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When the government needs to buy resources from the private sector, the players, it uses Government Orders (GO) to do so. You can think of these as tenders or procurement. To ensure fair order assignment, and cheap fulfillment, the government uses a form of auction, when picking which company to assign the order to.
While the large quantities effectively prohibit small companies to apply directly. The company that gets the government order awarded may need to sub-contract at least part of the order. You can reach out to the company that got the order and discuss subcontracting. The government orders are also a good indicator of future market movements.
The companies that want to bid for the government orders need to form teams of 3 to 7 contractors, and apply together creating a Government Order Bid.
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Tiers
Depending on your company size, you are assigned to a Tier. in general, the higher the tier number the more resources you need to deliver to fulfill the order, however, the number of your team members, contractors, on your application and their tier also determines how much you are delivering.
The Tier of the largest contractor on the Bid determines the tier of the bid, and resource amounts that have to be delivered. If there are low-tier contractors, the higher tier contractors have to backfill their part.
The bid screen shows exactly how much each contractor has to deliver.
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The “per unit of” means the price the Government is going to pay for each resource when the Government Order is awarded. In the image below “per unit of Sneakers Q1” with $19; means the Government will pay the team members $19 for Q1 Sneakers. Will pay $31 for Q0 Dress. Will pay $10 per Q3 Underwear. Will pay $10 for Q3 Fabric.
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Reward
The main contractor, the company that is creating the Government Order Bid, determines what compensation the team is getting for each resource. The reward is split between the contractors depending on the amounts they are delivering based of their respective Tier.
Government Order bids with low buyout prices are awarded first.
The reward is paid if the Government Order Bid was awarded and the contractor delivers the required amount. The reward is paid right away on the delivery, even if other contractors did not fulfill their part.
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Deposit
Each contractor has to put down deposit. The deposit is returned once ALL contractors on the bid; delivered the required amounts.
The deposits are taken at the time of Government Order Bid being awarded. If any of the contractors doesn’t have enough cash, the whole bid is disqualified.
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Fulfillment
Once the bid; you are contractor on is awarded, you can simply click to deliver the resources against it. The reward is paid immediately. The deposit is returned once all contractors on your bid deliver.
There is a time limit, in days, on how much time you have to deliver against the order.
The quality shown on the items is the minimum quality that is needed.
If Q1 is listed you can fulfill the order with Q1+
If Q2 is listed you can fulfill the order with Q2+
and so on
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What resources is the government buying?
The government needs resources across all industries and in high quantities and certain qualities. The examples are 700 trucks for the Fire Department. 20,000 laptops for the IRS offices. Some orders may combine multiple different resources: 120,000 apples and 200,000 oranges for the Foreign Relief Office, or 300,000 units of petrol and 500,000 units of diesel for National Reserves.
More examples of possible GO’s:
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The amounts are determined by the tier and split between contractors on your bid.
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Where to find Government Orders?
Government Orders are located on the Exchange. They have their own section found in the Building icon on the far right of the top row.
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The selection (
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awarding) process
New government orders are published periodically and there is a 5-day window in which companies can team up and place their bids. The bid is for how much is the company able, or willing to, fulfill the order. The bids You can determine how much you want in return for delivering, what price you are delivering at. The bid remain secret and can be changed or cancelled anytime before the bidding period ends. The company with the lowest bid wins
A multiple of Government Order Bids can be accepted and orders awarded, until certain percentage of applications was considered, or amount the government needs was ordered. You can assume 50% - 70% of bidding teams will be awarded.
The bids with the lowest price win, obviously, the government wants to save money. Only companies level 20+ (Corporation) can place bids. The company value is also taken into account when considering if you will be able to fulfill the order. You can still participate as a subcontractor if your level is too low.
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The company that is selected because it is the lowest bidder needs to put down a security deposit. The security deposit is known upfront and the company needs to have the cash available at the end of the bidding period. If, the bidder doesn't have the security deposit cash available, the company is disqualified and the next lowest bidder is considered. This is repeated until the government contract can be awarded. In case there are 2 bids of the same size, to break the tie, the time of submission is considered, the sooner the better. There need to be at least 3 eligible bids for the government order to be awarded.
The security deposit is kept by the government and released after the order is fulfilled, together with the fulfillment reward, the original bid.
All bidders become public at the end of the selection process. The bid values will remain private.
The government reserves the right to cancel the government order if there aren't at least 3 bids or if there's a suspicion of the process being manipulated.
Fulfillment period
The company the government order was awarded to has a certain time period to fulfill the order, this can be 3, 6, or 10 days. The order has to be fulfilled in full. If it fails to do so the government keeps the security deposit, additionally, the government agencies will not accept any bids from this company for the next 30 days.
The government order can be fulfilled anytime before the deadline in which case the security deposit and fulfillment reward, the original bid, are awarded right away. The quality of goods delivered has to be the required quality or higher. Mixed quality goods are allowed - it's not necessary for the whole delivery to be the same quality.
When fulfilling the Government Order you will need to have all the products in your warehouse.
The green button at the top right will turn dark green when requirements have been met.
A successfully filled Government Order will show a green check mark in the upper right corner.
A failed Government Order will show a red X in the top right corner.
Recap
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Must be level 20+ to bid
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Lowest bidder wins
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Winner of bid needs to pay the security deposit (at the end of bidding process)
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Fulfillment can be 3, 6, or 10 days (depending on the GO)
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Fulfillment has to be in full (failure and the government keeps deposit – restricted from bidding for 30 days)
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Once the awarding is done, the government publishes the amount which was ordered in all awarded bids.
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Risks and considerations
Make sure you know your partners you are entering the Government Order Bid. The more companies you have on the application, the less you have to deliver. While the benefits are great, there are risks you should be aware of:
If one of the other contractors does not have cash to cover their deposit, your bid is not considered and awarded.
If one of the other contractors doesn’t deliver, you lose your deposit.
The main contractor, the company that set up the bid, can attempt to change bid prices without discussing it with you.
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Recap
Your company must be level 20+ to apply.
You need to form teams/bids with 3-7 companies.
The lower your price (bid), the higher chance your bid will be awarded.
You need to be have cash for the deposit ready when the bids are being considered for awarding.
You need to fulfill in time to get reward.
Every contractor on your bid needs to fulfill in time for anyone to get the deposit back.
Can apply to one team per Government Order.
13:00 UTC - New government orders posted (Wednesday)
13:00 UTC - Government orders awarded (Monday)
Bids are locked 24 hours before the bid ending period. This is to protect sub-contractors from last minute bid changes.
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Helpful articles from our local newspaper The Sim Companies Times:
The Eye of the Gov Order - Part I and Part II (both in same newspaper)
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How to Succeed at Governmental Orders? Part 2
Basics of Government Orders - What are those weird things? (Part 1)
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Library Guides:
Frequently asked questions, Guide for beginners, Interface tips, Research guide, Construction guide, Bonds guide, Executives guide, Government orders guide, Aerospace