Request For Proposal – GPSNR-RFP-C03-036-Review and support the development of a Central Repository

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Introduction & Background
The Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) is an international, multi-stakeholder, voluntary membership initiative seeking to lead improvements in the socioeconomic and environmental performance of the natural rubber value chain. Members of the platform include rubber products manufacturers, natural rubber suppliers and processors (PPTs), end users, smallholders, and civil society organisations. 

The Manufacturer’s Subgroup (SG) consists of GPSNR members who are rubber product manufacturers only.  Traditionally tracing each companies supply chain takes on an individualistic approach due to the sensitive nature of the data. However, to expedite the enhancement of traceability in view of EUDR, the SG has decided on a collaborative approach by developing a Central Repository. 

The Central Repository functions as a database for storing polygons and supply chain information contributed by individual members. It will also link the smallholders, PPTs and manufacturers on a single platform while reducing duplicated mapping efforts between different manufacturers. The Repository should allow for easy extraction of information for GPSNR’s Due Diligence System and be integrated with the EU information system. Moreover, the repository should either integrate different Risk, Traceability and Deforestation mapping tools or have the data formatted in a way that allows for seamless input into the tools. 

In addition, considering the sensitive nature of individual companies’ supply chain information, the platform must implement various layers of access control. This will ensure that each manufacturer can only access information pertaining to their own supply chain. Furthermore, the repository should have distinct tiers of users, including end users, manufacturers, PPTs, and smallholders, with each tier granted access privileges relevant to their role.

Objectives and Scope of Work/ Deliverables
GPSNR expects the consultant to deliver the following:

  1. Craft a database that stores polygon and supply chain information to the plantation level and allows for the upload of geo-mapping information. 
    1. The database should also have an online dashboard view of mapped / Mapping-in-progress farmlands, contract/seller invoice information – outstanding and shipped)

  2. The Central Repository should allow data to flow to and from or store data in a way that is compatible for the uses below:
    1. Traceability tool providers (Eg – Koltiva, TRST01, Harmuni (Agridence etc))
    2. Deforestation mapping tools (Eg – LiveEO, Satelligence, Starling etc)
    3. Risk assessment systems/tools (Eg – ASI Tool or Others as available etc)

  3. Create levels of access authorizations for different accounts within the platform – 
    1. User accounts for uploading geo mapped data
    2. Access to viewing the geo-mapped data linked to user accounts for the PPTs and Manufacturers
      1. Users should only have access to information from within their own supply chains or information that they input to the repository
      2. Users should be able to form links across different tiers. For example, users should be able to form links between smallholders and PPTs, PPTs and manufacturers. 
      3. When there are several members which require access to geo mapped data from one user, the platform should have the ability to extend access authorization to multiple users.
    3. Extracting information from Due Diligence Systems and integrating it with the EU Information System (this should be limited to manufacturers only)

  4. The platform should be compliant with applicable data privacy norms and regulations which include but are not limited to the GDPR and PDPA.

  5. A fee structure including management of shared cost arising from overlapping access to geo mapped data.

  6. Data protection and cyber security policies

  7. Service Level Agreements including downtime, maintenance, customer support and service, updates.

  8. Data Backup

  9. Server location – Singapore (Preferred)

  10. A timeline for development of the Central Repository (milestones with details)

  11. Optional – Deforestation monitoring tool integrated with central repository and the applicable fee structures

Proposal Format and Contents
The proposal should include the following:

  1. A workplan that outlines all key activities of the deliverables (as outlined in Expected Deliverables above)
  2. Timeline and key stages of operations (based on Project Timeline below) 
  3. Budget, including detailed breakdown of expected manpower, logistics, and costs 
  4. Description of past work and technical expertise that is relevant to this RFP
  5. A list of project team members with their roles in the project and associated qualifications.

Submission Guidelines & Requirements 
The following submission guidelines & requirements apply to this Request for Proposal: 

  1. Proposals will only be accepted from individuals or firms with experience relevant to this project. 
  2. Examples of previous relevant work should be provided as well. 
  3. A technical proposal must be provided that is not more than 4 pages. This technical proposal must provide an overview of the proposed solution as well as resumes of all key personnel performing the work. In addition, the technical proposal should provide a proposed schedule and milestones, as applicable. 
  4. A price proposal must be provided that is not more than 1 pages. This price proposal should indicate the overall fixed price for the project, a cost breakdown, and daily rates and an estimated total number of days. 
  5. Proposals must be signed by a representative that is authorized to commit bidder’s company. 
  6. Proposals should be submitted to stefano.savi@gpsnr.org and aidan@gpsnr.org for consideration. 
  7. GPSNR reserves the right to amend the scope and budget of this RFP in order to get the most suitable consultant for each topic. 

Project Timelines 

RFP Published

4 Sep 2023

Proposal Submission Deadline

25 Sep 2023

Contract Awarded

9 Oct 2023

First consultation with Manufacturer’s Subgroup 

23 Oct 2023

Bi-weekly progress updates

23 Oct – 18 Dec

Final Report + Deliverable submission

19 Dec 2023

Budget
The Platform will review budget proposals from service providers and the budget will comprise an important part of awarding the contract.

