Be a Supplier Buddy

• Account creation of the First User
• Account creation of Proprietor/ Partner/ CEO/ CFO/ Company Secretary or any member of Board of Directors/ Company Official with Power of Attorney if the owner is not the PB Admin.

4.1

Minimum requirements for Enlistment

The applicant’s business should have been incorporated at least six (6) months before the date of application for enlistment.

Applicants with a negative net worth in the last financial year are not eligible for enlistment/ enhancement/ revalidation. The applicant shall submit documents to substantiate the claim of a net positive working capital, such as third-party audited annual reports for the past two (2) financial years or outstanding credit balance of the Proprietor’s / Partners Capital and/or Proprietor’s/partner's Current Account (after considering the impact of debit balances in such accounts, if any).

In case, the Applicant is a subsidiary of a parent/ holding company and separate ‘independent audited annual report’ of the subsidiary is not prepared, however ‘independent audited report’ of parent/ holding company is prepared, in such cases, independent audit report of parent/ holding company shall be considered for establishing the financial criteria subject to Statutory Auditor/ CEO/ CFO/ Company Secretary or any member of the Board of Directors of the parent/ holding company (whose independent audit report is submitted for qualification) certifies on letter head of parent/ holding company that independent audited annual report of the subsidiary is not separately prepared.

Applicants with a Buddy Score above the “minimum buddy score (MBS)” can become Supplier Buddy.

4.2

Minimum requirements for Enhancement

Supplier Buddy can enhance the portfolio of enlisted products (rating/ size/ range, etc.) or add a new product at the same Works by submitting the documents as per clause 5.4 of this document.

4.3

Minimum requirements for Addition of Works/ OEM

Supplier Buddy can apply to add a new work location/ OEM in their portfolio by invoking this service. Supplier Buddy shall submit the complete details of the new works, such as location, factory license, quality control, warehouse, annual capacity, production range, inspection & testing facilities, etc.

This service should not be considered for enhancing Supplier Buddy’s portfolio of products.

4.4

Shifting of works

Supplier Buddy can apply for shifting of a listed work location to a new location. Supplier Buddy shall furnish a declaration from CEO/ CFO/ Company Secretary or any member of Board of Directors/ Proprietor/ Partner (as applicable) on the following w.r.t shifting:

• No change in product design
• No change in execution methodology/ responsibility matrix, as agreed during enlistment
• No change in machinery/ resources (augmentation is acceptable)
• No change in top management/ Ownership

Supplier Buddy shall submit valid license/ statutory approvals for the relocated Works. Performance certificate and previous track record is not required for the relocated Works address.

Supplier Buddy shall submit the details of quality systems in place along with the Quality Management Plan for the relocated Works.

Supplier shall be put on HOLD until Works shifted to the new location is assessed and accepted by Procurement Buddy Admin Team (PBAT).

4.5

Rights of Procurement Buddy Admin Team (PBAT)

Procurement Buddy Admin Team (PBAT) reserves the right to cross-verify the authenticity of the documents submitted by the Applicant at any stage, and the Applicant shall provide all necessary assistance in this regard. If any document is found false, forged, or tampered with, the action shall be taken as deemed fit by the PBAT, per the extant policy.

If deemed necessary, PBAT can seek additional documents not mentioned herein, in order to review and understand position of the Applicant/ Supplier Buddy both commercially and technically. Failure to provide additional documents may also lead to closure of service request by the Applicant/ Supplier Buddy.

Procurement Buddy Representatives can choose to visit the Applicant’s works before enlistment/ enhancement/ addition of works depending upon the criticality of the item under consideration, and the same shall be binding on the Applicant. During this visit, documents submitted by the Applicant during online application processing may also be verified for their trueness.

Upon satisfactory review of documents and assessment of the manufacturing facility, the case shall be processed further, and after approval by the PBAT, a welcome letter of enlistment/ enhancement/ revalidation as Supplier Buddy shall be issued to the Applicant.

If the Buyer Buddies seek PBAT's assistance for cross-verification, PBAT reserves the right to present the documents provided by the Supplier Buddies as a proof of the claims made on the Supplier Buddy’s company page.

4.6

Application processing time

The time cycle for processing the application for enlistment/ enhancement varies from one (1) month to six (6) months, excluding the time the applicant takes to respond to PBAT’s technical/ commercial queries. However, the processing cycle time depends on the quality and completeness of the documents submitted by the Applicant and their response to the techno-commercial queries. Hence, the Applicant's response to PBAT shall be specific. The requested documents shall be complete and uploaded in a single lot. Applications received with incomplete documents/ partial replies are liable to be rejected.

If the Applicant fails to furnish a satisfactory response within two (2) weeks from the date of query, it shall be presumed that the Applicant is not meeting Procurement Buddy enlistment norms, and PBAT reserves the right to close the application.

If the applicant is interested in enlistment, they may apply afresh after three (3) months of the application being closed with updated data/ information. The processing charges paid earlier shall neither be refunded nor adjusted.

