Sabic is a petrochemical manufacturer. It wants to digitalise its operation and is looking for new IT system. The procurement manager approaches this matter with a through-life specification. He supposes that stating “good quality” in the specification will be enough for quality standard section. Is the procurement manager’s thought appropriate?

Sabic is a petrochemical manufacturer. It wants to digitalise its operation and is looking for new IT system. The procurement manager approaches this matter with a through-life specification. He supposes that stating “good quality” in the specification will be enough for quality standard section. Is the procurement manager’s thought appropriate?
A . Yes, because the specification should be concise.
B . No, because “good quality” is an in-house jargon that suppliers are not familiar with
C . Yes, because IT sector has its own standard of quality, therefore, suppliers may deliver good quality without any further explanation
D . No, because “good quality” is very ambiguous for suppliers to identify Sabic’s re-quirement

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Answer: D

Explanation:

Specifications for through-life contracts must be clear. They should use precise technical language and avoid any ambiguity as much as possible. In most cases, ‘good quality’ is ambiguous. The con-tractor doesn’t know exactly which product the buying organisation needs and how to supply that product.

Other notices for description of requirement are:

– Short and simply description

– Clear definitions at the beginning of the documents

– Clarify abbreviations (if any), but abbreviations should be avoided as much as possible

– Avoid any ‘slang’

– Use imperative forms of language whenever possible.

LO 3, AC 3.2