As a key function in the commercial quotation process at MAN ES France, tendering is handled by around ten employees spread across Power, Marine, Licenses, PrimeServ and Industries.

Tendering could be briefly summarized as drawing up quotations for clients with a view to securing an order. For new buildings, tendering managers most often get involved when invitations to tender are issued by clients, while on the aftersales side, since it is up to PrimeServ to upgrade installations in order to prevent obsolescence, tenders are more often drawn up on a proactive basis.

Working in conjunction with the sales managers

To drill down on the definition of tendering, it is about quantifying costs and risk levels in order to put forward sales prices and margins ... “We are kind of the project managers in the initial phase of a contract, with it being down to us to mediate between the expectations expressed by the client and what is feasible for our internal departments,” François Stirnemann, who is in charge of sales and tendering in Licenses, explains. In order to get their figures right, tendering managers rely on people in all of the company’s departments: Purchasing, Design Office, Finance, Quality, Production, Testing, etc.

A key link in risk management

All this is based on constant interaction with the sales managers. “Although it is the sales manager who interfaces with the client, it is not unusual for us to be directly involved in communications until the order is signed,” Olivier Becker, tendering manager in Power, explains. Over and above supporting sales managers in providing a competitive solution for clients and bringing in projects, “the role of the tendering manager is a key link in risk management,” as Guillaume Berrée, tendering manager in Power put it in a previous issue of MAN People. In short, it comes down to securing the execution of the project in financial, technical and legal terms without neglecting quality and industrial strategy. “On the Marine side, we are a small team and the work is shared a little differently between the sales manager and the salesperson,” Fabrice Faucher, who recently joined the department as tendering manager, explains. In aftersales, with non-standard PrimeServ projects, tendering is handled by three tendering managers who primarily get involved (EDF-PEI aside) in projects for Pielstick, their reference brand. “Here, tendering applies to everything that is non-standard, such as replacing obsolete parts,” says Valéry Boutin, tendering manager at PrimeServ for four years. Costs, margins and sales prices for the solutions offered to the client are defined in close cooperation with the sales department. As for tendering on new buildings, the function is essentially cross-departmental, with the tendering managers consulting the Design Office, Purchasing and Production – in Saint-Nazaire for Pielstick engines and Augsburg for MAN engines.

Access to a global vision

However, PrimeServ does not only get involved with short-term repairs, as turnkey contracts are becoming more and more frequent and the division is becoming increasingly involved in long-term projects, such as with EDF-PEI and the French Navy frigates. “This changes our approach, as we need to access a more global vision in order to optimize and anticipate costs over several years. It is difficult to go back on the terms of a contract once it has been signed!” In these cases, it is important to take one’s time, which is why the last contract with a ‘Maintenance in Operational Condition’ operator working on behalf of the French Navy – an eight-year contract relating to frigates – took 18 months to come to fruition. This is a longer period than normal on the administrative side and meant greater involvement on the part of the sales managers. Once the contracts are signed, the tendering managers transfer all the project data to the project execution team. As guarantors of the costs they have determined, they are all fully aware of their responsibility.

Mission: standardization of practices

A project is under way in Power, Marine and Licenses to standardize practices between them. The aim? To improve synergies. In order to achieve this, they have had an intern working on it since last summer.

Innovative initiative at MAN ES France: Lucie Alain, who is on a placement in the final year of an engineering degree, has been recruited jointly by Power, Marine and Licenses. She has an office in each of the three divisions and has been auditing their practices since she arrived. “My mission now is to utilize the data available in order to standardize practices,” she explains. Up to now, the divisions have not shared methodology and tools. This will now change, improving the quality of the dialogue. To put it in another way, this initiative is about putting a shared sales policy in place to promote exchange between those involved in tendering thanks to shared methodology and tools. The result is greater flexibility, reliability and client confidence.