Janitorial supply bids, filled in line by line and checked against bids you already priced.

Today someone on your bid desk reads the item list, finds your closest item for each line, converts your case price into the unit the agency asked for, decides where an equal is worth offering, gathers the samples and data sheets the bid demands, and types it all into the agency's price form before the deadline.

For the test, AI reads copies of past bid packages, addenda and clarifications included, and drafts the price sheet for each one: your item number, brand, pack and case count, the conversion into the bid's unit, the price source, and every attachment that line needs. Lines it can't settle go on a short list for your bid desk, with the reason. Nothing is submitted, and no price is set.

Converting units is the bidder's job. Rocklin Unified's custodial supplies bid for 2024 to 2025 says it plainly: the bidder is responsible for converting its pricing into the unit of measure on the district's exhibit. Its terms are FOB destination, with delivery to each school site folded into the unit price, prices held from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025, and quantities given for bidding purposes only. North Providence's 2025 school request asks for every price in words and in numerals, every item priced on its own, and says the unit price wins if an extended total is wrong. The draft shows the conversion from your selling unit on every line, so a reviewer can check the arithmetic before anyone writes a number in words.

One liner, two thickness scales. Pitt Plastics' catalog measures linear low density liners in mils and high density liners generally in microns, and one mil is 25.4 microns. Essex County College's 2022 clarification set its minimums both ways: 11 microns for medium bags, 16 for large, 2.3 mil for heavy, packed 250 to a roll and 10 rolls to a case. Escambia County's 2024 bid asked for a 32-gallon black liner of at least .70 mil, then accepted anything from 39 by 33 inches to 40 by 46 after a bidder noticed that an approved brand was a 40 by 46. Bidders there asked for the case weight, 12.8 pounds, and the last bill of lading, details a desk uses to size up the incumbent's bag. The draft compares resin, thickness in the bid's own scale, dimensions and count, and marks any line where the gallon figure and the size disagree.

An equal needs proof on paper. Rocklin treats its brand names and product IDs as preferred, considers equals, and leaves it to the bidder to confirm that an alternate matches on package size, case size, package quantity and product thickness, with a safety data sheet for each alternate and a free sample when asked. Escambia's 2024 bid said alternatives sent without samples would be rejected. The draft lists, for each equal, the points it matches and the ones it doesn't, plus the sample and documents your desk would send. Whether to offer it is your call.

Green and disinfectant lines carry their own identifiers. A line may name Green Seal GS-37, the standard for cleaning products for industrial and institutional use, or GS-1 for sanitary paper. New York's Office of General Services offers buyers a cost calculator that turns the price of a concentrate into its cost per gallon once diluted, so the dilution ratio on your label decides how a chemical line compares. Hospital lines may ask for products on EPA's List K, for C. difficile spores, or List P, for Candida auris, and EPA says the registration number is the only accurate way to identify a disinfectant. The draft copies certifications, dilution ratios and EPA registration numbers from your records and leaves a blank, never a guess, where your records are silent.

The terms decide what a price is worth. Escambia's later custodial bid allows awards by item, lot or partial lot, holds prices firm for the first year, and warns that later price adjustments can bring a review, non-renewal or termination; its supplies serve about 63 locations but all ship to one central warehouse. Your reviewer, usually the bid or contract pricing manager, checks the units, the equals, every certification and registration number, the freight and delivery terms, and each line the draft held back.

When your reviewer says yes against the success criteria, the same job drafts sheets for new bids for about 30 days.

Each sheet is checked and priced by a person on your team before it goes anywhere, and your team submits it.

Whatever comes next is a separate decision with a separate price.