Via the Newtron supplier portal, registered suppliers are visible to more than 1,000 buying companies from all industries and can participate in tenders and auctions. Premium suppliers can also present their product portfolio in the catalog area and make their items immediately orderable for buying companies. Learn more about our supplier accounts or start directly:
1. General
All you need to access the platform is an up-to-date, graphics-enabled Internet browser. We recommend using one of the subsequent internet browsers in the following minimum versions: Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.0, Mozilla Firefox 10.0, Google Chrome 10 and Apple Safari 8 or Opera 5 including all security updates.
You can register online for a free Basic Account or a paid Professional Account on Newtron’s homepage section for Suppliers, where the various options are described in detail. Basic access allows you to manage your company profile and LSAs as well as to participate in tenders.
The Professional Account offers you the a more extensive range of options:
• Introductory webinar for managing your company profile with lots of valuable hints
• Presentation of bids for tenders and auctions (price, ranking and traffic light auction) using test scenarios
• Top ranking promotion with international coverage
• Prioritized representation on Newtron’s homepage and in the business directory (incl. logo)
• Detailed company profile including logo & representation in any number of material groups
• Unlimited number of users
• Telephone helpdesk with Newtron contact person (callback service, prioritized processing, personal remote support via TeamViewer sessions)
• Self-promotion through representation on the advertisement board incl. free sale of excess stock or used goods via the advertisement board
• Publication of your own inquiry in the RFX Light modus
• Unlimited participation in negotiations, e.g. auctions, including support
• Presentation of news, additional information and references
• Presentation of the entire product portfolio in the FlyCat catalog – Your products can be ordered immediately by buying companies.
You have received an invitation from your customers by email with a request to register via the portal.
After you have clicked on the link “Register Now” in the invitation, the portal page opens in your browser window. To register, please click on the “Register Now” button. Please read FAQ 1.4.: Registration on the Newtron platform.
After clicking on the “Register Now” button, you must begin by entering the company data. The fields marked with an asterisk (*) such as company name and address are mandatory fields which you must fill in to complete the registration.
Once the company data has been completed, you will be taken to the “Contact person” tab. Once you have made your entries, click on “Register”.
Newtron GmbH’s Customer Service team will check your registration and, if necessary, compare it with existing entries. After verification you will receive an email with your login details.
With access to the Basic Account, you can manage your company profile and LSAs as well as participate in calls for tenders. You also have a variety of features as additional options. For information on the additional benefits of a Professional Account, see FAQ 1.2.: Using the platform as supplier/seller.
Click on the “Login” button in the upper right-hand corner of the Newtron website www.newtron.de/en or www.newtron.net/web/nmarkets and change language at the right side. The welcome page appears. After you have entered your username and password in the upper left corner, please click on “Login”.
The Newtron trading platform is also available with individual customer designs. If you use the platform with multiple customers, you may see a customized user interface when you access the platform (e. g. directly via the link in an invitation email). However, the functions will remain unchanged.
The automatically generated password you received by email is a temporary password, which must be changed after the first login for security reasons.
In the ADMINISTRATE section of the menu, select “Own Login”. In this view you can enter your new password in the pre-selected “Contact” tab. The new password must be at least 6 characters long. It must contain letters and at least one number. Special characters are not allowed.
To confirm, enter this password a second time in the line with the same name and complete the process by clicking on the “Save” button. The new validity period is now displayed.
By default, the password is valid for 90 days. If you wish to increase the validity of all new passwords to 360 days company-wide (prerequisite: function Company Master), this option can be activated by clicking on the corresponding button.
2 Structure of the trade platform
After logging in, you will be taken to the platform dashboard. From this homepage you can access all functions of the marketplace that have been released for your login.
In the upper menu you have various jump options. The “Dashboard” or “Home” button always brings you back to the homepage.
After logging in, click on “Cockpit” in the top menu to access your personal cockpit. With the help of the personal cockpit, you are always kept up to date on current transactions, such as your own and public negotiations. By clicking on the number buttons, all transactions are displayed.
