3-Line Summary
- Innovative product designation is a starting point. Demand agencies review the information and attached documents listed on the Innovation Marketplace to determine whether to conduct a pilot use or purchase, so if this information is missing, even designated products may not be selected.
- 4 documents to prepare before the demand survey: ① Matching of the designation certificate and marketplace registration information (model name, designation scope) ② Price calculation basis ③ Installation conditions and deliverable quantity ④ Maintenance and after-sales service confirmation.
- Deadline: The demand survey schedule varies each year and with each announcement. It’s often too late to make changes after the announcement is released, so it’s safer to check the marketplace information 2-3 weeks before the announcement.
Table of Contents
- Changes in procurement inquiries as October approaches
- Why there were no orders for 3 months after receiving the designation certificate
- How does innovative product designation connect with the demand survey?
- 4 documents to prepare before the demand survey
- A line where the designation certificate and marketplace information do not match
- Materials rewritten to allow the demand agency representative to submit for approval
- Submission deadline and subsequent results
- Administrative agent office work and practical checklist
1. Changes in procurement inquiries as October approaches
I am an administrative agent (administrative scrivener) with an office located in Songdo, Incheon. I would like to introduce an episode I encountered while working.
As late September arrives, the nature of procurement inquiries changes slightly. In spring and summer, there are many introductory questions such as “How do I register on the KONEPS (Korea ON-line E-Procurement System)?” and “When do I receive direct production confirmation?”. As we move into autumn, the number of questions like “I received the designation, but why haven’t I received any contact?” increases. This is because it coincides with the time when public institutions plan their next year’s budgets and pilot use plans.
The email I received the third week of September of that year was of that nature. It was an electronic equipment company with nine employees located in the Namdong Industrial Complex in Incheon. The representative was a woman in her late 30s who had left a large corporation’s research laboratory after designing sensor systems and started her own company five years ago. Her main product was a submerged detection sensor installed in underground tunnels and riverside walking paths. It is equipment that sends a signal to the manager and turns on a field warning light when water reaches a certain level.
This company refined the product through a government research and development project for three years and received innovative product designation in June of that year. Part of the funds received during the project period was a loan, and repayment was scheduled to begin this winter. Considering the salaries of the nine employees, the timing of the company’s first public contract after designation would determine the entire company’s schedule.
The last line of the email was short. “I thought an agency would contact me after receiving the designation. I haven’t received anything for three months.”
2. Why there were no orders for 3 months after receiving the designation certificate
On the reserved Thursday afternoon, the representative brought copies of the designation certificate, screenshots of the Innovation Marketplace, and emails exchanged with local government officials.
After the summer torrential rains, three agencies showed interest. Two were local government disaster safety departments, and one was an industrial complex managing public facilities. All three said they had a good initial response on the phone. However, a few weeks later, the replies were similar.
- “It’s difficult to submit for approval because the internal review materials are insufficient.”
- “I can’t tell if the price listed on the marketplace includes installation costs.”
- “We’ll look at it again during the October demand survey.”
The representative was taking these replies as rejections. I saw it differently when rereading the emails. None of the agencies said they disliked the product. They were saying they lacked the documents to make a judgment.
A public institution representative doesn’t directly buy the product; they are the person who explains why this product is needed at this price and submits documentation for approval. Innovative products open up an alternative purchasing path from general bidding, but that path requires the representative to have supporting documents. The marketplace screen wasn’t fulfilling that role.
That day, I told the representative that I would first confirm three things: the product scope stated in the designation certificate, the information registered on the marketplace, and the schedule for this fall’s demand survey.
3. How Do Innovative Product Designation and Demand Surveys Connect?
Let’s address a common misunderstanding here. Many people think that once a product is designated as innovative, the Chungcheongbuk-do Provincial Government Office will automatically sell it for you. Designation is the process of opening the door for public institutions to purchase this product through the innovative product procurement pathway. Opening the door doesn’t mean institutions will automatically come in.
The innovative product process typically proceeds in four stages.
