通力、奥的斯在加拿大为合同不公平抱怨

加拿大：加拿大哈密尔顿城市委员会在与蒂森克虏伯公司签订电梯维护协议后，另两家电梯公司提出抗议，称在招标过程中，委员会拒绝他们的投标。
这两家公司——通力电梯和奥的斯电梯称委员会在招标说明中将他们排除在外，不过委员会官员说他们已经和通力公司合作了十年，通力没有符合委员会提出的条件。
这份维护协议价值821747美元，长达十年，覆盖了23个市的电梯业务。
上述三家公司是此次招标中仅有的三家，委员会称通力和奥的斯不符合招标要求，两家公司表示不服。
哈密尔顿市支援服务负责人Alan Knowles和采购总监Gail Roppo表示这次的招标是公平的。
通力公司分店经理Barry Lambert在给Roppo的一封信中说通力的招标价格比蒂森克虏伯更低，可省下189,786美元。
3月16日决定中标者之前，Lambert告诉委员会他觉得通力和其他公司已被排除在外。
Lambert说：“竞标过程中，一些竞争项目对我们不公平。那些项目根本无视规则。”奥的斯分店经理Ken Donner周一表示他持同样的想法。Donner说：“那些招标说明的目的就是要把奥的斯和其他公司排除出去，中标者早就内定了。”
这份协议特别要求竞标公司要在Chattanooga市（美国田纳西州）有办事处，Roppo和Knowles称中标者并非内定，通力公司在Chattanooga安排了两名技术人员，但没有办事处；而奥的斯符合这项要求，不过哈密尔顿市采购总监Roppo说奥的斯在产品库存方面不符要求。
支援服务负责人Alan Knowles说委员会经过这几年意识到电梯公司需要在地方设立办事处。他说：“公司在各地的办事和管理机构可以提供及时维护服务，避免了拖延时间。”
位于佛罗里达的咨询服务公司老板Robert Dieter是招标说明制定者之一，他表示没中标是通力和奥的斯的问题，“如果通力公司准备充分，可能结果就不一样了。”
蒂森克虏伯分店经理Michael Boerner表示他们中标是因为其在Chattanooga市设有办事处，“办事处才是我们获胜的关键。”

Elevator companies cry foul on contract

Two elevator companies say they got the shaft when the Hamilton County Commission recently awarded an elevator maintenance contract to ThyssenKrupp Elevator while rejecting their bids.
The companies — Kone and Otis Elevator Co. — allege the county wrote its bid specifications to exclude their companies. But county officials said Kone — which has held the county contract for 10 years — had the opportunity to meet the bid requirements and chose not to.
The contract is worth $821,747 over 10 years and covers the maintenance of 23 county elevators.
The three companies were the only bidders on the contract, but the county said Kone Inc. and Otis did not meet bid specifications. The losing companies have written to the county to challenge the award.
Alan Knowles, superintendent of support services, and Purchasing Director Gail Roppo said the county gave all bidders an equal chance.
In a letter to Roppo, Kone branch manager Barry Lambert said Kone’s bid was lower than ThyssenKrupp’s and would have saved the county $189,786.
On March 16, before county commissioners awarded the contract, Lambert told them that he felt Kone and other companies had been excluded.
“During [the bid] process, there were several items we felt like were unfair for competitive bid practices,” Lambert told commissioners. “Some of the items were put in to rule out, not necessarily our company, but some other companies.”
On Monday, Otis branch manager Ken Donner said he also thought the bid process excluded other companies.
“The way I viewed it, it was written to eliminate certain parties,” Donner said. “It was written for certain-sized companies.”
The new contract specifically requires the company to have an office in Chattanooga.
Roppo and Knowles said the bids were not written to favor anyone. Knowles said Kone has two technicians in the area, but it does not have an office in the city.
“We didn’t rule them out because they could’ve made a decision to open an office [here],” Roppo said.
Otis has an office, but Roppo said the company was disqualified because it failed to meet another mandatory requirement related to parts inventory.
Knowles said the county has learned over the years that it’s important for an elevator company to have a local office.
“Having a physical organization and supervision in town day to day just has a huge impact in everything regarding the maintenance service and diminishing the delays,” Knowles said.
Robert Dieter, owner of Florida-based Dieter Consulting Services, which helped the county write the bid specs, said it’s Kone’s and Otis’ fault that they did not receive the contract. Dieter said it is clear that the job requires local supervision.
“If [Kone] had done everything they could have and should have, the outcome might’ve been different,” Dieter said.
Michael Boerner, a branch manager for ThyssenKrupp, said the county awarded the contract to his company because it has a local office.
“That was the main thing, local supervision,” Boerner said.