After logging in, you will reach the menu by clicking on the corresponding button in the upper area. There you will find all functions of the platform. In the trade directory you can search for companies that offer specific products or services. You receive inquiries about the negotiation overview and you can access the supplier questionnaires by clicking on supplier self-assessment.
In the “MANAGE” section of the MENU under Newtron-Account you can edit your company presentation and your personal data and login settings. We recommend that you specify your product portfolio. This will show you in the trading directory and you may also be invited to negotiate new customers (see 3.1 reference to company profile).
If you use FlyCat (catalogue) to make your product portfolio available for buyers, please have a look at the menu item MANAGE/Purchasing management/Catalogue management (VA – Vendor Area).
After logging in, click on the corresponding button in the upper area to access the messages you have received about your activities via the platform.
In the “New messages” section you will see all news generated automatically by the Newtron trading platform or by customers. These are also forwarded via email directly to your inbox. All messages can be displayed using a powerful search and filter system.
Depending on where you are, you will see a vertically arranged menu baron the right side of the screen, offering you many more features. Move your mouse directly over the respective icon (mouseover) so that the stored functions (e.g. own login, negotiation search, last activities, language setting) are displayed.
The preparation of tenders or other requests in some cases comprise numerous work steps. The Wizard or Assistant on the right side of the screen guides you through the various steps up to delivery – in addition to the respective processing instructions – to make processes even clearer.
All steps of the query are listed in the wizard, the current processing step is highlighted in color.
3. Administration (company profile, logins, customer contacts)
You are in the menu (see 2.3). In the MANAGE section, select “Newtron Account” and press the “Edit” button in the “Internal view” line. Here the tabs General/Company Figures/References/ Links/Appendices/Contact persons/Addresses/Quality management/Production can be filled with information. After editing, the information is saved by pressing the corresponding button.
The company profile is of great importance, as it can draw the attention of interested companies to your company.
In the menu (see 2.3) select “Newtron-Account” in the MANAGE section and select the button “Create new login” at the bottom right.
Now enter all information about the employee in the “Contact” tab. Fields marked with a “*” are mandatory and must be filled in. A password must also be assigned and confirmed. Please be sure to tell the employee the login number and the password you have assigned!
Please remember after entering the contact information of the user in the tab “Contact” to also activate as a seller by clicking on the tab “Login rights” under Sharing in the selection menu item “As Seller” by clicking on “Share”. You can then assign the required rights by setting the corresponding check mark and then saving.
The newly created login now appears in the login overview and can be assigned as a contact person in customer management.
IMPORTANT: Only master logins are allowed to create new logins and edit the company profile! To check, please check in the login overview (MENU/MANAGE/ Own login) whether your login is of the type “Master”.
Other logins can only be processed if you have master rights (see 3.2).
In the menu (see 2.3) select “Newtron-Account” under MANAGE and first select the editthe login by clicking on the login number. Then confirm the “Edit” button, which is usually preselected in the selection menu at the bottom right by clicking on the “Execute” button.
In the tab Login Rights you can now assign the rights of the contact person by setting the corresponding check mark and then saving.
To ensure that the correct processor in your company receives information on new tenders or changes in current tenders for a particular customer, you can define one or more contact persons for each customer. Multiple assignment is allowed.
Other logins can only be processed if you have master rights (see 3.2).
In the menu (see 2.3) select “Customer Management” in the MANAGE section. In the “Company Name” line in the filter, you can enter the name of the customer for whom you want to set as the contact person. Under “Category” please select “no selection” to ensure that all possible hits are displayed. Then click on the “Search” button.
Now you get an overview of all hits found on the trading platform based on the company name (only purchasing companies are displayed).
Select the purchasing company by checking the box to the left of the company name. The selected companies are displayed at the bottom for control. Then click on the large “Next” button in the wizard area on the right.
In the next step, please open the tab “Contact person management”. Here you can select the employee who is to be responsible for this customer from the selection list and click on the “Assign” button to complete the assignment. If several employees are to be responsible for the customer, repeat the process. The employees are then responsible for all aspects of the customer.
