Glossary
This glossary provides descriptions for many terms and concepts you may encounter while using MERX.
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Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)
A notice of intent to negotiate with only one firm. Suppliers
cannot bid on these opportunities; however they may indicate
their interest directly to the contracting authority on or
before the closing date.
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Agreement Type
This field indicates which trade agreement (if any) applies
to the notice. Examples of trade agreements are NAFTA, World
Trade Organization, Set Aside Program for Aboriginal Business,
Agreement on Internal Trade, etc.
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Amendment
This is a piece of documentation that is issued subsequent to an opportunity
becoming active on MERX. Any supplier who has ordered a bid
package prior to the change will automatically receive the amendment or
notification, with the exception of those suppliers who have indicated that they
wish to receive no further amendments. Also known as an "addenda".
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Associated Components
Associated components are documents or attachments that are
provided with a notice to provide supporting information.
They can be electronic documents, attachments, questions and
answers, physical items/samples, or blue prints. Also referred
to as associated components or documents/attachments.
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Attachment
A piece of documentation that is issued subsequent to or in
addition to a document, and is of 'non-standard' format.
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Authorization number
The number assigned by MERX to a purchase by credit card.
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Automatic Delivery of Amendments (Value Added Service)
When you order an opportunity you have the option to have amendments automatically sent to you when they are issued by the buyer organization.
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Award Notice
The creation of a notice announcing the award of a contract
to one or more suppliers. The award notice can be the result
of a closed opportunity (published on MERX) that has been
awarded or an independent notice created to announce an award
not related to any published opportunity notice.
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Bid
A tender, proposal or quotation submitted in response to a
solicitation from a participating buying organization. A bid
covers the response to any of three principal methods of soliciting
bids, i.e. Invitation to Tender, Request for Proposal and
Request for Quotation.
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Bid Document
Components provide supporting information for a notice. They
can be documents, attachments, questions and answers, physical
items/samples, or blue prints. Also referred to as bid documents
or documents/attachments.
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Buyer
A purchasing agent within an organization. Buyers can include procurement officers from
governments (including their respective ministries, departments,
crown corporations and agencies), the MASH-sector, other
publicly-funded organizations or private corporations who must follow open procurement
policies and are subject to various trade agreements.
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Categories
Sometimes confused with GSINs, a category is a classification
method at a high level for goods, services and construction.
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Client Agency
A client agent is a contract from another division or department
from within the buyer's organization. The Buyer creates opportunity
notices on behalf of a client agent. The client agent information
can be displayed on the notice.
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Closing Date (dd/mm/yyyy)
The date on which all submissions must be received by the public notices and
then moved to the historical database (Former Opportunities) on Canadian Public Tenders.
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Closing Time
Indicates the exact time and time zone which the bid submissions
must be received by.
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Commodity Groups
Goods, services, construction are the primary commodity groups.
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Confirmation Number
The number that MERX assigns to completed orders.
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Contract Award Notice (CAN)
Information on who has been awarded the contract.
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Cookies
Cookies are small packets of information that store and track
your work preferences, patterns and Internet address (URLs).
Cookies do not record or transmit your email address or any
other personal information to MERX. When you exit your browser,
the cookies created by MERX are removed from your hard-drive.
In order for MERX to run smoothly you must accept cookies.
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Disclaimer
A message which appears at the top of all notices on MERX,
indicating that the buying organization, and not MERX,
is accountable for language and/or content.
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Distribution Unit
Location where document components are distributed from as
well as where they can be picked up, in instances where pick
up is a valid delivery method.
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Document
A text file that can be in electronic format or printed on paper which supports the notice.
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Document Number
The number that MERX assigns to each component added to a notice.
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Document Request List
A list of suppliers who have ordered associated components
for a specified notice. Also referred to as "Opportunity Request
List"
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Documentation
A 'generic' term that includes document, attachment, and amendment.
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Electronic Bid Submission (E-bid Submission)
E-bid submission is a value added service on MERX that allows suppliers to
submit bids electronically and allows buyers to download those submissions.
For suppliers, using your MERX user ID and an electronic bid submission authorized
signer’s PIN, you can securely upload files that make up your bid. Buyers can
retrieve the electronic bid files after the closing date and time have passed.
Note: The buyer decides whether to allow electronic bid submission for a particular opportunity.
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Former Opportunities Search
A search page that allows the user to search for closed notices.
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Government Business Opportunities Publication (GBO)
Notices that are published on MERX Canadian Public Tenders which have a trade agreement of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or World Trade Organization (WTO).
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GSIN
Goods and Services Identification Number is a commodity coding system. This
coding system allows for more accurate search results when searching for opportunity or award notices.
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Handling Charge
The amount charged for shipping and handling components that
have been ordered by suppliers. Please see the MERX Canadian Public Tenders price list for more details.
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Items
Found during the ordering process, this column lists each
component of the opportunity being ordered. Clicking on the
component item link will display the Items details page. This
page lists each document, the number of pages and available
formats.
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MASH (Municipal, Academic, Schools and Hospitals) Sector
Also referred to as the broader public sector.
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MERX Distribution Unit
A distribution centre contracted by MERX that distributes
ordered components from MERX Canadian Public Tenders.
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MERX Organization Number
The number that MERX generates and assigns to all registering organizations.
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Method of Delivery
The delivery method selected by the supplier to receive ordered components: email, fax, courier, mail, download or pick-up.
