RFP by Doha University - Personal Statement Example

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Proposal for RFP by Doha University a. Doha company overview Doha University is a learning institution that was first founded in 1973 as the then National College of Education, which had a small population of 57 males and 93 female students in its first year of operation. The institution is located in Qatar, which has been experiencing rapid growth and this contributed to the expansion of the small college to Doha University in 1977, which had four new colleges in Education, Humanities & Social Sciences, Sharia Law and Islamic studies, and Sciences. Currently, the University has a population of 8000 students and is located in the northern edge of the city at only about sixteen kilometers. The rapid growth of Doha at large has seen many commercial developments with the University on its part putting down several new structures including a library, a school of engineering, business &economics and a food hall. I understand there is still a lot of available empty space within the University which operates on an 8.00AM to 9.00 PM work schedule. From the proposal, I understand that Doha University is seeking a contractor who will be able to determine and provide the best integrated solution to solve its transportation problem and therefore make it easier for staff and students to move with ease within and from their homes to the campus. Basically, the Doha University request for proposal touches on various areas: they require a cost effective, comfortable, safe and secure transport plan within and outside the campus for the students and the members of staff. I think this is an achievable goal owing to the experience of my company in terms of delivering quality to our customers. On delivery, the university requires a sketch and an electronic three dimension model of the parking area and the walking path including the number of buses to be used. On this end, the client requires the enough shaded parking areas and buses with a clear separation of persons with special needs. I think there is a bit of inconsistency for the buses requirement and I will therefore outsource the service from a transport agency. Doha university has also put up a criteria for acceptance of a contractor proposal which I strongly believe I can manage to meet: to begin with, it must be possible for the contractor to meet the requirements that have been put up in the first two sections, final payment of all work done will only be enabled only after the University is completely satisfied that their requests have been fully enabled. There is a also a requirement for approval by the Doha University Transport Department which I believe I will be able to sufficiently meet which will clearly lay down the buses to be used and the sketch for walking paths and parking lots. I also agree to abide with a fixed type of contract as it will enable me to manage all my programmes and focus on the whole transport project in all aspects. I think the University requirement for a work schedule is too specific in detail in terms of requiring a specification of the date and time a contractor undertakes a specific role on the project. While I sufficiently support the need for schedules as a way of maintain accountability, I think it’s necessary to have an open schedule which doesn’t require time specification but finishes on date specification. I will also manage to attach my company CV and staff specifications as required by the university. 1. Technical solutions My company is Elvshe contractors, a company that was founded in July 1992. Our Company has grown from mere building to a full board company that covers construction, consultations and contractions. As the director, I believe our company will be able to design a workable transport system for Doha University. Our mission is to design structures that go beyond commercial benefits to take an account of having a continuous relationship with every customer through total commitment to quality, timely construction and safety and excellence in performance and delivery. As a company, we completely understand the importance of efficiency and a good environment in any learning institution. We understand the need for Doha University to have a good transport system which promotes efficient flexibility of the students from one lecture room to another. A student concentration and good performance in studies will highly depend on how well the student will move from one building to another. We also identify with the University need to have a good and well organized transport network by the use of reliable buses and decongested parking lots as a way of saving on time and promoting efficiency. Doha university current problem in transport can be understood as a flow of activities that results to inconsistent in studies and work as the students and members of staff lack a well integrated and effective transport mechanism: the problem to a student may be illustrated as follows. Student x for example leaves her house at 7.00am in the morning so as to be exactly on time for the 8.00 am lecture, what would be normally a 15 minutes and a 30 minutes’ walk. At the bus stop, she waits for the bus for almost 20 minutes and realizes there is non forthcoming and makes a decision to walk away. As she is walking there are sudden rain showers and she takes shelter for almost 20 minutes upon which she arrives at school at almost half past 8 late for her morning lecture. After the lecture there are so many students on the pavements and there is a complete human traffic and a 5 minutes’ walk to the ladies washrooms takes her almost 10 minutes. The cycle continues all day and when the evening comes, she arrives home when it’s already late. Some students and members of staff who own cars have to deal with the problem of fighting for the limited parking space as they live their cars to be ruined by the elements of nature such as sun and the periodical showers. The parking lots do not have a consideration of persons with special needs within the campus and they have to lose the battle to their colleagues. This is a general picture of what a student at Doha University is likely to experience thus affecting her a great deal; both psychologically and on her education. The transport problem in Doha University is a problem that requires a direct approach in terms of the solution. The issue can effectively be resolved through addressing various elements of transports in the university: Methodology Our company will seek to solve the transport problem in Doha University by designing a cost effective and efficiency oriented programme that will be able to meet the university 15/24 hours schedule with due commitment. We will also design walking paths that logically connect with the various university building and the main path as a way of addressing the internal movement problem in the university. We shall also put the safety of the students and the staff into consideration by aiming at providing well lighted walking paths