Femnet e.V.

News & Press Releases - Fair procurement for the public sector

24 May 2023 FEMNET develops digital ‘detection questionnaire generator’

In the future, buyers will be able to create interactive proof questionnaires for bidding companies using a new online tool without any Excel knowledge in order to check compliance with sustainability criteria. The proof questionnaire generator will be available free of charge from summer 2023 in the new ‘My Compass’ login area of the SKEW Sustainability Compass.

The so-called proof questionnaires (or tenderer questionnaires) have proven themselves in practice: Since 2015, FEMNET has been developing this instrument for alternative detection in Pilot projects with municipal procurement bodies Continually on. Your big advantage: They create transparency by defining in advance which quality marks and alternative evidence companies may submit.

Benefits for bidding companies and procuring entities

In the interactive table, bidders indicate for each product group what evidence they have – centrally with a main selection or manually per question. © FEMNETAs an interactive digital table, these also make implementation easier for bidders. Companies can have their evidence automatically assigned to the appropriate questions for each product group. This allows them to see exactly what evidence they need to submit or where they still lack it. They submit the completed questionnaires with the tender so that the procuring body can use the tables to support the subsequent evaluation of the submitted evidence. In addition, the table suggests file names for easier assignment.

Create an interactive table without Excel knowledge

The proof questionnaire generator offers selected, field-tested templates (first for textiles) for import, which buyers can adapt to their procedure. Above all, the tool enables the digitization of questionnaires. Sustainability criteria should first be structured offline as questionnaires. After collecting data, the tool then transfers it to an interactive table at the touch of a button.

In the main view, the export for the tender documents takes place. In comments, for example, next steps can be noted and adjusted. © Compass sustainabilityTo get started, we recommend taking a look at the instructions. It explains step by step how the tool is best used and how proof questionnaires basically work. It also contains valuable practical tips.

The online tool can be used flexibly for all product areas. In terms of content, the proof-of-concept questionnaire generator cannot yet accompany the development of innovative new questionnaires - for this, interested procurement bodies are best placed to bring external expertise on board.

FEMNET's many years of experience in this field have taught us one thing above all else: It takes courageous communities willing to build on experience and take the next step. There will certainly be support to accompany this. So maybe there will soon be proof questionnaires for other product areas as well? We're looking forward to it.

The tool was developed by FEMNET. The group was formed after a joint Pilot project for the procurement of sustainable rental textiles supported by the waste disposal companies and the technical companies of the city of Konstanz and the awarding lawyer André Siedenberg. The technical implementation was carried out by the programmer Michael Schorer.

The FEMNET project "Procurement fairchange” from Engagement Global with its service point "Communes in the One World" with funding from the BMZ. It is supported by Fairtrade Germany.