With Cobrief, Inventura can experiment more: – Gives us a strategic advantage

Thomas Tinnesand sits in Inventura's Oslo office at Fridtjof Nansens Plass, with a view straight down to Rådhusplassen. He is a partner and head of sales and marketing, and points toward the city hall.

Thomas Tinnesand, partner and head of sales and marketing at Inventura.

– It feels almost symbolic that we can look right down at one of the most iconic public buildings in the country. A large part of our job is about understanding how the public sector works, and how we can navigate the tenders that are published, he says.

At the Stavanger office sits his colleague Karl Sletbakk, a lawyer and Bid Manager for the public sector.

He is the one who first gets tenders on the table. Every day, he is responsible for identifying new competitions, evaluating them, and passing them on within the organisation.

Karl Sletbakk, lawyer and bid manager for the public sector at Inventura.

– We submit well over a hundred proposals per year and evaluate perhaps three times as many competitions. Having processes and tools that make the work more efficient is absolutely critical, he says.

Assisting others with tender work

Inventura is today one of Norway's most experienced advisory firms in procurement and purchasing.

The company assists public contracting authorities with needs analyses, competition strategies and contract documents, and manages tender processes from start to finish.

At the same time, they help private suppliers navigate the public tender market – a landscape many find both demanding and difficult to navigate.

– We lead major tenders on behalf of contracting authorities, but we also participate ourselves when the public sector requests procurement assistance. This gives us a unique understanding of the mechanisms in the market, and it enables us to help our clients deliver better, says Tinnesand.

Cobrief became a game changer

For both Tinnesand and Sletbakk, the introduction of Cobrief marks a clear before-and-after in how they work with tenders.

Previously, they had to go to platforms like Doffin, open documents and read through multiple pages to understand what a competition was really about.

Today, they get everything straight in their inbox. Cobrief extracts key parameters such as scope, requirements, duration, value and competence requirements – making the evaluation far easier.

– We followed the development closely, and when the features were in place, the timing was right to switch. Now Cobrief is an integrated part of how we work, says Sletbakk.

Tinnesand nods and adds:

– The summary allows us to make a go/no-go decision in minutes. We avoid spending time on false leads. It frees up capacity and lets us focus our energy on the competitions that really matter, says Thomas Tinnesand at Inventura.

– Gives us a strategic advantage

Tender titles can often be misleading, but with Cobrief, Inventura gets the context needed to distinguish relevant from irrelevant.

A classic example is when a title reads "procurement of excavator". Previously, Karl Sletbakk had to open the tender document to check whether it was about buying the machine – which is not relevant – or about providing assistance in procuring it, which is right at the core of their business.

– Now I can see it in the summary in seconds, explains Sletbakk.

Increased efficiency is as much about quality as it is about speed. According to Sletbakk, Inventura saves around fifteen minutes per competition in the initial screening.

When the company evaluates approximately 300 competitions per year, that amounts to nearly two working weeks freed up.

For Tinnesand, the flexibility is equally important.

– When the cost of evaluating new markets decreases, it becomes easier to experiment. We can explore areas outside our comfort zone without tying up a lot of time. That gives us a strategic advantage.

– A benefit for all of society

As an advisory firm, Inventura has built deep expertise in both private and public tenders. Tinnesand and Sletbakk are happy to share their experiences with others who want to succeed in a demanding market.

– Read the formal requirements carefully. In the private market, you can sometimes get away with deviations, but in public competitions you risk being rejected, says Tinnesand.

Sletbakk nods.

– Many underestimate how much time it takes to create a good proposal. You cannot simply use a standard presentation you would send to a private client. You need quality systems, documentation, and you must tailor each proposal to the specific competition. If you do not take it seriously, you will be left on the outside.

For both of them, it is clear that tools like Cobrief make the entry easier.

– Public contracting authorities want competition. When suppliers more easily discover and understand tenders, they receive more quality proposals. That is absolutely a benefit for society, says Tinnesand.