedBizOpps Profiled mailboxes are listed in charts, with the following
fields:
Status - Delivery status, and whether the message is to or
from you.
- N - The message is new. It arrived between
the last time last time you logged in and now.
- u - The message is no longer new, however it
is still unread.
- IN - The message was sent to you.
- OUT - The message was from you. Outbound
messages may contain additional status information:
- trnst - Simplix has translated your message
into X12 format, and sent it out to the government.
- dlvrd - The government has sent back a delivery
acknowledgement. For Air Force quotes, this means delivery to the
site. For Army, this means delivery to the Army gateway.
- awrdd - The government has sent out a
836-Contract Award denoting winning firm and price. Click on the
843 with this status message, and click on 836 in the related
messages section at the bottom of the bid, to see the award
notification.
- rjct - The bid was rejected. If you see this
status message, please send e-mail to Simplix giving us the
UTN number of the rejected bid. Our software does not allow
generation of invalid messages and we will want to look into
this immediately.
Type - X12 Message Type
- 820 - Payment Order/Remittance Advice
The buyer uses these to make a payment, send remittance advice,
or make a payment and send remittance advice.
- 824-AA - Application Advice
This message is generated if a site cannot process your
message. If you do not understand the message, please let us
know and we will explain what it means and how to fix the
problem. These messages are very rare.
- 836-CA - Contract Award This message
details who won a bid, and for what price.
- 838-TPP - Trading Partner Profile
These messages are registration messages you submit to the
registration agencies, and the confirmations they send back.
- 840-RFQ - Request For Quote
Message requesting bids on items.
- 843-RRFQ - Response to Request for Quote
Your bid on a 840-RFQ.
- 850-PO - Purchase Order
A message stating that you have won a particular bid, with further
instructions.
- 856 - Ship Manifest
Used to provide information about shipments, such as the contents,
packaging, and carrier information.
- 860 - Purchase Order Change Request
The buyer uses this message type to (1) request a change to a
previously submitted purchase order or (2) confirm acceptance
of a purchase order change initiated by the seller or by mutual
agreement of the buyer and seller.
- 864-TM - Text Message
E-Mail messages either to or from you, such as your monthly billing
statement, questions you have sent to Simplix regarding your
account, responses to your questions, or e-mail to or from buyers.
(Note: Not all buyers can send or receive e-mail. The
ability to send email has been disabled for those agencies
that cannot receive e-mail.)
- 865 - Purchase Order Change Acknowledgement Request
You use this message to convey acceptance or rejection
of changes to a previously issued Purchase Order.
FSC - The Federal Supply class the
message was in, if applicable. DATE - Date and time the message was created. In messages
to you, this is the date the message was created, not the
time it arrives at Simplix. Universal Tracking Number (UTN) - This is the number that
links an RFQ, your bid, and the subsequent contract award or
PO.
Functions & Profiling Options
The commands found in this section allow you to control your account.
FUNCTIONS
Edit Full Registration: Use this command to record changes in
your account information, such as your address, telephone number, and
contact information. This function allows you to update your company
information with Simplix and a number of government registries —
without filling out multiple forms. If there are problems with an order,
the buyer will use this information to contact you. It is therefore
important to keep this information as up-to-date as possible, and
update your record when, for example, your telephone area code changes
or you move to a new location.
UTN/Skey Lookup: If you know the UTN or SKey of a message
you want to bid on, but cannot locate the message, use this option.
Client Account Options
- Message Display Options:
Choose the sorting criteria for your private messages. Messages
may be sorted by date of arrival or type of message. Choose whether or not you want your keywords highlighted.
Keyword Highlighting scans your messages before they are
displayed and highlights the words or
phrases that match entries in your keywords lists. Choose whether or not you want to see the menu when
displaying message content. Checking the box will result in the
menu being hidden.
E-mail Notification - Instead of allowing public messages to
accumulate on your client home page, you can have them e-mailed to
you. To take full advantage of this feature, you should be using a
mail reader that supports HTML, such as Netscape Navigator's mail
reader. More information on e-mail notification can be found on
the client options page. Autofill - There may be certain information you always want to
include in your bid notes. Simply type the information in the box
provided, and click on Accept Options. That text will always appear in
your bid notes. To delete or change the text, simply erase or change
the text in the autofill box, and click on the Accept Options button
at the bottom of the page. Simplix Password - To change your account password, type your
existing password into the Current Password box, type your new
password where it says New Password and Re-type New
Password, then click on the Accept Options button. Note that
the passwords will not be visible when you type them (you will see
an asterisk rather than the actual character you typed). The new
password must be typed exactly the same way in both new password
boxes or the change will not go into effect.
