Sigma's enhancements to its quoting and vendor selection platform has opened up a new world for purchasing companies. The first new feature just released is that purchasers can send off RFQs right after the Specs are entered into the system (as opposed to the prior workflow of budgeting first). This means purchasers can use vendor pricing to quickly create a proposal for a prospective client.
"We have also accommodated a variety of workflows in soliciting bids," says Sigma President and Founding Software Engineer, Ben Gripka. Purchasers can identify on the spec form any vendors to be listed in the RFQ-creation window to ensure an RFQ is sent. They can also quickly identify any sole-sourced vendors to send an RFQ for pricing validation. And, there is now the ability to quickly copy an RFQ to other vendors to be sure there will be an apples to apples comparison in the end.
The RFQ form itself has also had a makeover, allowing vendors to easily enter minimum quantities, order increments and price break points. Lastly, Sigma has enhanced its Bid Analysis process to provide even more information for quote comparison among all vendors. Notably, there is a user-friendly “hover” feature to reveal a vendor's pricing details in a window without even leaving the page. Ben notes that Sigma is committed to adding more and more sophistication to this feature to put purchasers in the best position to effectively source their products.