In the new window, please select in the “Contact Person” tab the employee of your company who will be responsible for a specific area of responsibility with the customer. Below you can find the areas of responsibility that your employee can take on, such as “Assigning other types”, by clicking on “Show”, “Supplier Supplier Portal”, “Order Processing / WEBEDI” or something similar. The assignment is completed by saving. Otherwise, the employee is responsible for all matters relating to the selected customer.
The employee now receives the customer’s orders directly or is invited to the customer’s inquiries.
Please note that you can only select employees as contact persons who have been created as logins on the trading platform in your company entry. In the menu under “Newtron-Account” you can view all created company logins (see 3.2. How do I create new logins and assign rights?
4 Supplier Self-Assessment
To view all supplier questionnaires to which your company is currently invited, select in the MENU under REQUEST the item Supplier self-assesment to see the corresponding list.
(Alternatively, these are also displayed on the HOME page in the dashboard as a colored tile “New supplier self-assessment” or “Public supplier self-assessment” or they can be viewed via the COCKPIT in the Supplier self-assessment line by clicking on the number of requests displayed in the right column).
On the page that now appears, the overview of current SSA self-assessments is displayed.
In the upper area you will find the supplier self-assessments to which you have been invited directly by your customer.
In the lower area, public SSA self-assessments of other active customers are displayed on the Newtron trading platform. You have the opportunity to apply to other interesting customers as a supplier.
The overview of the SSA displays the status of the processing of your self-assessments:
green symbol -> SSA sent
yellow symbol -> SSA in process
Red symbol -> SSA rejected by customer
Click on the ID number e.g. “lsa100000” to get to a detailed view of the individual requests. Click on the tool symbol on the far right to go directly to editing.
You have clicked on the number of the SSA, e.g. lsa100000, and now see the stored header data, cover letter and basic data. At the bottom right you can now choose between “Cancel participation” and “Edit self-assessment”.
This view may also be preceded by a confidentiality agreement. You must then confirm acceptance of the confidentiality agreement by selecting the corresponding checkbox and then save it in order to be able to view the supplier self-assessment data. If the confidentiality agreement is followed, you will be asked for confirmation at the beginning of the processing.
At the beginning of processing, please confirm the one-time note on master data information. Please note that general data, such as your address, will be transferred to your company profile (MENU/Administration) on the Newtron trading platform and can be accessed by all registered users in the trading directory.
All mandatory fields in the SSA are marked with an asterisk* and must be answered in order to be able to send the SSA. After processing the questionnaire, the SSA can be temporarily saved by clicking on the corresponding button. Cached requests can be processed later in the MENU/REQUEST/Supplier self-assessment.
Before the processed SSA is sent, a check is possible by clicking the corresponding button. To send the SSA, select the “Send” button. After successful dispatch of the SSA you will receive a shipping notification.
The purchaser receives a message and can then invite you online to make inquiries.
5. Tender
To view all the negotiations to which your company is currently invited, in the MENU in the INQUIRES section, select “Inquiries” (see 2.3).
Alternatively, these are also displayed on the homepage (HOME) in the dashboard (see 2.1) as colored tiles “New Calls” or “Public Calls” or can be viewed via the COCKPIT (see 2.2) by clicking on the displayed number of requests.
The status of the bid invitation is displayed in the negotiation overview.
Green: Negotiation currently in progress
Red: Negotiation is ended
Yellow: Negotiation has not yet begun
You are in the overview of negotiations and see the corresponding list (see 5.1)
To view the tender details that have been deposited for you by the purchaser, please click on the relevant tender ID (e.g., rfx123456).
In the bidding view on the next page, you can view both the header information (title, contact person of the requesting company, term) and the negotiation data (contract information, attachments, item details).
You are in the overview of negotiations and see the corresponding list (see 5.1)
By clicking on the box to the left of the corresponding invitation to tender, you can directly select via the button at the bottom right either “Confirmation of participation” or “Cancel participation”.
You are in the tender invitation view (s. 5.2 Tender details).
To create your offer , click on “Create offer” in the lower right section of the Activities area.
You are now asked to fill in all required fields. Please note that here too the fields marked with the star symbol (*) must be completed before you can send the offer.