that are building by using reliable materials and that provide a nice view of the university. We shall also address the parking lot problem by decongesting the existing ones by ensuring enough parking slots that are located near the major students and that are able to separate students and members of staff with no exception of persons with special needs within the university. To cater for easiness of student’s movement within the campus and for those who don't have cars, we will arrange with one of the leading transport agencies to provide buses that have responsible drivers and are able to pass around the university within the working hours. Data collection and analysis As a result of our commitment towards meeting the needs of every customer sufficiently, we shall use both primary and secondary data collection methods. Primary data will be attained by having our marketing team visit Doha University where they will conduct face to face interviews on the members of staff, students and the management on the day to day transport challenges that face the institution. The marketing team will also prepare well detailed questionnaires which will help in understanding the transport problem at Doha University sufficiently. Observation of a normal working day at Doha University and the student and staff behavior will also be used to understand the transport problem at a new perspective. On site surveys will also be conducted to determine the physical space available that will enable the restructuring of the transport network and construction of walk paths .Secondary data collection will involve electronic sources and books that address transport problem in learning institutions and their effects on learning activities and staff delivery. The method of solving the transport problem will be a direct approach by putting in place programmes to carry out the actual construction of walk paths, refurbish parking lots and arrange for provision of buses. The rationale behind the use of direct solution is because from our previous experience where we worked towards solving transport problem in a manufacturing company, we know why having a good and reliable transport system and network at any institution is critical. I am particularly certain that our company will be able to meet the laid down requirements by the university. Through our well trained and experienced team, we will be able to meet the time deadline and deliver a high quality transport system that covers reliable walk paths, effective parking lots and bus services that put into account all the members of Doha University community, including persons with special needs. Our solution is also well integrated through the use of supporting information from the website that provided us with relevant guidelines on how to deal with transport problems within learning institutions. I believe our project will provide both qualitative and quantitative benefits to yours institution. As a result of customer oriented services it will be possible for you to save on cost and the same time have excellent customer service. Due to our continuous commitment to quality services your institution will reduce on maintained of the walk paths and parking lots as we use high quality building materials and improved safety of both the students and members of staff on a 15/24 schedule. 2. Management section a. Description of work tasks Our company will start by working on the walk paths as they are essential for the day to day building to building movement for the students and the members of staff. This will involve our committed team laying the foundation for the walk paths after which actual construction will commence. Renovation mostly of the existing parking lot will follow and addition of parking slots will be made, which will be located at close proximity with the main buildings. As the director I will personally get in contact with a reliable bus transport agency and ensure the need for the buses is sufficiently addressed. Deliverables A. A simple sketch has been provided that will clearly show the area the walk paths will cover and the area and location of the parking lots. In this sketch I will also have sketches of the buses the agency will provide for use. B. Manuals are provided to offer guidance to students and members of staff on how the walking paths connect and where and an indication of how the parking slots will be used. C. Bulbs and parking guides have been provided indication how the actual ones will look like. Project schedule Basically, the project will take us 11 months starting from the date the tender is awarded on May 30th 2013 to full completion: 1ST June -30TH September will involve ground work by lying of foundations which will be accompanied by delivery of construction materials. 1st October -31st December –actual work on walk paths will be administered and all basics will be completed. 1st January -31st March-construction of parking lots will commence and be completed accompanied by plans to ensure buses are well equipped and safe for use. 1st April-31st May-final touches on both the walk paths and parking lots and delivery of buses to Doha University premises. Project organization Our company is a committed to service delivery through well organized work schedules that are able to meet the requirements of our varied clients. We shall have the member of our team divided in three projects to make sure we give the best. The first tem will be involved in day to day ground work of working as first hand men, the second team will be involved in actual lying of building materials while the third team will ensure continuous material flow through operation of concrete machines and delivery of materials. The available resources will be organized in a material to resource basis to ensure that all accounts of the proposal are taken into account and addressed. Related experience ELVSH Contractors have been involved in a number of projects that are of a similar nature: we were involved in solving a transport problem of a manufacturing company that had 10 departments, almost 300 members of staff and over 10000 workers. We were able to design well stipulated walk paths and specified parking slots for the workers and the members of staff. Also, we have constructed various residential transport networks that link the various homes with the main city. Our company has also been involved in construction and renovation of various urban roads and at one time we renovated an airstrip including its lighting system. Our company mainly concentrates on construction and contraction and therefore we will be outsourcing the bus service from Graceland agencies. We chose Grace Bus services due to their experience in offering transport services for educational institutions, daycare centers and tourist companies. Graceland agencies also offer favorable packages. 