4.7

Documentation and Buddy Scoring system

The authenticity of all documents, commencing with the submission of the online application and continuing through processing until the conclusion of the application, is the prime responsibility of the Applicant.

The applicant shall submit the duly signed and stamped ‘Undertaking Certificate’ in format SBE-A-01, which can be downloaded from the Procurement Buddy online service ‘Enlist your Company’.

The Applicant shall be enlisted for the size/ capacity/ rating, etc., based on the verification of documents provided by the Applicant concerning the Manufacturing unit. After the PBAT verifies the documents submitted by the Applicant/ factory visit (see Sl. No. 5.8 below), the certified details will become visible on the Applicant's Company Page.

The Applicant can showcase a maximum of five (5) numbers of certified previous supply records on the Applicant’s Company Page. To do so, the applicant shall promptly provide documentary evidence related to the selected past track record claimed by the Applicant, such as:

• Purchase orders (PO)
• Test reports/ certificates, inspection release notes (IRN) from TPIA
• Performance certificates from end-users, etc.
• Type Test Report, as applicable

A performance certificate from the end-user shall be issued for at least one (1) year of satisfactory operation, as applicable. The applicant shall also furnish a Type Test Report, as applicable. Failure to provide documentary evidence as sought by PBAT, may lead to closure of the application without enlistment/ enhancement of the product portfolio by PBAT.

The furnished previous supply record and documentary evidence shall relate to oil and gas processing, refineries, petrochemicals, LNG, industrial storage, oil terminals, the nuclear sector, fertilizers, chemicals, cement, power generation & distribution, steel, non-ferrous metallurgy, etc. only.

If the original document is in a language other than English, then English-translated copies and authenticated copies of the original documents shall be submitted. The English-translated copies shall be duly certified by the Local Chamber of Commerce in the country of origin of the Applicant.

Based on the quality and validity of the documents submitted by the applicant, all applications will be provided a Buddy Score as per clause 4 of this document. Buddy Score will be dynamic and visible on the Company page on the Procurement Buddy web application. If an Applicant’s Buddy Score is less than the Minimum Buddy Score, i.e. MBS (currently 500), then the applicant will not be considered for partnering as Supplier Buddy.

4.8

Conditions for Sole Selling agent with OEM

The sole selling agents shall submit a letter of association from the OEM on their letterhead mentioning the period and geographical location of the association, along with the product details, etc., duly signed and stamped by the OEM.

4.9

Conditions for Stockist

Stockists applying for enlistment as Supplier Buddy shall comply with the following regarding warehouse area:

• The applicant shall have a single warehouse with a covered area of at least 1000m². This warehouse shall mandatorily have ISO 9001 certification and shall be considered a designated work of Supplier Buddy under consideration for all post-order activities, viz., shop inspections by TPIA and dispatches.

4.10

Suspension/ banning account of Supplier Buddy

Enlistment as a Supplier Buddy is subject to a satisfactory supply of items processed through the Procurement Buddy marketplace w.r.t delivery and quality. Supplier Buddy is expected to adopt the highest ethical standards and the utmost integrity, commitment, and sincerity for the supply of items ordered by using the Procurement Buddy marketplace, failing which the Procurement Buddy Admin Team is entitled to initiate actions, such as suspension (temporary) or banning (permanent) of Supplier on the Procurement Buddy platform.

If the Buddy Score of the Supplier Buddy falls below the MBS, then the Supplier Buddy account will automatically be suspended. The suspension will be removed only after Supplier Buddy uploads the latest documents to reach a Buddy Score of more than MBS.

A Supplier Buddy will be liable for banning if the following conditions are fulfilled:

• No quotation was received from the Supplier Buddy against any enquiry for three (3) consecutive years.
• No response or in case of response received & found unsatisfactory against the contact established and/or follow-up made by PBAT or Buyer Buddies for one (1) month.

If the banning procedure is invoked against a Supplier Buddy, then the application of enlistment shall be considered a fresh application.

4.11

Processing Fee

Application processing charges do not cover the cost of witnessing any destructive/ non-destructive testing by Procurement Buddy Inspectors. For such cases, charges on an actual basis for hotel stay, travel and per diem allowance of INR 22000 (AED 1000) per person shall be applicable and borne by the Applicant. These charges shall be paid upfront by the Applicant.

In case of rejection of the application for any reason, at any stage of processing, only 50% of the charged amount will be returned.

The fee structure for various services is as follows:

Procurement Buddy reserves the right to revise the processing charges at any time. However, the revised charges will not apply to the applications under processing.

The validity of enlistment/ enhancement/ addition of new works/ shifting of works shall be for a maximum period of three (3) years, and thereafter, the same is required to be revalidated as per the applicable procedure.

In case of revalidation application, the validity of enlistment shall be extended for three (3) years from the previous expiry date.

In case of Enhancement of product profile, the validity of enlistment shall remain the same as mentioned in the Revalidation or Enlistment letter as Supplier Buddy issued earlier by Procurement Buddy.