Government orders
Maintained by The Center
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.
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:
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.
The selection (bidding) process
New government orders are published periodically and there is a 5-day window in which companies can place their bids. The bid is for how much is the company able, or willing to, fulfill the order. The bids remain secret and can be changed or cancelled anytime before the bidding period ends. The company with the lowest bid wins, obviously, the government wants to save money. Only companies level 20+ 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.
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
Must be level 20+ to bid
Lowest bidder wins
Winner of bid needs to pay the security deposit (at the end of bidding process)
Fulfillment can be 3, 6, or 10 days (depending on the GO)
Fulfillment has to be in full (failure and the government keeps deposit – restricted from bidding for 30 days)
Once fulfilled; security deposit is returned and the original bid is rewarded
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)
How I fulfilled a Government Order Larger than My Total Company Value
How to Succeed at Governmental Orders? Part 1
How to Succeed at Governmental Orders? Part 2
Basics of Government Orders - What are those weird things? (Part 1)
Library Guides:
Frequently asked questions, Guide for beginners, Interface tips, Research guide, Construction guide, Bonds guide, Executives guide, Government orders guide, Aerospace