3. Cost selection The cost estimates for the Doha university transportation [project will be made by the accounting department which will then be discussed by the heads of all departments to ensure that all important elements are put into consideration. Labor Our company has a set of well trained and experienced team and therefore we are committed towards staff motivation through fair compensation. Due to the tedious nature of our work we work from 8.00 AM to 4.00 PM and pay our staff after completion of the whole project depending on the level and nature of their contribution. Our team is made up of supervisors, actual handlers and first hand men. The estimated labor cost for the whole project which will involve 250of our team members will be $32 million. Materials The main materials that will be involved for construction include ballast, sand, building poles, bricks, water proof supplements, paint, bulbs and metallic poles. The estimated cost of building materials and electric equipment for the lighting is $50 million. Subcontractors and consultants Since we are a contraction company and do not have bus services we will be outsourcing as a way of meeting the need for your institution to have buses for transporting students and members of staff. We have arrangements with Grace Buses an agency that has agreed to outsource the service at an estimated cost of $5M annually including fuel and maintaince charges. Documentation For convince and accountability in terms of having a better picture I have provided manuals and reports that indicate the maintenance cost of the buses and an analysis of the cost involved in producing our own company made ballast for the project. Overhead As a result of depreciation and future repairs that may be required for the walk paths, parking lots and the buses we have placed the estimated cost at $8million. Escalation Owing to the fact that our project is likely to take almost a year, there is a likelihood of s change in market prices of some of the materials and equipments we require for the project. I will offer you the price of $100 million for the whole project but any increase in market elements will result to an upward shift to $120 million. Contingency Due to the risky nature of construction work sometimes our team members may be involved in unexpected accidents when operating machinery and other onsite activities and therefore to cover such unexpected occurrences we always place a fixed fee for emergency of $5million. Fee or profit Due to the consideration of our other company needs and the fact that we are a profit making enterprise we yearn to make a profit of $50 million thus making the total cost of the construction proposal by our company to be $150 million. Assessment of the RFP Step 1 The Doha university RFP proposal has met the requirement for providing a statement of Work (SOW). The proposal has Cleary stated the scope of work, with the customer laying down clearly the aspects that the contractors work will take into consideration such as building parking lots that are larger in capacity and that are able to take into account the needs of special groups within the campus. The proposal also lays out the types of path walks the contractor will be required to design. The request proposal therefore meets the Statement of Wok requirement of a formal proposal. Step 2 The Doha university request for proposal also meets the requirement of clearly stating the customer’s specifications. The request for proposal has clearly stated the customer specification which seeks to solve the transport problem in Doha University and therefore help in making it easier for students and members of staff to confidently move around the campus. Specifications have also been laid down on the need for buses, with the times they will be operating within the university clearly specified. Step 3 The request for a proposal is also required to clearly lay down the customer’s deliverables. This has been sufficiently addressed by the Doha university request for proposal which has clearly specified the tangible items the contractor will provide to the university as examples of what should be expected: A simple sketch has been provided that will clearly show the area the walk paths will cover and the area and location of the parking lots. In this sketch, there are also sketches of the buses the agency will provide for use. Manuals are provided to offer guidance to students and members of staff on how the walking paths connect and where, and an indication of how the parking slots will be used. Bulbs and parking guides have been provided, and an indication on how the actual ones will look like. Step 4 The request for proposal should also be able to list any customer supplied items. On this note, the request proposal for Doha University has failed to state whether there are any customer supplied items. The request proposal should have specified that Doha University will provide a copy of their logo which will be painted on the buses that will be used for transport within the university. Step 5 The request for a proposal is also required to clearly state the approvals that will be used by customers. The Doha University fails to state approvals by customers. This can be met by Doha University selecting part of their management staff that wills be in charge of revising the contractor’s provisions as specified by the deliverables. Step 6 The request for a proposal should also specify the type of contract the customer intends to use. This has not been met by the Doha University request for proposal but can be done by the contractor specifying that the contractor will be paid full amount including the risk of taking the loss that may be incurred in the process of improving transport around the campus. Step 7 Request for a proposal also specify the terms of payment that the customer intends to use. This condition has been sufficiently met by Doha University stating that they work of improving transport will be paid for at the end of completion of all the work at the university by taking into account the cost of materials, labor and profit. Step 8 The request for a proposal should also be able to sufficiently state a well specified schedule for completion of work. This has been sufficiently met by the Doha request for proposal which requires the walk paths and parking to be completed exactly one year from the issue of the tender. Step 9 The request for a proposal should also provide instructions for the format and the contents of the proposals. Doha University has put in place several requirements that any contractors interested in the offer should include in their proposal such as deliverables, cost and experience among others. Step 10 The RFP should also specify the due dates for submitting the proposals by contractors. The Doha University has clearly stated the date for submitting the proposals before award of the tender on 30th May. Step 11 The RFP should also be able to include particular criteria for selecting the contractor. This has been met by the Doha university proposal which has stated the first criteria for choosing a contractor as being able to sufficiently solve the transport problem, have a reliable experience and the ability to meet the specified schedule. Read More