Analyzing Alternate Sections and Life Cycle Costs

In this Topic

Selecting Alternate Sections

The Alternate Section Analysis component enables you to compare and analyze the total cost of alternate proposal sections, including vendor item bids and any life cycle cost information entered in the system. Life cycle cost is the expected cost of maintaining the road over a period of time. Including life cycle costs in your analysis enables you to see a more accurate comparison of alternate section costs over time. Ranking for each vendor is updated dynamically as you choose to include or not include alternate sections in the analysis.

To access the Alternate Section Analysis component, navigate to the Bid Letting Status Summary component, and select Alternate Section Analysis from the Actions menu on a proposal row.

Note: You can access the Alternate Section Analysis component only on a proposal for which valid bids have been received, that includes at least one category alternate set, and is in a phase where the FixBidCalculations rule is active (see Workflow Phase Rules). Life cycle costs can be entered on the Project Category and Item Summary component (see Working with Alternate Sets and Managing Category Alternate Sets).

The upper portion of the Alternate Section Analysis component lists the top three ranked vendors according to the alternate sections currently selected for inclusion in the final contract. By default, the initial ranking is determined by the system's low-cost bid validation. For each vendor, the component lists read-only values in the following fields:

The lower portion of the component is divided into two sections: Alternate Selection and Vendor Alternate Bids.

Under the Alternate Selection heading, the component lists alternate sections defined for the proposal. Each row displays read-only values in the following fields:

Each alternate section row also includes a Select check box that indicates whether the section is currently selected for inclusion in the final contract. You can change the value in the Select check box to include or exclude an alternate section only when the Use Low Cost Default check box is cleared. See Selecting Alternate Sections below.

Under the Vendor Alternate Bids heading, the component lists vendor bids for alternate sections of the proposal. Each vendor alternate bid row displays read-only values for the following fields:

Bid Total with Current Selections

You can expand each vendor alternate bid row to see a list of the proposal sections and alternate sets for which the vendor bid, along with any available life cycle cost data. Each proposal section row displays read-only values for the following fields:

Selecting Alternate Sections

Under the Alternate Selections heading, you can select which alternate proposal sections to include in the analysis. The Use Low Cost Default check box indicates whether the top three ranked vendors at the top of the component were calculated automatically by the system's low-cost bid validation. When you clear the check box, you can select different combinations of alternate sections.

Note: One member of each alternate set must be selected for bids to be valid.

Each alternate section row includes a Select check box. To include an alternate section in the analysis, select the check box. When you select the check box, the system updates the vendor ranking at the top of the component to reflect the life cycle costs and calculated total amounts for the selected section. When you clear the check box, the costs for that alternate section are removed from the totals, and the vendor ranking is recalculated.

Including and excluding alternate sections can change the vendor ranking shown at the top of the component. You can continue selecting and clearing the Select check box for different alternate sections to evaluate the effects on the total amounts and the top three vendors. All valid bidders are included in the recalculation, but only the top three are displayed in the vendor ranking.

Note: If you select an alternate section on which a vendor did not bid, that vendor is then ineligible for award.

After completing your analysis, you can save the current selection of alternate sections as part of the proposal by clicking Save. You can continue to modify and save the selection of alternate sections until the proposal is awarded. The alternate sections you selected and saved are then included in contract-level reports and interfaces.