Attachment G - How to Respond to Online Bid through Kentucky Vendor Self Service.pdf

PDF 3 MB Posted

Attached to
Learning and Employment Records Digital Wallet
Solicitation number
RFP-758-2300000411-2
Issued by
Franklin County, Kentucky

About this file

This document is a guide from the Commonwealth of Kentucky on how to submit an online response through the Kentucky Vendor Self Service (VSS) application for state and local contract opportunities.

The guide covers the different types of solicitations that may be available in VSS, including public-private partnership notices, requests for bids, requests for information, requests for proposals, and requests for quotes. It outlines the step-by-step process for submitting an online response, including selecting the applicable line items, responding to the line items, completing any checklists or scoring criteria, adding general comments, uploading supporting attachments, and reviewing and submitting the final response. The guide also provides instructions on how to view submitted responses within the VSS system.

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COMMONWEALTH OF

KENTUCKY HOW TO

SUBMIT AN ONLINE

RESPONSE THROUGH

THE KENTUCKY VENDOR

SELF SERVICE (VSS)

Online bid submission through Kentucky’s VSS

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY HOW TO SUBMIT AN ONLINE RESPONSE THROUGH THE KENTUCKY VENDOR SELF

SERVICE (VSS)

How to Submit an Online Response for a Business Opportunity The Commonwealth of Kentucky has many business opportunities. These business opportunities or solicitations are posted on Kentucky’s Vendor Self Service (VSS) application.

All online responses to Kentucky’s solicitations must be submitted through VSS. To respond to a solicitation, a vendor must have a VSS account. To register for an account, refer to the KY Vendor Self Service Registration Guide (available on the VSS website from Download Vendor Forms and Quick Reference Guides).

This guide covers the following topics:

Solicitation Types

Submit a Response

View Solicitation Responses

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY HOW TO SUBMIT AN ONLINE RESPONSE THROUGH THE KENTUCKY VENDOR SELF

SERVICE (VSS)

1 Solicitation Types

There are five different types of solicitations that may be available in VSS:

P3 – Public, Private, Partnership Notice

RFB – Request for Bid

RFI – Request for Information

RFP – Request for Proposal

RFQ – Request for Quote

The Submit a Response section details how to respond to a solicitation.

2 Submit a Response

The following steps outline how to submit an online response to a solicitation on Kentucky’s VSS.

How to Submit a Response:

Enter User ID and Password. Click Sign In.

You must have a VSS account to submit a response. If you do not have an VSS account, click Sign Up and refer to the KY Vendor Self Service Registration Guide for more information on how to register.

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY HOW TO SUBMIT AN ONLINE RESPONSE THROUGH THE KENTUCKY VENDOR SELF

SERVICE (VSS)

From the Home page, navigate to the Published Solicitations in one of the following ways:

i) Click the Published Solicitations icon.

ii) On the left‐hand navigation menu, click the Business Opportunities icon. Click Business Opportunities then click Solicitations.

iii) On the left‐hand navigation menu, click the Business Opportunities icon then click Business Opportunities Landing Page. From the landing page, click Business Opportunities then click the Solicitations tile.

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY HOW TO SUBMIT AN ONLINE RESPONSE THROUGH THE KENTUCKY VENDOR SELF

SERVICE (VSS)

Locate the desired solicitation.

You can search by the following fields o Show Me (Open, Closing Soon, Recently Published, Recent Amendments, Recent Awards) o Category (Agricultural, Animal Related, Clothing, etc.) – this is not required and may not always be available o Type (P3 Notice, Request for Bids, Request for Information, Request for Proposals, Request for

Quotes) o Keyword Search (can search by Solicitation ID, Solicitation Description, Agency, and Buyer) o Status (Awarded, Closed, Amended, Open, Reopened, Cancelled)

In the Solicitation Number / Type / Category column, click the solicitation number link to view the details of the solicitation.

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY HOW TO SUBMIT AN ONLINE RESPONSE THROUGH THE KENTUCKY VENDOR SELF

SERVICE (VSS)

Review the solicitation details. Be sure to go through each tab, especially the Attachments tab, and check the requirements and documentation associated with the bid requirements. There may be documents that must be completed and uploaded in order for your bid to be deemed responsive.

Click Respond Online to create a Solicitation Response.

On the Solicitation Response (SR) page, there are six steps to complete:

(1) Select Lines – used to select the lines for which you want to submit a response.

(2) Respond to Lines – used to respond to each line on the solicitation.

(3) Checklist/Scoring Criteria – used to respond to Evaluation Criteria defined on the solicitation.

(4) Enter General Comments – used to add any overall comments for the response.

(5) Add Attachments – used to upload files and attachments to support the response.

(6) Review & Submit – used to review your response before submission.

To save your work at any time, Click Save & Close.

Click Exit to leave page without saving recent changes.

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY HOW TO SUBMIT AN ONLINE RESPONSE THROUGH THE KENTUCKY VENDOR SELF

SERVICE (VSS)

Step 1. Select Lines

On the Select Lines step, select the line(s) you wish to respond to.