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Non-standard format
Non-standard format describes hardcopy documents or amendments
which are not 8.5"x11" or 8.5" x 14". They can include 11"x
17" paper, blueprints, removable media, binder, book, videotape,
sample, etc.
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Notice
An electronic advertisement that: solicits goods or services;
indicates that a solicitation is being updated/changed; or
announces a contract award.
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Notification of Amendments
Notification of amendments is an automatic service whereby you will be notified
of any amendments issued by a buyer organization for opportunities you have
ordered on MERX. This option is chosen for each opportunity
when on the order screen.
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Notification of Cancellation
Notification of cancellation is an automated service whereby you will be notified of the cancellation of any opportunities you have ordered on MERX Canadian Public Tenders.
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NSO (Non-Subscriber Order)
An order placed by a person who is not a registered MERX Canadian Public Tenders complete subscriber. For more information please see “Why Subscribe?”
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Open Canadian Opportunities
Refers to active Canadian notices, not necessarily solicitation
notices for goods and services.
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Open to Region
Refers to active Canadian notices, not necessarily solicitation
notices for goods and services.
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Opportunity Matching
This feature allows registered users of MERX to set
up and maintain a search profile that will automatically find notices that match
the types of goods and services that the supplier provides. These matches can
then be sent on a daily basis to the supplier by fax or email.
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Opportunity Matching Profile
Criteria selected and saved by a supplier that represents the type(s) of goods or services that their organization supplies.
The profile can be made up of GSIN groups, keywords and/or phrases.
Notices which match the criteria found in the profile can then be automatically sent to the supplier on a daily basis via fax
or email.
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Opportunity Notice
A summary or description of the goods or services a buyer
wishes to obtain. This information is available publicly on MERX.
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Opportunity Ordered List
Found as a link off of the supplier menu, this page displays
a summary of the orders placed by a supplier. Once an order
has been approved, when available, associated files can be
downloaded from this list.
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Order Basket
This page displays all of the opportunity orders that a supplier has requested. A shopping cart icon appears at
the top of each MERX page, indicating that there are
opportunity orders in the order basket. The order basket allows suppliers to
remove opportunity orders, select amendment options, enter the quantity
required for each component of an order, and select the delivery method.
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Order Maintenance
This link located on the MERX Canadian Public Tenders supplier menu allows suppliers,
to access two order maintenance functions: Opportunity Ordered
List - a list of the opportunity notices that you have ordered
and Document Request List – allows suppliers to search for
an opportunity in order to access a list of subscribers who
have ordered bid documents.
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Order Pickup Location
A MERX page that displays the location where the ordered components
can be picked up.
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Parent Organization Profile
A page which displays an organization's information including:
MERX organization number, company name and address. In some
cases, the parent organization will be the creator of sub
organizations.
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PDF (Portable Docuement Format)
A file format created by Adobe Acrobat Writer, and is readable
by Adobe Acrobat Reader. Files which can be downloaded or
emailed from MERX, will always be in a PDF format due to the
fact that they are non-editable. The latest version of The
Acrobat Reader software can be downloaded from the Adobe Acrobat
site, http://www.adobe.com/ free of charge.
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Phone Support ID
A code that identifies a MERX
subscriber to MERX customer support. The subscriber can change
their phone support ID code at any time.
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Physical Component
A physical sample or physical item ie: removable media, videotapes,
etc. which provides supporting information for a notice.
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Preview Associated Documents
Subscribers can preview the documents of open public tenders on MERX Canadian Public Tenders prior to ordering.
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Publish Date (dd/mm/yyyy)
The date on which the notice becomes active and subscribers
are able to view the notice on MERX Canadian Public Tenders.
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Reference Number
A unique number assigned by MERX to an opportunity. The purpose
of this code is to avoid confusion when the same solicitation
number is used more than once (by two different buyers).
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Region of Delivery
The region where the goods or services being requested are
to be delivered.
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Region of Opportunity
The region or location where suppliers should be based or
located in order to qualify as a supplier for the opportunity.
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Solicitation Method
This is a list of selected conditions that apply to the opportunity
notice and subsequent contract if awarded.
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Solicitation Method - Open
Any organization or person can submit a bid on the business
opportunity.
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Solicitation Method - Qualified
Only organizations or persons with specific qualifications
can bid on the opportunity. Examples: qualified pharmaceutical
companies, bond-able, qualified engineer, ISO 9000 certified.
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Solicitation Number
An internal procurement code that the buyer assigns to an
opportunity.
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Source ID
Source Identification Code: a MERX code that identifies each
buyer organization and buyer contact. A source code can be
used when performing a simple search or to generate reports.
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Standard Format
Standard format refers to documents or amendments which are
8.5"x11" or 8.5" x 14".
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Sub Organization List
A list of sub organizations created by the parent organization.
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Supplier
A person, business or other entity who wishes to pursue procurement
opportunities.
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Supplier Contact
A contact that represents the registered organization. All
communication pieces coming from MERX (bid packages, newsletters, etc.) will be addressed to this contact.
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Tender Board
A Defence Construction Canada notice where special pricing
is usually applied.
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User ID
A personalized code that is created by MERX at the time of
registration. This ID allows suppliers or buyers access to
the MERX system.
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View Items Electronically
Once an order is completed, this column is located on the
Opportunity Ordered Summary page. This column lists all of
the component items that have been ordered. All components
appearing as a hyperlink (blue) can be downloaded to your
computer. Before you can view the file you must ensure that
you have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your workstation.
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