In addition to direct entry into the system, an offer can also be created offline using an Excel table. In the latter case, click the “Excel Download (Template)” button at the bottom right (see 8.1).
If you enter data directly into the system, you can also interrupt processing after saving and continue it at a later point in time. To do this, click the “Buffer” button on the right side of the WIZARD (see 2.6).
Once you have made all the entries, click on “Submit offer”; only then does your offer for the responsible buyer become visible and retrievable.
6. Auction
To view all the negotiations to which your company is currently invited, select “Inquiries” (see 2.3) in the MENU in the INQUIRES section. In addition to auctions (e.g., a123456), other types of requests are also displayed here, e.g. tenders (e.g., rfx123456).
In addition, the auctions are also displayed on the home page (HOME) in the dashboard (see 2.1) as colored tiles “New auctions” or can be viewed via the COCKPIT (see 2.2) by clicking on the number of queries displayed.
The order auction (Reverse Auction) is a form of negotiation in which the buyer requests a service and suppliers undercut each other in price for providing this service. The reverse auction on Newtron can be carried out as a price, ranking or traffic light auction. In individual cases, the auction types can be combined.
The client is partially not not obligated to choose the supplier with the lowest price. He is free to decide which supplier to award the contract to (good evaluation, proximity, etc., are also very important). No automatic contract allocation takes place. The award procedure communicated by the purchaser applies.
1. Receipt of invitation mail after opening of auction by buyer
2. Log in to Newtron to see auction details
3. Confirm or cancel your participation on Newtron
4. Independent training in a test auction or together with Customer Services
5. Creation of a bid template for extensive price items
6. Timely bidding of the 1st bid -> contact Newtron immediately in case of problems (see 9).
7. Submit desired follow-up bids, taking into account the remaining time
8. At the end of the auction, the buyer independently evaluates the auction.
-> Please contact the purchaser directly with regard to the award of the contract!
a)Price auction
The price auction is very transparent for suppliers because the bidders see the competitor prices directly. However, the market situation is usually only visible after the first own bid has been placed. One or more items can be assigned completely (m2s auction) or different packages can be negotiated (m2m auction). In the case of a package auction, a bid must be submitted for each package individually. You can, but do not have to bid on all packages. Partial bids within a package are not possible.
b)Ranking auction
In a ranking auction, the supplier receives a direct ranking display, e.g. rank 3, after submitting his first bid. This means that two bidders have placed cheaper bids. The difference to the best bid is not displayed to the vendor. One or more items can be assigned completely (m2s auction) or different packages can be negotiated (m2m auction). In the case of a package auction, a bid must be submitted for each package individually. You can, but do not have to bid on all packages. Partial bids within a package are not possible.
c)Traffic light auction
The traffic light auction is a special form of ranking auction in which the supplier’s ranking is not displayed directly but as the color status of green, yellow or red. The auction is also called target price auction because the purchaser enters a target price , the achievement or non-achievement of which is displayed to the supplier. One or more items can be assigned completely (m2s auction) or different packages can be negotiated (m2m auction). In the case of a package auction, a bid must be submitted for each package individually. You can, but do not have to bid on all packages. Partial bids within a package are not possible.
The bidder receives feedback on his bid with the color status:
RED: The bid is far from the target price; bad bid compared to the competition
YELLOW: The bid is in midfield.
GREEN: The supplier is the best bidder AND has reached the target price.
In most cases, target price information is displayed. As soon as you have reached the target price, the display changes from “Target price deposited” to “Target price reached”.
You are in the Request overview (see 6.1 “Where can I find the auctions to which my company is invited?”). Click on the ID number to get to a detailed view of the individual requests, e.g. “lsa126028”.
The color icon to the left of the request number shows you the current negotiation status:
Yellow bordered = not started
Partly yellow = will start shortly
Red = expired
Green = currently running (test auctions usually run for several days until the start of the live auction)
In Auction view you will find different tabs in the Auction Data area below Header Information, Opener and Runtime:
The “Mode” tab displays information about the auction type and renewal modalities.
