The concept of reverse auctions for engineering products and services is not a new one. In the heady days of the 1970s, when Britain (with the help of a number of American companies) was rushing to develop its newly found offshore oil, they were common place. Large engineering companies in the petro-chemical sector would regularly set-up a number of booths in their offices and having assured themselves that the tenders they had received were adequate, a compliant supplier would be installed in each. The purchaser would then visit the first booth and note the price offered before visiting the next booth. Here the incumbent supplier would be shown the price of his competitor and asked to undercut it. If the supplier did so, his price would then be taken to the next booth where the process would be repeated; if the price was not beaten, the unfortunate supplier would be invited to leave. This process would continue until only one supplier remained.
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