This article is intended for buyers.
If you’re a supplier check out our supplier help articles here.
This article aims to help readers understand the different Sections on DeepStream, how to use them and they’re benefits.
Sections are the different components that you can use to structure your Pages. You attach them to different Stages so they appear when you want your suppliers to interact with them.
There are four different Sections that you can add to your Requests:
If you need to you can lock and unlock supplier's responses to your Sections. Read about how to do this here.
When building out your Sections if you have multiple exchanges or whole Sections that have a similar format you can save yourself even more time by using our duplicate capability.
- The Questions Section -
Skip to - How to add a Questions Section
The Questions Section allows you to create and share questions for your suppliers to respond to; you can set specific response formats.
By using the Questions Section to ask suppliers for inputs, you ensure that all responses are in one place and in the same format. When you start to get responses you’ll be able to see all the responses in a simple view side by side in the Comparison tab.
You’ll also be able to download all of the responses in a .csv file if you wish to work offline, meaning you no longer have to supply lengthy documents and waste time collating responses from emails.
There are different types of formats which you can ask your Supplier to respond in the Questions section.
Question Type | Explanation | Example of questions |
Short answer (text) | Your supplier will have to provide a short text-based answer to your question | A user’s role at their company, a short description of their company |
Short answer (number) | Your supplier will have to reply to the question with a number | The number of employees; the number of weeks to provide a service |
Long answer (text) | This asks your supplier for a long text based answer to your question | A description of how they have supported on similar scopes of work; a description of the implementation and long term support of their product or service |
Multiple choice | Suppliers will have to select from one of the options you set for them | What best describes their company size; what date they can supply a product or service by |
Checkbox | Suppliers will have to select from one or more of the boxes that you provide for them. If they select the other option, they will have to provide an explanation | What products or services are they able to provide; what regions do they have offices based in; what documents are they able to provide |
Price | Suppliers will have to provide a numerical explanation | A quote for the total of their products or services; the annual pricing of their product or service |
Address / Location | Suppliers will have to provide a full address as well as contact details. You can choose how much information you need the suppliers to provide, by checking the visible checkbox next to each field [insert media] | Detail of their closest headquarters; details of their local offices |
Date / Time | Suppliers will have to provide you with a date and / or time related to your question | Detail of their earliest delivery date; date and time that they’re available for a call or site visit |
For any type of question you ask, the supplier will always have the opportunity to leave a comment in addition to answering the question.
To start adding a Questions section...
... Log in and open the relevant draft Request. Go to the Details tab. Select add section, and choose questions from the drop down menu.
You then should add a heading for your Request - this is completely up to you and we recommend that you make it relevant to the Questions you plan to ask in this specific Section.
In the case of a multi-stage request, select from the top right hand corner of the section the Stage at which the Supplier should complete the question(s). This will ensure that the suppliers can only see the Questions Section when it’s appropriate.
Next you should click the add question button to start building out the questions you wish to ask your suppliers. Select the type of question from the dropdown menu on the right hand side and decide whether it’s mandatory for the suppliers to respond.
Once you have entered the questions relevant for the section, click save.
- The Line Items Section -
The Line Items Section will allow you to list the items you might want a supplier to provide as part of a Request and is the simplest way to receive pricing information from suppliers. It will allow your suppliers to enter prices for individual items or services you are wishing to purchase.
To get started adding a Line Items Section to your Request, login and open the relevant Request. Then go to the Details Tab. and select add section. Select line items from the drop down menu.
Next you’ll have to enter heading for the Section, and if it is a multi-stage request, choose the Stage that the Section will become visible to the supplier.
Under buyer-added line items, click add line items and enter a description, the unit and quantity of each Line Item you wish to add.
After entering your line items , choose the currency you'd like the prices to be submitted.
✏️ Note: If it is a sealed bid, you can choose to lock (or seal) this Section, and set criteria for it to be unlocked; Bid deadline passes and/or Team member unlocks. To find out more on sealed bids click here.
Under supplier-added documents choose whether or not to allow your suppliers to submit additional line items as part of their bid by switching the toggle between yes and no. Click the save button to save your work.
One the Request is live and you want to view and edit your Line Items Sections, log in, open the relevant Request and click the Details Tab. Select revise request and you will be taken to a state which will allow you to edit your line items again.
- The Documents Section -
The Documents Section is used to securely exchange documents between the buyer and supplier. These can be any documents you would like to share with your suppliers e.g pricing schedules, pre-qualification questions, contracts, templates.
To add a Documents Section to a Page, login and open the relevant draft Request. Go to the Details T and select add section. Choose documents from the drop down menu.
Enter a title for your Documents Section, and if it is a multi-stage Request, select the Stage at which the suppliers will need to complete the documents.
Under buyer-added documents select the add document button to either upload a document to be ‘accepted’. If you want to bulk upload documents click the '...' button.
Next you’ll need to select the Stage at which the suppliers need to complete the documents from the dropdown menu. If it is a single stage Request you will not be required to do this and it will be default be visible from the first Stage.
Finally you’ll need to choose the response requirement from the supplier. There’s 5 options to choose from.
Action | Explanation |
Accept the document | The supplier will need to read and accept the document |
Upload completed document | The supplier will ended to download, complete or sign the document and re-upload it |
Upload completed document or deviate | The supplier will need to either download, complete or sign the document or offer a deviation to it |
Upload requested document | The supplier will need to upload the requested document |
For information only | The supplier just needs to read the document |
Once you’ve completed this upload the relevant document for this requirement under the documents column.
Next update the identifier or description fields if you would like to add any additional instructions for the suppliers to refer to.
- Vessel Pricing Section -
The final Section type that can be used is the Vessel Pricing Section.
The Vessel Pricing Section is only relevant to you if you are looking to charter a ship. It will help you to get clear details and pricing. You can assess both firm periods (an option where you’ve committed to a vessel for a set period of time) and optional periods.
When the Suppliers are sent the request, they will need to enter day rates or a lump sum. You can edit the details of the module after the Request has been sent by issuing a revision.
- How to duplicate a Section or exchange -
Our duplication capability will allow you to copy whole Sections or single criteria. This makes it even more efficient for you to build out your Requests.
You can use this feature on any of our Sections or exchanges. This means you can:
Duplicate any Documents, Line Items, Questions or Evaluation Sections.
Duplicate any exchanges you want to add in the Documents, Line Items, Questions or Evaluation Sections
To duplicate a whole Section...
... Head to the Details tab. Once there head to the Section you want to duplicate and click the ‘...’ button on the right hand side of the panel, click the duplicate button.
The Section you have duplicated will then be copied with the exact same fields, files and configuration and will be opened in edit mode for you to make any further amendments.
✏️ Note: The title of the duplicated Section will have the same as the previous one, but with copy of in front, so make sure you remember to update it.
To duplicate exchanges...
... Go to the Details tab and open the Section you need to add an exchange to for editing.
Next go to the exchange you wish to copy and click the ‘...’ button on the right hand side of the panel.
From there select duplicate. This will copy your exchange in exactly the same format below. If you need to make any changes to the content you can still do this.
✏️ Note: The description of the duplicated Section will have the same as the previous one, but with copy of in front, so make sure you remember to update it.