In the “Item data” tab you have an overview of all items for which a price must be submitted. Partial bids are not possible in an auction.
In the case of a package auction, the tab is called “Packages”. It gives you an overview of all packages and all items per package. You can, but do not have to bid on all packages. Partial bids within a package are not possible.
To view further details such as conditions, delivery and contract data, please click on the respective tab. There is often little data stored here because it should be known from the call for tenders.
The different areas, such as auction data or activities, can be minimized or maximized by clicking on the arrow symbol on the right side of the line.
If the auction is already running, the auction data area is minimized and the activities area below it is maximized, since bidding takes place here (see point 6.9 Bidding).
In the case of a package auction, you will find a package overview here, where you can see the runtime of the individual packages or click on the package names or the hammer symbol to access the respective packages.
Please inform the buyer via Newtron in good time before the auction starts whether you would like to participate in the auction or not. To do so, in the auction view (see 6.4) , under PARTICIPATE, select the item “Accept participation”.
If you cannot or do not want to participate in the auction, please select”Cancel participation” in the auction view at the bottom right. On the following page, select a reason for rejection and then click on “Send rejection”.
In most cases there is a test auction parallel to the real auction.
This test auction is for practice only and has the same auction mode and structure as the live auction. The item data, quantities & prices are fictitious. All test bids are absolutely non-binding.
The test auction is indicated as such in the overview by a corresponding symbol in front of the title and in the auction details by the text reference “Test auction”. In addition, you will find corresponding information on the Conditions tab and in the item data.
You can place an unlimited number of test bids until you feel familiar with the auction process. The Customer Services Team will be happy to assist you (see 9 contact data Newtron).
The creation of a bid template before the auction starts is optional and recommended when numerous items are being negotiated. It means that you can set your prices in the system before the auction starts, so that you can then quickly send the 1st bid at the start of the auction.
You are in the auction view (see 6.4 auction details). Now select “Create bid template” and click on “Run”. Open the item view by clicking on the folder symbol on the left. After you have entered your price, click on “Save partial bid”. To save the bid template, click on “Create bid template”.
Important: When the live auction starts, you must submit your bid online! The text indicates the start of the auction.
Note: If the auction was created on Newtron from a previous bid invitation, the action “Transfer last bid from pre-negotiation” is displayed. Click on “Execute” before you enter the prices again.
You are in the auction view (see 6.4 auction details).
First bid:
For an auction without packages, select bidding in the bid monitor in the lower-right corner of the screen “Create Bid“ .
For an auction with packages, please go to the “Current packages” section and click directly on the hammer icon next to the package you want to bid for.
Important:
Bidding is only possible after the auction has started, the option “Create Bid” or the hammer symbol is not visible beforehand. The end of the auction is then automatically displayed in hours/minutes at the bottom left. It is recommended to check the box in front of “Refresh” at the bottom right, so that the auction view is automatically updated every 30 seconds.
If necessary, you must first accept any contract characteristics (such as auction rules) or set the bid validity. By pressing “Next” at the far right, you confirm the general conditions specified by the purchaser for this auction. These will be used for all other bids of the auction or the package.
Enter the price for the 1st item and confirm it with “Save Part Bid” (for system messages that appear, see 6.11 Important Definitions and Hints for Auction).
To open the next item, please click on the white folder symbol on the left.
Once all prices have been set, check your bid and click on “Send bid”.
After sending the offer you will receive a confirmation including the bid number. Please click on “Continue to the auction view”. Depending on the auction type you will receive different information from the system (see 6.10 What information about your own status will I get after placing a bid).
Further bids:
If you want to place a follow-up bid for an auction without packages, select “Create bid” again in the lower area of the “Bid monitor” view.
If you want to place a follow-up bid for a specific package, click on the hammer icon to the left of the package name again in the “Current packages” view.
Variant 1: Enter new prices manually
You go straight to item processing and can change your prices individually for each item. To do this, open the small folder symbol on the left and confirm your entry with “Save partial bid”. To submit your next bid, click on “Submit bid”.
Variant 2: Pricing using a percentage discount
If you want to enter a percentage discount for all items, enter the percentage and click on “Calculate”. Any additional costs are not reduced.