Payment terms shall be:

  • 20% at the signing of the contract
  • 30% at the midpoint date to be agreed upon and memorialized in the contract based on the submitted work plan
  • 40% on go-live 
  • Balance 10% – 1 month after go-live

Evaluation Factors
GPSNR will rate proposals based on the following factors, with cost being the most important factor:

  1. Responsiveness to the requirements set forth in this Request for Proposal
  2. Relevant past performance/ experience
  3. Samples of work
  4. Cost, including an assessment of total cost of ownership
  5. Technical expertise/experience of bidder and bidder’s staff

GPSNR reserves the right to award to the bidder that presents the best value to GPSNR as determined solely by GPSNR in its absolute discretion.

View RFP Document here

More To Explore
Tender

(CLOSED) Request for Proposal – Traceability and Transparency Tools Comparison

Introduction & Background

The Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR), is an international Multi-Stakeholder, voluntary membership initiative seeking to lead improvements in the socioeconomic and environmental performance of the natural rubber value chain. Development of the GPSNR was initiated by the CEOs of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Tire Industry Project (TIP) in November 2017. Members of the platform include tire manufacturers, rubber suppliers and processors, vehicle makers and NGOs.  Representatives from each of these stakeholder groups have contributed to the development of the Singapore-based platform and the wide-reaching set of priorities that will define GPSNR strategy and objectives.

GPSNR has created three core working groups to help advance the platform’s mission to reduce social and environmental risks throughout the natural rubber supply chain.  Working Group 3 (WG3) is dedicated to Traceability and Transparency, with the objective to recommend tools to trace, assess the risk and achieve transparency of any given natural rubber product buyer’s supply chain.

To achieve the WG3 objective, we are requesting proposals for projects that will assess supply chain risks, achieve supply chain traceability and achieve supply chain transparency. 

Scope of Work and Objective

1: Take stock of the traceability and transparency requirements

Understand the requirements of the traceability and transparency tools through discussions and interviews with various members and EC of GPSNR. This includes

  • What level of traceability and transparency (T&T) different stakeholders desire while meeting the criteria and policy?
  • What level of T&T is needed in high risk areas and in low risk areas?
  • How they define high risk and low risk areas?
  • How they plan to identify high and low risk areas?
  • What data in the supply chain (based on the draft GPSNR sustainability criteria) are different stakeholders (particularly downstream rubber industry) agreeable to sharing and with what entities (such as GPSNR, NGOs, competitors, and suppliers), and on what conditions?
  • What data is absolutely confidential that can’t be shared (even with an entity like GPSNR on a strictly confidential basis)?
  • What costs they are willing to pay/ton for T&T in different risk profile areas?

2: Assess Methodologies and Effectiveness of Traceability and Transparency Tools

The following request for proposal asks for a study of the functionalities of traceability/transparency tools being used by the natural rubber and other similar industry sectors: 

  1. Supply chain and product tracking
  2. Supply chain mapping
  3. Satellite and remote sensing (incl. Artificial Intelligence opportunities)

The study should look at each tool’s methodology for identifying origin and collecting information and make recommendations for which tools work best (and which do not) regarding the following key areas:

  • The process of data collection and types of data that can be collected
  •  The ability of the tool to identify risk and/or contribute to a risk assessment in the following categories[1]:
  • Social: Protecting internationally recognized human rights and labor rights (UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and ILO Core Conventions), securing Free, Prior and Informed Consent, Recognizing rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, provision of community livelihoods, etc.
  • Environmental: Deforestation, protection of High Conservation Values (HCVs) and rare, threatened and endangered species, water quantity and quality, soil protection, protecting peat lands, etc.
  • Legality: Applicable local, national and international laws on human rights, labour, land use and the environment.
  • Analyze the usability of results delivered – functionality (is it user friendly – pragmatic – “ready to go”)
  • Analyze the types of data that are accessible by each tool for:
  • Social: Protecting internationally recognized human rights and labor rights (UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and ILO Core Conventions), securing Free, Prior and Informed Consent, Recognizing rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, provision of community livelihoods, etc.
  • Environmental: Deforestation, protection of High Conservation Values (HCVs) and rare, threatened and endangered species, water quantity and quality, soil protection, protecting peat lands, etc.
  • Legality: Applicable local, national and international laws on human rights, labour, land use and the environment.
  • Explore challenges with data sharing considering confidentiality and data ownership (within each tool), but also consider feasibility and the possibility of sharing information between tools.
  • Understand the reliability of data and the auditability of data (verify).  Consider each tools ability to be audited to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party methods.  Consider the differences between tools that collect data via voluntary declaration of the suppliers vs onsite data collection by a 2nd or 3rd party.
  • Understand cost– what are other costs that need to be considered:
    • Set-up/prerequisite
    • Maintenance
    • Deployment
  • Understand the scalability of each tool.  At what geographic level can each tool perform and within what timeframes.
  • Adaptability of tool for use by GPSNR members to meet commitments and reporting requirements.

[1] Note: this bullet point is not asking the assessor to conduct a risk assessment themselves.  It is asking the assessor to identify which tools provide valuable data to evaluate and identify risk regarding specific environmental, social and legality factors.

