e-Catalogue - Digital Gateway

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is for the United Nations (UN) to obtain the latest knowledge and information from the market with respect to potential vendors and their capabilities to provide an e-catalogue solution that will simplify the identification of the most suitable materials and services available through on-screen visualization. The United Nations (UN) operates in many dispersed and geographically challenging locations (i.e. limited connectivity) and manages a wide network of suppliers for the thousands of products required to sustain operations.This means that in order for the UN to improve efficiency and operate successfully in this complex environment, there is a need to have such products displayed in a user-friendly manner for users to quickly and correctly select the most adequate ones. The total sum of operational goods and services currently active at the UN are 123,090 materials and 2,490 services. These make up individual products available for consumption and inventory via local, regional, global long term contracts as well as strategic deployment stocks. These products are available to over 60 Secretariat entities and key locations. It is envisaged that the solution proposed as part of the RFI will accommodate the following components: 1. Visual identification through digital imagery of goods and services offerings from contracts and strategic stock holdings. 2. Free text/contextual search capabilities across the full library of goods and services. 3. Easy to use digital interface requiring minimal training for end-users. 4. Capability to integrate the solution with the UN’s ERP system (SAP Umoja) for seamless data transfer and user experience. 5. Capability to integrate digitale-catalogue systems and data from active UN suppliers seamlessly into the solution. 6. Capability to search, filter and showcase prioritized best-value products in accordance with the UN's category management hierarchy. Visual identification of products: The solution will seek to provide a similar visual experience as Amazon or Costco for its users, in a way that makes it easier for the Organization to identify goods and services available, and to avoid errors during the selection process. Digital imagery will shift the viewing parameters from generic to specific, and subsequently improve planning, prioritization and provide efficiencies in workflows. The solution will seek to provide users with key attributes such as costs, lead-time, shipping details, interchangeable and related products, applicable spare-parts, product reviews, product manuals, product history/details, return/exchange policies where possible, and contract terms to inform decision making. This information can be be integrated from supplier’s catalogues via interface and with internal systems through interface with the Supplier Relationship Module (SRM) of the UN’s ERP System (Umoja SAP). The solution will seek to minimize the overall clicks/steps in upstream and downstream transactional processes either through system interfaces or integration. The current selection of products process is predominantly manual, where users choose from the contract lists available in the UN SAP ERP system. As such, there is a requirement to leverage a tool that will be able to provide visualization of the goods/services available within a location, periodically synchronising this with the UN SAP ERP platform for reporting and evaluation purposes. The information gathered from this RFI will be used to determine the solution feasibility and design, scope, limits, planning, implementation, and resources required by the UN that address this technology need, for the UN Secretariat in all Headquarters Duty Stations, field missions and other offices worldwide. Responses - General: 1. We invite you to provide detailed responses that accurately reflect your company’s capabilities to provide the requirements. 2. All costs for preparing a response for the RFI must be covered by the vendor. 3. This RFI is a separate and independent process. 4. The requested information will only be used by the UN for internal planning purposes. All responses will be kept strictly confidential and only authorized personnel will have access to it. 5. The response to this RFI will not be used to pre-qualify vendors. 6. The provided information will not be contractually binding to the vendor. 7. You should submit your response to this RFI electronically via the link provided under the section "Vendor Responses". Please note that it is only the registration of your interest, your detailed response should be sent by email at szilvia.brezvai@un.org, preferably in PDF format.