Competitive Bid Supplier Subcategories: Self-service setup

Prepare your templates with the right suppliers for more precise sourcing.

Supplier subcategories let you associate suppliers to predefined classifications within a Competitive Bid (CB) template. This setup step determines which suppliers are eligible for specific types of work before a bid is ever created. By aligning suppliers to subcategories at the template level, you ensure that only relevant vendors are available during sourcing, improving accuracy and efficiency from the start.

Why it matters

• Ensure the right suppliers are available when a CB is created from a template
• Reduce manual effort when selecting and inviting suppliers
• Create consistency across bids that use the same template
• Support better sourcing decisions with structured supplier alignment
• Strengthen compliance by linking suppliers to the correct workflows and rules

Who it’s for

• Program managers configuring supplier pools for CB templates
• Procurement teams managing supplier eligibility and participation
• Administrators maintaining template and supplier associations

How it helps

• Align suppliers to templates so only relevant vendors are available during bid creation
• Standardize supplier eligibility across all bids created from a template
• Support cost comparisons by grouping similar suppliers within defined subcategories
• Improve visibility into supplier capabilities and participation by subcategory
• Apply consistent processes by aligning suppliers to the correct workflows

Action steps

• The Supplier Subcategory feature is enabled in your environment
• You have permissions to manage templates and suppliers
• Templates and subcategories are already configured

How to steps

Associating supplier subcategories to templates adds structure and precision to how suppliers are used in sourcing.

1. Select Preferences > VMS Settings > Competitive Bid. A Competitive Bid page displays.
2. Select Supplier Sub-Categories. A Template Supplier Subcategories page displays.
3. Select Manage Template Suppliers for Subcategory. A Manage Template Suppliers for Subcategory page displays.
4. Select the Template Search icon in the Template Subcategory section. A Select Template dialog displays.
5. Locate a template from the list or use the Search icon to find the one you want. Then select OK to apply your choices and close the Select Template dialog.
6. Select the Subcategory Search icon in the Template Subcategory section. A Select Subcategory dialog displays.
7. Locate the categories from the list you want to add or use the Search icon to find the ones you want. Then select OK to apply your choices and close the Select Subcategory dialog.
8. Select Submit.

The supplier subcategories you chose are associate with the template you selected are available to users when they create a competitive bid using that template.

What happens next

• The selected subcategories are associated with the template
• Suppliers linked to those subcategories become eligible for bids created from that template
• When a user creates a CB, the supplier pool is already pre-filtered