Submission Guidelines & Requirements

The following submission guidelines & requirements apply to this Request for Proposal:

  1. Proposals will only be accepted from individuals or firms with experience relevant to this project.
  2. A technical proposal must be provided that is not more than 4 pages. This technical proposal must provide an overview of the proposed tools for analysis as well as resumes of all key personnel performing the work. In addition, the technical proposal should provide a description of previous relevant work, and a proposed schedule.
  3. A price proposal must be provided that is not more than 1 pages. This price proposal should indicate the overall fixed price for the project as well as hourly rates and an estimated total number of days.
  4. Proposals must be signed by a representative that is authorized to commit bidder’s company.
  5. Proposals must be received prior to 19th August 2020 to be considered. Proposals should be submitted to stefano.savi@gpsnr.org for consideration.
  6. GPSNR anticipates shortlisting at least two individuals or firms to have more in-depth discussions with, and will make an award to one of these “down-selected” individuals or firms.

Budget

The Platform is anticipating a total budget of no more than 30,000 Euros for the study. 

Payment terms shall be:

  • 50% at the signing of the contract
  • 50% on delivery of the final report

Evaluation Factors

GPSNR will rate proposals based on the following factors, with cost being the most important factor:

  • Responsiveness to the requirements set forth in this Request for Proposal;
  • Relevant past performance/experience;
  • Samples of work;
  • Cost, including an assessment of total cost of ownership;
  • Technical expertise/experience of bidder and bidder’s staff;

GPSNR reserves the right to award to the bidder that presents the best value to GPSNR  as determined solely by GPSNR in its absolute discretion.

Please submit your application to stefano.savi@gpsnr.org by 19 August 2020.

GPSNR Staff August 14, 2020

(Closed) Request For Proposal – GPSNR-RFP-A02-027-GPSNR Annual Report

Introduction & Background

At GPSNR, we bring together companies, smallholders, academia and civil society to transform the natural rubber supply chain into a sustainable, equitable and fair one.

Even though it was launched just in 2018, more than 50% of the world’s natural rubber demand already finds membership in GPSNR. This is only a small reflection of the amount of work that has taken place over the last three years.

We are seeking a web design consultancy to design, code and publish a webpage style annual report for 2022, which can be easily downloaded as a PDF version. The content for the webpage will be provided by the GPSNR secretariat.

Key Requirements 

 

Working closely with the GPSNR secretariat, the consultant will:

  • Create and finalise three web-page mockup (wireframes, prototypes, and corresponding user interface components like templates, stylesheets, scripts, images, etc) for the team to choose from.
  • Once the mock up has been chosen by the team, the consultant will include four rounds of feedback from the GPSNR secretariat and key stakeholders in the development of the final page.
  • Integrate components in the CMS to allow review and testing, and make corresponding adjustments based on feedback received.
    Liaise with GPSNR’s Communications Manager to ensure that the mockups are feasible for the GPSNR website.

Terms

The engagement will take place for a period of four weeks from 4 November to 9 November. Interim dates for wireframes and approvals will be mutually agreed upon after confirmation.

Necessary Competencies:

  • Solid understanding of the concepts of user experience, user interface design principles and conceptual design.
  • Expert knowledge in Wordpress CMS and Elementor
    Knowledge of Bootstrap, jQuery and AngularJS, HTML, and Elementor Shortcodes
    Knowledge of industry-standard design tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Dreamweaver.
  • Knowledge of Wordpress Content Management System, particularly with respect to page template design, will be considered an asset.
  • Eye for design and attention to detail are essential.

Submission Guidelines & Requirements

The following submission guidelines & requirements apply to this Request for Proposal:

  • Proposals will only be accepted from individuals or firms with experience relevant to this project.
  • Submissions must include 1) a portfolio of previous work 2) a paragraph describing how the consultant would approach such a project 3) a financial proposal with a breakdown of how much each competent of the work would cost.
  • Proposals must be signed by a representative that is authorized to commit to the bidder’s company.
  • Proposals must be received by 31 October 2022 to be considered.
  • Proposals should be submitted to bani.bains@gpsnr.org for consideration.

Project Timelines

Request for Proposal Issuance 20 October 2022
Proposal submitted by consultant to bani.bains@gpsnr.org 31 October 2022
Selection of consultant / Notification to Unsuccessful Bidders 2 November 2022
Completion of Phase 1: Preparatory Recommendations 4 November 2022
   

Budget

The Platform is anticipating a total budget of up to 4000 SGD for this project. 

Payment terms shall be:

  • 20% at the signing of the contract
  • 30% upon midpoint as mutually agreed
  • 50% at the completion of the project

Evaluation Factors

GPSNR will rate proposals based on the following factors:

  • Responsiveness to the requirements set forth in this Request for Proposals
  • Relevant past performance / experience and / or any samples of past work
  • Cost, including an assessment of total cost of ownership
  • Technical expertise/experience of bidder and the bidder’s staff

GPSNR reserves the right to award to the bidder that presents the best value to GPSNR as determined solely by GPSNR in its absolute discretion.

Bani Bains October 20, 2022

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