Passwords for Other Systems - If you want to submit bids
through Simplix on opportunities listed at Progate or DIBBS, you
will need to provide your password for those systems. Profile Awards - Select yes if you want to receive
Contract Award notifications for items which match your profile.
If you select no you will still be able to access Contract
Awards from the RFQ.
Multiple Windows - If you select this option, you will be able to
view your home page in one window and read your messages in a second.
This is useful when dealing with a slow network connections, since
the entire client home page is not reloaded every time you view a
new message.
Request Termination of Simplix Client Account - Click
on this option and then on the "Delete Account" button to
permanently remove your account.
Locating bid opportunities
There are two basic ways that you can search through the available
RFQs and FedBizOpps messages. The first way is by linking to lists of
the categories or sites that interest you. The second way is by
profiling, or having a copy of each message that matches a profile you
set up sent directly to your client home page. The Direct Listings
option provides short descriptions of the items being requested, so
you don't have to download the whole message until you know that it it
interests you. The Profiling option is nice if you want to only look
at a message once, then be able to delete it. As new messages come in
that match the criteria you select, they will be sent directly to the
FEDERAL EC PROFILED mailbox on your client home page. You can use a
combination of the two options.
Sorting RFQs and FedBizOpps opportunities by Direct Listing
Federal Supply Class listings list all quotes in a particular FSC,
across all sites. Site listings list all quotes from a particular
site, across all FSCs. You can always look at any FSC or SITE at
any time by clicking on the respective entire index, but being able
to select the FSCs, sites, or FedBizOpps categories you are
most interested provides a shortcut. by FSC - From the Federal EC search
menu, click on Display entire FSC Index. This will
bring up several grouped headings. Clicking on one of the ranges will
bring up a list of the specific FSCs in that category. Click on a
FSC that interests you. A list of the open quotes will come up. If you wish to add the FSC to the Browse Federal EC Messages
section of your client account home page, scroll to the bottom
of the page and then click on ADD THIS FSC. A confirmation message
will appear confirming the listing has been added. You
can add (or remove) FSC listings at any time.
by SITE - From the Federal EC search
menu, click on Display entire Site Index. Then click on a site name.
Select ADD THIS SITE TO YOUR PERSONAL SITE LISTING if you wish
to add the site to the Browse Federal EC messages section of your
client account home page. A confirmation message will appear. To remove a site, click on the site you no longer want included in
Browse Federal EC section, then scroll to the bottom of
the form and click on REMOVE THIS SITE FROM YOUR PERSONAL SITE
LISTING.
by FedBizOpps - From the FedBizOpps
search menu, click on Display entire FedBizOpps Index. Click on a
class that interests you. A list of opportunities will appear. To add that
class to the Browse FedBizOpps section of your client
account home page, click on ADD THIS CODE TO YOUR PERSONAL
LISTING. A confirmation message will appear. To return to your client account home page you may click on the
little red house or you may click your Browser's back button twice.
PROFILING OPTIONS
Sorting RFQs and FedBizOpps by Profiling
RFQs BY FSC AND SITE - FSC and site selection work in
conjunction with each other. You will receive RFQs that are BOTH in an
FSC you selected AND from a site you selected. You may choose up to 33
FSCs. You may choose up to 40 sites. Many people want to see quotes
from all sites and agencies.
Click on PROFILE RFQ IN CONJUNCTION WITH SITE
from the Functions and Profiling Options menu. Select an area that interests you by clicking on it. A
list of classes will appear. Select the classes that you want profiled on your page by
clicking on the boxes next to those FSCs. Once you have selected the FSCs, click on the Submit button at
the bottom of the page. If you wish to receive the RFQs matching your FSC selection from
all the sites, go directly to step 5. If you wish to receive RFQs
only from certain sites, click on PROFILE RFQ BY SITE IN
CONJUNCTION WITH FSC from the Functions and Profiling Options
mean. Select the sites you are interested in by clicking
on the appropriate boxes. Once you're done selecting sites, click on
Submit at the bottom of the page. Now messages matching your profile will be sent automatically to
you. They are processed as they come in, so you will not immediately
see messages in the classes you selected. To delete any class, simply bring up the list you want to change
as detailed above, then deselect the item by re-clicking on its
selection box. Once you are done making changes click on submit.