To submit your next bid, click on “Submit bid”. Note any minimum bid difference that may have to be met (see 6.11 Important Definitions and Notes).
After sending the offer you will receive another confirmation including bid number, unless you have hidden the confirmation. Please click on “Continue to the auction view”.
We only recommend submitting bids with the Excel offer template in the event that a large number of items are negotiated.
You are in the auction view (see 6.4 Auction details) and you can download the Excel table in the download area at the bottom right (see also 8.1).
In the case of a package auction, you must first go to the relevant package. You start the bidding process as usual with “Create bid” or by clicking on the hammer symbol for a package auction. Then click on “Activate Excel” in the “Edit items” area on the right.
If necessary, any auction conditions or other boundary conditions must first be accepted by clicking on “Next”.
Attention!
To avoid confusion when uploading your bids to the Newtron system, make sure you save the Excel tables with different names. (e.g. bid_1_a123000; bid_2_a123000 etc.)
To upload your Excel bid, locate your saved file using the “Browse” button and then click “Upload”.
After checking your bid, click on “Submit bid”. You will receive a confirmation and then click on “Continue to the auction view”.
With a price auction without packages, you will see your best bid and the best bid of the competition (if available), including the difference between your bid and the best bid directly in the bid monitor. In a price auction with packages, you can see the current best bid per package in the “Current packages” view. In a price auction, in addition to the bid monitor, you can follow the course of the auction in a graphic. To do this, click on “Chart” at the bottom left. Green points in the chart are separate bids. All competitor bids are displayed anonymously in purple.
In a ranking auction without packages you can see your ranking directly in the bid monitor. In a ranking auction with packages, you can see your ranking per package in the “Current packages” view. If you are rank 1, it is displayed in green.
With a traffic light auction without packages you can see your color status directly in the bid monitor. In a traffic light auction with packages you can see your color status per package in the “Current packages” view – for further information, e.g. regarding reaching the target price, click on the package name.
The information from the bid monitor is also displayed in a monitor on the right-hand side of the screen.
Various notices, warnings or error messages may appear during the bidding process. Here is an overview of the most important messages:
Maximum price
The auction often sets a maximum price. This means that higher prices can not be given.
If your bid is more than 10% below the maximum price, you will receive a message which you must answer with “YES” (I really want to give such a low price) or “NO” (I mistyped).
Minimum bid difference
If you want to submit further bids after bidding, you must pay attention to the minimum bid difference. The total price of your new bid must be less than your last bid minus the minimum bid difference.
In the case of a price auction with a standard setting, you must underbid the best price of the competition minus the minimum bid difference from the second bid in order to be able to submit the bid.
Possible lifetime extension of the auction
Depending on the mode set and the associated options, the entire auction or certain packages can be extended when new bids are received. This gives you the opportunity to send another bid if, for example, you have been underbid shortly before the end of the auction.
The settings for extension defined in the respective auction can be viewed in the “Mode” tab under Auction renewal .
Automatic screen refresh
Once you have reached your desired color status, ranking or best bid, you can continue to monitor the course of the auction. Please note that the check mark in the lower right corner is set in front of “Update”, so that the auction view is automatically updated every 30 seconds.
In the auction view (see 6.4) please switch from the bid monitor to the tab “Sent bids”. Here you can see your own bids and all anonymous competing bids in a price auction.
For an auction with packages, first go to the “Package overview” and click on the respective package name. In the package view, please switch from the bid monitor to the “Bids” tab.
To view the details of a specific bid, click directly on the bid number (e.g. “b135439”). At the bottom left you will see the button “Print offer”. If you want to print out all items including specification texts, you can activate the print settings at the top of the print view by ticking the box “Show many details”. Now click on “Update print preview”. You can then print out the offer by clicking on the corresponding button.
Once the auction has expired, you can call up the auction in two ways:
a) Use the negotiation search in the Wizard in the upper right corner by entering the auction ID number and then clicking on the displayed search result.
b) In “Overview requests” change the default filter for the status to “Finished” and click on “Search”.