For selected lines, you will enter the bid price on the Respond to Lines step.

Lines that you do not select on this step will default a Response Type of No Bid on the Respond to

Lines step.

o Some solicitations may require that you bid each line item. Check Terms and

Conditions/Attachment A for each solicitation to determine if you are required to bid each line. Selecting No Bid for some solicitations may deem you non‐responsive.

ALL commodity lines require a response.

Click Continue.

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY HOW TO SUBMIT AN ONLINE RESPONSE THROUGH THE KENTUCKY VENDOR SELF

SERVICE (VSS)

Step 2. Respond to Lines

On the Respond To Lines step, all lines appear.

For the lines that were selected on the Select Lines step, the Response Type infers to Bid. For lines that were not selected, the Response Type defaults to No Bid.

In the Response Type drop‐down field, select Bid, Bid with Condition, or No Bid.

For Bid with Condition or No Bid, the Comments field must be completed.

On the top right, click the page 3‐dot menu for additional options. For example, you can click Hide No Bid Lines to display only the lines that have a Response Type of Bid.

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY HOW TO SUBMIT AN ONLINE RESPONSE THROUGH THE KENTUCKY VENDOR SELF

SERVICE (VSS)

For an item line, a Unit Price and Delivery Days must be entered.

If Delivery is not applicable, but the line type is an item, enter 0.

Enter Comments, as appropriate. There are 1500 characters available

Click the Additional Specs button to enter additional commodity specifications.

On the Additional Product Specs page, enter specific product specifications, if applicable. If alternative specifications are not permitted, the Alternate fields will be grayed out.

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY HOW TO SUBMIT AN ONLINE RESPONSE THROUGH THE KENTUCKY VENDOR SELF

SERVICE (VSS)

Step 3. Checklist/Scoring Criteria

The Checklist/Scoring Criteria section shows all the criteria for the solicitation. Some criteria may show default information.

For criteria that require a response, review the Description and enter or select a value in the My Response column.

If “Response Type Expected” is None, or there is not any Criteria listed, click Continue or move on to 4 (Enter General Comments)

If Responses are required, respond to each question, click Continue to proceed to the next step.

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY HOW TO SUBMIT AN ONLINE RESPONSE THROUGH THE KENTUCKY VENDOR SELF

SERVICE (VSS)

Step 4. Enter General Comments

The Overall Response Comment field can be used to enter text for the entire response. There are 1500 characters available. You can make the field larger by clicking and dragging the bottom right corner of the field.

Click Continue to advance to the next step.

Step 5. Add Attachments

On the Add Attachments step, you can upload documents to support the response.

Click the Add Attachments button.

Maximum Attachment Size per file is 65000 KB

On the Attachments page, click Browse to locate the file to upload. You can also drag and drop the file onto the page.

On the Open page, search and select the file from your computer or local network.

Click Open to select the file.

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY HOW TO SUBMIT AN ONLINE RESPONSE THROUGH THE KENTUCKY VENDOR SELF

SERVICE (VSS)

On the Attachments page, click Browse to search and select additional files. Once all files are selected, click Upload. You can also “drag” and “drop” files in the center of this page.

You are limited to ten (10) documents at a time.

Verify the “Successfully uploaded 1 file” message displays.

Or you can just “drag” and “drop” files.

Click Close.

Review the attached file(s). Click Add Attachments to add a new file. Click Delete to remove a file.

If all files are attached, click Continue to proceed to the next step.

Step 6. Review & Submit

On the Review & Submit step, review the information entered.

If all information is correct, click Submit Response.

Errors are indicated with a red x. Errors must be resolved in order to submit the response. Warnings are indicated with an orange triangle.

Note: You can submit a response with warnings. Click Submit Response again to submit with warnings.

Click the icon to view all of the errors and warnings or use the arrow icons to view one at a time.

Verify the “Thank you for your response. It has been successfully submitted.” message displays.

All responses will be listed. If you do not see your solicitation ID listed, you can enter the solicitation ID in the Keyword Search. A successful submission will have a Response Status of Accepted.

Look for an email notification from VSS notifying you that your response was accepted.

3 Solicitation Responses

Responses can be viewed on the My Responses section. Additional information can be found in the How to Locate a Response for a Business Opportunity guide (available on the VSS website under Download Vendor Forms).

How to View Your Responses

Log in to VSS.

From the Home page, use one of the following methods to access the My Responses page:

i) On the Home page, click My Reponses.

ii) On the left‐hand navigation menu, click the Business Opportunities icon. Click Solicitation Response then click My Responses.

iii) On the left‐hand navigation menu, click the Business Opportunities icon then click Business Opportunities Landing Page. From the landing page, click Solicitations Response then click the My Responses tile.

The My Responses page displays all the responses for your vendor code.

The Link to Response column has a link to view the response. Click the link to view.

The Response Status column shows the status of your responses. Only Accepted statuses are successfully submitted responses.

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