Create and manage your Competitive
Flexible Procedure (CFP)

On Cimple, we are allowing admin users to create multiple CFP templates, tailoring each to their organisation’s buying needs. Once a template has been saved, other users in an organisation can use it as a guide to publish a new procurement. 

1. Log in to Cimple 

2. Navigate to your buyer dashboard, by clicking on ‘Buyers’ along the top

3. Select ‘CFP templates’ to the left of your dashboard

4. On this page, you’ll see a table of all the CFP templates created by admin users in your organisation.

5. If your company has previously created a CFP template, you’ll be faced with an option to ‘View details’ of an existing template, or you can create a new one simply by clicking ‘New template’

6. Click ‘start from a blank template’

7. A screen will appear telling you all about CFPs. Take the time to read before clicking ‘Next step’

8. Next, you’ll have the option of choosing whether you want to include a participation stage of your tender or start straight with the tender stages

9. Then, begin to add in your template details, giving a title and description to it. (This will only be displayed to users in your organisation)

10. Next is where you can design your template. Click on ‘add a component’ and a pop up will appear that will list each component that can be added to your CFP stage, giving the description and guidance for each. Confirm which component you would like to include by selecting ‘Add component’. For further details on which component can be added at which stage, click here. 

11.  Once you have added all the necessary components to that stage, you can edit the next stage of your template e.g. tender stage or award stage.

12.  Next is the component detailing. For each component you’ve included in the template, you can add additional information (this will be viewed by users in your organisation when using this template to run a procurement):

    1. Min. duration (in days)

    2. Max. duration (in days) 

    3. Supporting remarks 

    4. Downselect after this step

13. Then, the final step is reviewing your template and once happy with it, click ‘Publish template’. You will now be able to view this template under live template in the table, and publish procurements using this template. 

If a template is still in draft, then all details of it can be edited. 

1. Log in to Cimple

2. Navigate to your buyer dashboard, by clicking on ‘Buyers’ along the top

3. Select ‘CFP templates’ to the left of your dashboard

4. Click on the ‘Edit’ button for the template you’re looking for

5. Move through the steps, editing the stages, components and further details

6. At any point you are able to ‘Save as Draft’ using the button at the bottom-right of the screen

7. To view the edit history of the template, click on the ‘View’ button of a template from your table view 

8. On the right hand side, click on ‘Activity history’ and under here you can see any changes which have been made to this particular template

To save time when creating a new template, you can clone an already existing template and change any details as required. 

1. Log in to Cimple 

2. Navigate to your buyer dashboard, by clicking on ‘Buyers’ along the top

3. Select ‘CFP templates’ to the left of your dashboard

4. On this page, you’ll see a table of all the CFP templates created by admin users in your organisation

5. Click on the ‘Clone’ button for the template you’re looking to duplicate

6. In the pop-up modal, enter a new name for this template and please ensure it is different to any other template names

7. Click ‘Proceed’ once the template name has been added

8. Then confirm the remaining details for the template, following the same steps as are outlined under the ‘Creating a new template’ section

CFP templates can only be deleted if they are still in draft. Once they have been published, this action can no longer be completed. 

1. Log in to Cimple 

2. Navigate to your buyer dashboard, by clicking on ‘Buyers’ along the top

3. Select ‘CFP templates’ to the left of your dashboard

4. On this page, you’ll see a table of all the CFP templates created by admin users in your organisation

5. Click on the ‘delete’ button for the template you’re looking to remove

6. In the pop-up modal, confirm that you want to delete this template from your list 

Once a template has been created and published on Cimple, it can then be used by other members in the organisation as a guide when publishing procurements. 

1. Log in to Cimple 

2. Select ‘Create opportunity’ to the left of your dashboard

3. At the top of the page, you’ll see five different options outlined in boxes. Select ‘procurements’

4. Then choose ‘Competitive Flexible Procedure (CFP)’

5. If your company has previously created an CFP template, you can click ‘View details’ of an existing template to create a new opportunity based on preselected settings

6. Select which template you’d like to use and then, in the pop up, click ‘Next step’

7. Along the top of your screen, you will see the procurement split out into the following: 

   • Procurement details 

   • Participation stage (if included in the template)

   • Tender stage(s) (there will be a minimum of 1 and potential for multiple based on the template being used)

   • Award stage

8. For the first section, you can set out the details for the procurement you are going to run, such as the: 

   • Title, description value etc

   • Relevant dates

   • CPV & NUTs codes 

   • Evaluation details 

   • Lots (if applicable)

   • Any additional information e.g. payment terms (if applicable) 

   • Transparency questions (if you’re a public organisation in the UK)

9. If a participation stage has been included in your procurement, the next step will be to complete the details for it. On the left vertical tab you can see the components which have been added to this stage of the procurement e.g. Expression of Interest, SQ or NDA

10. For each component, you will need to add in the start date and time, end date and time as well as any further information for the suppliers to complete. For certain component, you can add in additional questions for the suppliers to answer and upload relevant documents for them to download and complete e.g. NDA

11. Once the details for the participation stage have been added, you can move onto the Tender Stage 1 by clicking on the ‘Next step’ button in the bottom right corner

12. For each component that’s been included, again you will need to add in the start date and time, end date and time as well as any further information for the suppliers to complete. You can also add in any questions and choose the format for suppliers to respond in

13. If multiple tender stages have been added to the template you can complete step 11 and 12 again for the stages

14. The award stage will also be the last stage in the procurement. Here you can add in the details to the Best & Final Offer (BAFO) component looking at the start date and time, end date and time and uploading any relevant documents

15. Once complete, click ‘Next step’ and you have the chance to review your procurement before publishing it

16. If everything looks correct, click ‘Publish’ in the bottom right corner. You will then be redirected to your dashboard where you can view your now live procurement and manage the activity

Splitting components (evaluation criteria or question categories) across multiple stages in a competitive flexible procedure (CFP) offers several advantages over combining everything into a single stage. Here’s why:

1. Clearer Evaluation at each stage: 

Breaking down the tender processes into multiple stages allows buyers to focus on specific components (e.g., technical, social value, commercial) at different points. This staged approach ensures a more thorough and fair evaluation, reducing the risk of oversight.

2. Early Down-select Option: 

Including down-select points in earlier stages helps buyers shortlist the most suitable suppliers before progressing to the later stages. 

3. Encourage Supplier Engagement 

Suppliers may find a staged process more manageable as it allows them to focus on specific deliverables at each step, improving submission quality and ensuring they remain engaged throughout the process, 

4. Simplifies Complex Procurement 

For larger or more complex projects, breaking the process into smaller sections ensures clarity for both buyers and suppliers. It helps with sorting participants instead of overloading all in one go. Multiple stages also provides buyers with better visibility and control over the procurement process, making it easier to monitor