RFQs BY KEYWORD AND NSN - You can create a list of
keywords. Any RFQ
which contains one of these words in the product description will be
automatically sent to your home page. Keywords are typically product
descriptions, National Stock Numbers (NSNs), the name of your company,
names of your competitors, local part numbers, etc. Clients may select
up to 2,000 keywords for RFQs and up to 2,000 keywords for FedBizOpps.
Click on PROFILE RFQ BY KEYWORD AND NSN on the
FUNCTIONS AND PROFILING OPTS. menu. Type in your keywords or phrases one per line. Press enter to move
between lines.
A few hints on choosing keywords: Make your keywords
specific. To search for all quotes containing the word
safe but not safety, enter your
keyword as safe with nothing before or after
it. The matching is case insensitive so bat and
BAT are equivalent.
EXAMPLE keyword list (comments in italics are for
explanation purposes here and should not be a part of your
keywords):
baseball bat matches the phrase "baseball bat"
safe matches safe, but not unsafe or safety
*safe* matches safe, unsafe, safety, and vouchsafed
*band matches band and waistband, but not bandage
base* matches basement or base, but not airbase
pipe matches pipe, but not pipeline or drainpipe
pipe? matches pipe or pipes or piped, but not
piping or pipers
Once you have all your keywords typed in, click on the submit
button at the bottom of the page. Once a day, Simplix will go through all incoming public RFQ
messages for that day and send any that match your keywords to your
client home page under PROFILED PUBLIC MESSAGES. If a message
matches both a keyword and a FSC that you have selected, it will
only be sent once. If you wish to delete a keyword, please click on Profile RFQ by
Keyword, move your cursor to the line you wish to delete, and press
delete until the line disappears. Then click on submit.
More information about keywords can be found on the
keyword help page.
PROFILE FedBizOpps
Click on PROFILE FedBizOpps from the Functions and
Profiling Options menu. Select the two-digit areas that you want profiled on your
PROFILED FedBizOpps page by clicking on the boxes next to
those areas. Once you have made your selections, click on the Submit
button at the bottom of the page. A confirmation message will appear and new messages matching
your profile will be sent to you automatically. They are processed as
they come in, so you will not immediately see messages in the classes
you selected. To delete a FedBizOpps category, simply bring up the FedBizOpps
profiling list as detailed above, then deselect the item by
re-clicking on its selection box. Once you are done making changes
click on submit. - If you wish to view older FedBizOpps messages, you can do so through the
Browse FedBizOpps Messages menu as
described above.
FedBizOpps BY KEYWORD - You can enter a list of keywords. Then
any FedBizOpps messages that contain one of your keywords will be sent directly
to your client home page under FedBizOpps PROFILED Mailbox.
Click on PROFILE FedBizOpps BY KEYWORD from the
Functions and Profiling Options menu. Type in your keywords or phrases one per line, pressing enter
to move to the next line. For an explanation of how keywords are
matched please refer to section on RFQS BY
KEYWORD AND NSN above. Once you have all your keywords typed in, click on the submit
button at the bottom of the page. Once a day, Simplix will go through all incoming public FedBizOpps
messages for that day and send any that match your keywords to your
client home page under PROFILED FedBizOpps mailbox. If a message
matches on both a keyword and a class that you have selected, it
will only be sent once. If you wish to delete a keyword, please click on PROFILE FedBizOpps
BY KEYWORD, move your cursor to the line you wish to delete, and
press delete until the line disappears. Then click on submit.
More information about keywords can be found on the
keyword help page.
Using Private Messages
To view your messages, simply click on the one you want to read. You
can see all public messages with the same UTN as your bid by going to
the related messages section at the bottom of your bid. This is the
quick and easy way to see the contract award for a message that has
changed to award status.
To delete messages from your private message section, simply click on
the little box to the left of the messages you want delete. Once you've
selected all the messages you want to delete, click on delete messages
at the bottom of the index. If the messages continue to appear on your
screen, click the Reload button on your browser.