- Designation: Products are designated as innovative based on requirements for government research and development outcomes, the Chungcheongbuk-do Provincial Government Office’s innovative product competition, technology development products, and other pathways. The validity period and requirements vary depending on the type of designation.
- Innovative Marketplace Registration: Information about the designated product is posted on the innovative marketplace. Responsible personnel at requesting institutions primarily review this screen and attached documents to compare products.
- Demand Survey: A process is established where institutions apply to pilot use innovative products, like the Chungcheongbuk-do Provincial Government Office’s pilot purchase program. This period is open for a fixed duration. Institutions must select our product during this period to move on to the next stage.
- Matching & Purchase: After applications and reviews by requesting institutions, pilot use institutions are determined, and then delivery, usage, and usage results evaluation follow.
This client thought they had completed stage 1 and stage 2. In reality, stage 2 was only halfway complete, and the schedule for stage 3 was approaching.
The demand survey period varies each year and for each project. In this case, the announcement we confirmed indicated that applications from requesting institutions would begin in mid-October and the period would remain open for approximately three weeks. Responsible personnel at institutions must complete internal approvals within that timeframe, so company materials must be prepared beforehand. There were roughly three weeks remaining.
The basis for supporting innovative product procurement is the 「Act on Government Procurement」 and related ordinances, and the detailed criteria are subject to frequent revisions. Individual verification is necessary for each case.
4. Four Preparatory Documents to Prepare Before the Demand Survey
After comparing marketplace information and email content, we divided the materials to be supplemented into four bundles. We established the criterion that they must be in a format that responsible personnel at institutions can attach to approval documents.
① Verify Consistency Between Designation Certificate and Marketplace Registration Information
- Confirm that the model name, specifications, and components match the wording of the designation certificate.
- Ensure that items outside the scope of the designation are not bundled together.
② Price Calculation Basis Document
- Display the unit price of the main body, installation costs, communication costs, and maintenance costs separately.
- Provide evidence that can be used to explain comparisons with private sector deliveries or quotations.
③ Installation Conditions and Deliverable Quantity
- Power and communication environment, requirements for installation location.
- Monthly production capacity and delivery time.
④ Maintenance & After-Sales Management Confirmation
- Warranty period, response time for failures, parts supply period.
- Method for verifying performance during the pilot use period.
All four were not so much creating new documents as reorganizing existing information within the company in the order that institutions would read it. However, an unexpected problem arose in ①.
5. A Discrepancy Between the Designation and Marketplace Information
As I read through the designation document line by line, I stopped at the product scope section. It specified “water level sensor body and management software.” However, the product photos and descriptions listed on the marketplace included an underground passage entrance automatic barrier alarm, bundled as a set, with only one price listed for the entire set.
I asked the representative if the barrier alarm was a result of a research and development project. The answer was no. The barrier was equipment imported from a partner company and simply integrated; they said it was easier to show as a set when creating sales materials.
This was one of the reasons the agency officials hesitated. The innovative product procurement pathway is only open for designated products. It’s difficult for the officials to determine which parts of a set with non-designated equipment should be considered innovative products and approved. The officials were proactively avoiding a structure that could be problematic during an audit.
Another issue was the model name. The test results and designation document listed the prototype name from the time of the project, while the marketplace and catalog used the sales name assigned after the product’s release. The company knows they are the same product, but a new official wouldn’t know that.
We decided on three directions.
- Revise the marketplace information to focus on the sensor body and software, and clearly state that the barrier alarm is a “compatible device” available for separate purchase.
- Create a model name comparison table to demonstrate that the prototype name and sales name refer to the same product, and include a company confirmation letter stating that the circuit configuration and firmware version are the same.
- Formally request in writing from the relevant department of the Procurement Service to determine whether the marketplace information revision constitutes a change to the designation. We chose a method that leaves a record, as phone answers can vary.
The response to the inquiry arrived six days later. It stated that correcting registration information within the designated scope can be treated as an information revision, and that a separate procedure is required to expand the designation scope. This response clarified the scope of revisions needed.
