An $11 billion dollar company with approximately 13,000 employees worldwide, is a major player in the truck and bus manufacturing industry with an eye on emerging technologies.To achieve their manufacturing goals, they needed an industry-leading, sustainability-conscious manufacturing facility designed to produce both electric and internal combustion powertrains.The plant will house many facilities such as a body shop, paint shop, final assembly shop, and logistics center, and has been designed and built with efficient energy use goals in mind.To say the least, this is an ambitious project with many interested bidders.

Suppliers of steel buildings

Projects of this scope and scale usually involve a large number of participants and stakeholders.They brought in four teams including in-house consultants, an in-house process team, a large consulting architectural team and a large construction team to ensure that bidders understood the needs and requirements of the facility.In addition to being highly selective, the bidding process involved intense competition between a select group of steel building suppliers and manufacturers.With a lean staff of 45 in four countries, it is the most compact and efficient company at the negotiating table, and a relatively new player by comparison.The bid team evolved into a core team of six people, carefully assembled according to their areas of specialization; from legal to materials to technical.Strategically assembling the team based on the client's bidding requirements and needs is an efficient, meticulous and systematic approach that has proven to be successful time and time again.

Adaptability: the key to survival

Efficiency gains led the team to further adapt the project management process to a "core team of three" - a project director and two technical managers - responsible forAll calls and communications.Keeping the same core team aligned throughout all meetings and discussions not only exercises fluidity and flexibility, but also ensures that every question and potential concern of the client is addressed and mitigated, with the opportunity to make improvements and recommendations.

Character issues are also critical in the bidding process, and each bidder's character is tested as the questions or scenarios become more and more challenging.Associates rose to the challenge and provided unique solutions, often even anticipating potential problems that other bidders had not considered, which gave them an advantage and set them apart.