Browsing Public Messages
By FSC - A list of open RFQs will come up on the
screen. Individual RFQs are differentiated by alternating shaded
and non-shaded areas. If a Request for Quotation (RFQ) contains
multiple line items, the entire RFQ will remain the same color.
Within each RFQ's area, the individual line items are listed in
the following manner:
skey line fsc description quantity unit site
quote # line # class short description # wanted size buyer
By Site - A list of RFQs will appear on the screen, one per
line, in the following format:
78934178 96-8-17 closed 7010 DAAD73961111
SXW QUOTE# CLOSE DATE status FSC Unique Tracking#
Looking at Individual Messages - When you find a quote you
want to bid on or examine more fully, click on it. This will bring
the complete message up on the screen. You can examine it in three
different formats:
Quick - most of the significant information Extended - contains extra information, such as Ship-To
Zip Code, and Contact Information Raw X12 - the untranslated message. You shouldn't ever
need to look at a message in this form. Not for the faint of
heart.
The default is quick form. At the top of the message are links
you can click on to see the other formats.
A few fields of Special Interest:
Issuing Agency: Appears in top right hand corner of
RFQ. RFQ Reference Number (also called UTN): the number
that links a RFQ to your bid, the purchase order, contract award, and
all other messages related to it. Required by: The date that the bid needs to be submitted
by. The earlier you bid, the better off you will be. Information Contact (long form only):Name and
Telephone number of buyer. Delivery By Date (long form only):Date goods
required by. Ship To (long form only): The zip code or address
to ship the goods to.
Submitting a Bid
First bring up the RFQ you want to bid on your screen. There are
several boxes for you to fill in when you want to bid. Press TAB to move
between boxes. It is very important that you don't insert spaces before
or after your answers.
First Section - Your pricing information
The formula used to submit your item price to the government is:
((Price * Quantity) + Shipping)/Quantity
To submit a bid enter:
Item Price: Fill in your price for a quantity of one. Do not
use a dollar sign or any other non-numeric character. Prices may include up to
three decimal places; for example, allowable item prices include 5, 6.01,
7.23, and 8.567. Quantity: Quantity is already filled in for you, as
specified in the quote. Shipping: Fill in your total shipping cost. Do not use a
dollar sign. Lead Time: Fill in the time needed to get them the items,
from when you are notified you have won the award. This is in
Calendar Days. Do not type anything in except the number. Manufacturer: Fill in if not specified or different from
what was specified in the quote. Manufacturer's Part Number: Fill in if not specified or
different from what was specified in the quote. Type of Bid: Choose one of the options below:
Bid without Exception: Bid Exactly what was
specified. Alternate Bid: Bid something other than what was was
specified. Unable to Quote: You do not need to issue one of these
on public RFQs you do not wish to bid on.
Second Section - Discount Percentage and Contract
Information
Discount Percent: This is optional. Enter the number with no
percent sign. e.g, if you entered a 2, that would be a discount of
2%. Days Due: Number of calendar days to be paid within for discount
to be applicable. Just enter the number. Net Days: Days must be paid in regardless of discount. Just
enter the number. 30 is standard. Terms Basis Date Code: The date from which the days
due corresponds. Click the box on the right to see your
options. Federal Supply Schedule/Other Contract Information: Only fill
in these fields if you have a government contract for the items
specified.
Third Section - Bid Qualifications
Once you have reviewed your information, and are ready to submit
your bid, click submit quote at the bottom of the screen. If there are
no entry errors, you will receive a message 'Bid Sent!.' If there were
problems, a screen will come up telling you what needs to be fixed.
Sending E-Mail to a Buyer About an RFQ
Air Force sites can accept e-mail from vendors. If you wish to
send e-mail about an Air Force quote, click on Send E-Mail to the
Sender of this Message at the bottom of the quote. Then follow the
instructions.
General Information about Web Browsers
Many functions that were typically handled internally by
applications, such as printing, maneuvering through messages, etc., are
already handled by your browser. To bring up a message, simply click on
the short description or information line listed on your client home
page. If you want to print one of your bids, a PO, or any other message,
you just need to bring that message up on your screen, and press the
Print Button on your browser. If you want to go back to a page you were
just looking at, most browsers have a Back button that will scroll you
back through the web pages you've visited most recently.
Comments and Questions
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Please send e-mail to technical
support
(www-techsup@edi.com)
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