6. Revised Materials to Enable the Requiring Agency Official to Submit Approval
Next was the price justification. The existing marketplace price was only one set price, and it wasn’t clear whether it included installation and communication costs. The official had said they couldn’t tell if installation costs were included.
I worked with the company’s accounting department to retrieve eleven private sector delivery quotes from the past two years. We selected five with installation environments similar to public facilities and reorganized them into four categories: body, installation, communication, and maintenance. Comparing the average prices to the marketplace price showed that the body price was not significantly different from the private sector delivery price. The official felt the price was high because the barrier and installation costs were combined into a single number.
The installation conditions document was created primarily with on-site photos. It was divided into two types: underground passage and river promenade, and summarized the power supply method, communication method, and installation time for each. The official should be able to read it while visualizing the site.
The representative brought a demonstration sensor to the office on the Tuesday of that week. While explaining the installation height, the sensor’s tip was briefly dipped into a cup of water on the table, and at that moment, flashing lights activated and an alarm message was sent to my cell phone. Someone from the next office came to the door and asked what was happening. The representative smiled and said, “I think that proves the response speed.” That message screen was actually included as an example notification photo in the demonstration usage plan.
Finally, a draft of the demonstration usage plan was attached. This document proactively suggests the metrics the agency should use to evaluate performance during the demonstration, such as detection accuracy, alarm transmission time, and the number of failures. If the official doesn’t have to create the criteria from scratch, the approval process will be much faster.
7. Submission Deadline and Subsequent Results
Changes to the marketplace information were reflected nine days before the demand survey began. The representative compiled the revised screen and four sets of documents into a single PDF and resent it to the contact persons at the three agencies they had contacted in the summer. This time, it wasn’t a “please review” request, but an email with three lines describing what changes had been made, along with the demand survey schedule.
The results varied by agency.
- One district office contacted us during the second week of the demand survey period to say they had submitted a pilot use application.
- The industrial complex stated that they had completed internal review but would apply for the demand survey next year due to overlapping projects and budgets this year.
- The other district office did not apply this time because the installation location agreement had not been finalized.
You might feel that one is a small number. However, for a company that had not received a single application in three months, this was their first public institution application. News that they had been matched as a pilot use agency came later that year. Installation was scheduled to take place before the rainy season the following year, and the representative reworked the production plan to match that schedule.
Looking back, the problem was solved not by the new documents but by accurately reading a single designation clause. Removing equipment outside the designated scope clarified the pricing, and clarifying the pricing allowed the contact person to write the approval document. With procurement documents, it’s more difficult to submit them consistently than to submit a large number of them.
8. Administrative Agent Office Services and Practical Checklist
Hwang Yunsang Administrative Agent Office handles the following services related to innovative products and public procurement:
- Review and comparison of innovative product designation certificates, innovative marketplace registration information, and test performance reports, and creation of a comparison table.
- Preparation of submission documents such as price calculation basis, installation conditions, maintenance confirmation, and pilot use plan.
- Preparation of written inquiries to be sent to the Public Procurement Service and requesting agencies, and review of reply content.
- Preparation and submission of procurement registration documents such as KONEPS (Korea ON-line E-Procurement System) competitive bidding participation qualification registration and direct production confirmation application.
If you have received innovative product designation but there is no response from public institutions, please check the following items:
- Is the product scope in the designation certificate the same as the components listed on the marketplace?
- Are the model names in the test performance report, designation certificate, and catalog the same? If not, do you have a comparison table?
- Have you included installation costs, communication costs, and maintenance costs in the marketplace price, and have you listed them separately?
- Have you proactively proposed pilot use indicators for the requesting agency to verify performance?
- Have you confirmed the demand survey announcement schedule for this year and prepared the materials 2-3 weeks in advance?
If you are struggling with procurement or innovative product issues in Incheon and Songdo, we recommend checking the documents once before the announcement is released.
This is a story created to aid understanding.
