Auction description:
The best bid is displayed to suppliers. Suppliers can only enter a bid if it is lower than the current best bid. The supplier with the lowest bid wins the auction The English auction can also be used by sellers. In this case, the bid direction must be “up”.
Preconditions and prerequisites:
Competition: there are more than 3 supplier. Suppliers are keen on doing business with METRO
•Transparency: all documents/information must be shown to all suppliers
•Comparability: suppliers can deliver same product quality based on requirement profile
•Fairness: winning supplier will be awarded
Before starting a new project, make sure the needed documents are ready:
•General conditions (Auction rules) in pdf format
•Supplier guide - Offer Solution Service Team can train the new Supplier on demand
•Supplier list
•Requirement profile(s) (incl. Layout/Design/Images)
•Calculation sheet (if applicable)
•Other documents which you want to share within auction
Steps in eSourcing:
In order to conduct the awarding after the negotiations are done, it is mandatory to create the projects from the RFX module and all data under Project Management and Demand Specification from the RFX that is previously created, should be copied to the auction.
For more information regarding the creation of a project from RFX module, please check the following articles based on your needs:
How to create RFX (incl RFP + AUC)
How to create Auction from Demand Specification ( Only with Auction)
1. General data:
1.1 Check and complete the mandatory fields in General Information tab.
- Project title - provide a name for the Auction or Update if needed
- Version - Live
- Business units - Country participants
- Material groups - COMS for your articles
1.2 In Project Team you can see that the internal participants previously invited to the RFX are added and the roles have been given to them. Click on ADD if you need to invite other colleagues.
Note: the user rights should be checked and updated, if needed.
1.3 In Supplier circle you will find all the suppliers previously invited in the RFX and if an SSR was sent from the RFX you will see it in the Auction also.
Click ADD if you need to invite other suppliers.
Note: If “Awarding” will be proceeded after the auction, please add all the suppliers in the RFX module.
1.4 Check the Documents - All documents from the RFX are copied into the Auction. You can Upload other documents and Update the GC document if needed.
Note: Other than GC documents which are copied from the RFX need to be re-assigned supplier access, when needed.
2. Auction Structure:
2.1 Go on Auction Structure - Positions to check the articles. Click on the Open icon for each article if you need to edit something ( i.e. Min Bid change , Max, Bid. change , Decimals etc ). Click Save 
to save the changes.
2.2 By default all invited suppliers have access to all articles. If needed you can set/remove access from Access Rights. Click on Save if you made changes.
3. Auction settings:
3.1 Go on Auction Settings tab and in Auction definition chose English as Auction Type.
You can also Change the Bidding option and chose if the position will run in parallel or sequentially if you prefer, or you can check the boxes to Calculate the minimum bid change, Deny 0 as a bid value, Calculate take lead or Show copy value button.
3.2 In Competitive settings are displayed the options for competition. They are already pre selected by default but in case of need, you can always define your own settings.
3.3 Click on Milestones & Overtimes and set the Auction Starting and Closing date and hour.
You can select "Yes" as Overtime option if you desire to prologue the Auction if the end hour is reached and the suppliers are still bidding. In this example the auction will be prolonged with 5 minutes after each bid.
The refresh rate is recommended to be 20 - 30 seconds.
Click on Save
3.4 Under Starting Prices you can define the starting prices for all the suppliers that will participate to the auction.
- Click on Display Settings icon
and select "Place values for all suppliers" if you want to place the same starting price for all the suppliers. - Click Open
- Add the starting prices for each article and Save
3.5 Bidbox Layout tab is the view of the suppliers during the auction. You can customize this view according to your needs by displaying and/or hiding the columns.
4. Auction Status
4.1 Click on Auction status to see if all elements are correctly completed. If you see any red errors at this stage, check the message and correct what is missing.
Click on Publish to set the Auction Online.
Once the auction is published all invited suppliers will receive an invitation to the Auction via an email from the system. They will be able to access to the Auction, download and accept the documents, see all the details with regards to the Auction like articles, starting prices, etc.
The suppliers will also receive a reminder email 30 minutes before the bidding starts.
When the Start date and time are reached the Auction status will automatically change from Online to Bidding and the invited suppliers are able to bid. You can follow the auction via either Auction cockpit or Auction analysis to monitor auction and supplier activities. 
Click HERE see information regarding How to check the auction during the bidding
If you need further assistance don't hesitate to Contact us