Competitive tendering is how organisations ensure they are getting the best value from their supply markets. But running a competitive tender — from event creation through bid evaluation to contract award — is one of the most labour-intensive activities in procurement.
Many organisations have invested in Oracle Fusion Cloud Procurement to manage their source-to-pay processes. Oracle Fusion provides a strong transactional foundation, but procurement teams frequently find that the platform's native sourcing capabilities do not fully support the complexity of competitive tendering in practice.
That is exactly the gap CherryPicker RFx was built to fill. Developed by Sharpe Project Consulting (SPC3), CherryPicker RFx is a bid management and tendering solution designed specifically for organisations running Oracle Fusion Cloud. It extends the platform's native capabilities to deliver a complete, structured competitive tendering experience.
The Challenge: Where Oracle Fusion's Native Sourcing Falls Short
Oracle Fusion Cloud Procurement includes a Sourcing module that supports the creation and management of negotiations — RFQs, RFPs, and auctions. For straightforward sourcing events, this functionality is sufficient.
However, enterprise procurement teams regularly encounter scenarios that push beyond native capabilities:
- Complex evaluation frameworks: Multi-criteria weighted scoring with multiple evaluators, where consensus management and score moderation are required
- Multi-round events: Sequential RFI, RFP, and BAFO rounds where data and evaluation history need to carry forward
- Document-heavy tenders: Construction, infrastructure, and professional services tenders that involve extensive document packs
- Compliance-critical processes: Public sector and regulated industry tenders where every action must be auditable and defensible
- Collaborative evaluation: Large evaluation panels with role-based access, where not every evaluator scores every criterion
When these scenarios arise, procurement teams typically resort to spreadsheets, email, and manual workarounds. This introduces risk, extends timelines, and undermines the investment in Oracle Fusion.
How CherryPicker RFx Solves These Challenges
CherryPicker RFx is not a replacement for Oracle Fusion's sourcing module — it is an extension. It works with Oracle Fusion, leveraging the platform's supplier data, catalogue information, and approval workflows while adding the tendering-specific capabilities that procurement teams need.
Structured Sourcing Events
CherryPicker RFx provides a structured framework for managing every type of sourcing event:
- Event templates: Create reusable templates for common sourcing scenarios — from simple RFQs to complex multi-stage RFPs
- Configurable workflows: Define the stages, gates, and approval points that match your organisation's governance requirements
- Lot and line management: Structure events with lots, line items, and sub-lots to match the complexity of your requirements
Templates ensure consistency across the organisation, regardless of which procurement professional is managing the event.
Advanced Bid Evaluation
Bid evaluation is where CherryPicker RFx delivers the most significant improvement over manual processes.
- Multi-criteria scoring frameworks: Define unlimited evaluation criteria with percentage weightings at the header, lot, or line level
- Scoring rubrics: Build detailed rubrics that define what each score level means, ensuring evaluator consistency
- Multi-evaluator workflows: Assign evaluators to specific criteria based on their expertise, with role-based access controls
- Automated score aggregation: Individual scores are automatically weighted, aggregated, and ranked — no spreadsheets required
- Consensus management: Identify scoring outliers, facilitate consensus discussions, and record consensus decisions with full traceability
- Real-time dashboards: Track evaluation progress across all evaluators and criteria in real time
These capabilities transform bid evaluation from a manual, error-prone activity into a structured, efficient, and defensible process.
Multi-Round RFx Management
Complex procurements often involve multiple rounds — an RFI to understand the market, an RFP to solicit detailed proposals, and a BAFO to sharpen offers from shortlisted suppliers.
CherryPicker RFx manages multi-round events seamlessly:
- Round-to-round data continuity: Supplier information, evaluation history, and scoring data carry forward between rounds
- Shortlisting workflows: Move suppliers from one round to the next based on evaluation outcomes
- Round-specific evaluation criteria: Adapt your evaluation framework for each round while maintaining overall consistency
- Complete audit trail: Every round, every score, and every decision is captured in a single, continuous record
Compliance and Audit Trails
For organisations operating in regulated environments — public sector, utilities, resources, financial services — compliance is non-negotiable.
CherryPicker RFx provides:
- Automatic audit logging: Every action — document access, score entry, criteria change, supplier communication — is logged with user, timestamp, and context
- Probity controls: Conflict of interest declarations, Chinese wall enforcement, and evaluator independence safeguards
- Exportable compliance reports: Generate audit-ready evaluation reports, communication logs, and decision records at the click of a button
- Version control: Full version history of all tender documents, addenda, and supplier responses
Supplier Experience
A professional supplier experience is critical for attracting quality bids. CherryPicker RFx provides:
- Clear, structured response templates that guide suppliers through the submission process
- Centralised clarification management with transparent Q&A processes
- Automated notifications for event milestones, addenda, and outcome communications
- Consistent branding and presentation that reflects well on your organisation
Integration With Oracle Fusion Cloud
CherryPicker RFx is designed to work within the Oracle Fusion Cloud ecosystem, not alongside it. Key integration points include:
- Supplier master: Leverage Oracle Fusion's supplier records for invitation and qualification
- Catalogue and item data: Pull item descriptions, categories, and specifications from Oracle Fusion
- Approval workflows: Route award recommendations through Oracle Fusion's approval hierarchies
- Contract creation: Flow awarded pricing and terms into Oracle Fusion purchase agreements
- Reporting: Consolidated reporting across sourcing events and procurement transactions
This integration means procurement teams work within a single ecosystem rather than toggling between disconnected tools.
Real-World Impact
Organisations that have implemented CherryPicker RFx alongside Oracle Fusion Cloud report measurable improvements:
- 40-60% reduction in evaluation cycle time through automated scoring and parallel evaluation workflows
- Elimination of spreadsheet-based evaluation errors through structured, system-enforced scoring
- Stronger supplier participation thanks to professional, consistent tender processes
- Full audit compliance with zero additional effort for compliance documentation
These are not theoretical benefits. They are the practical outcomes of replacing manual, fragmented tendering processes with a structured, integrated solution.
Beyond CherryPicker: The SPC3 Product Suite
CherryPicker RFx is part of Sharpe Project Consulting's broader suite of procurement and ERP solutions for Oracle Fusion Cloud. Depending on your organisation's needs, it can be complemented by:
- EVA for supplier evaluation and performance management
- Sorbee for contract lifecycle management
- Catalogue for procurement catalogue management
Together, these products create a comprehensive procurement technology layer on top of Oracle Fusion Cloud.
Getting Started
If your procurement team is managing competitive tenders with spreadsheets and email — or if Oracle Fusion's native sourcing capabilities are not meeting your needs — CherryPicker RFx offers a clear path forward.
Sharpe Project Consulting brings deep expertise in both procurement process design and Oracle Fusion Cloud implementation. We do not just install software — we help you design processes that deliver results and embed them in technology that your team will actually use.
Get in touch to see how CherryPicker RFx can transform competitive tendering in your organisation.