Process

The sequence, and why the order matters.

Written protection comes before valuable disclosure. Suppliers are verified before buyers are approached. Technical responsibility never leaves the supplier.
Reference
AUS-TRC-STA-002
Derived from
AUS-TRC-PRO-005
Status
Published
Applies to
Every transaction
Stacked large-diameter steel pipe in an outdoor stockyard, with a gantry crane behind.
Fig. 01Large-diameter pipe in a stockyard, goods of the kind a registered opportunity coversIllustrative. Not an Austera Global-owned facility or site.

The sequence at a glance

Eleven steps in three phases. One of them is a control gate: the opportunity is registered with the supplier in writing, and acknowledged, before the buyer’s identity is disclosed. Reverse those two and the supplier’s existing accounts are exposed and our position disappears, which is why it is drawn as a gate rather than described as a preference. This is the sequence applied to every engagement described on overseas opportunities for Australian suppliers.

  1. 01Establish the supply side
    01

    Category selection

    Where buyers already spend budgeted money: replacements, wear, consumables, spares, shutdown packages. We do not try to create demand.

    02

    Supplier verification

    Entity, ownership, manufacturing status, capacity, insurance, warranty process, certifications and export readiness, against a published standard.

    03

    Supplier appointment

    Written authority defining product scope and territory. Existing accounts excluded from the outset. No authority to contract, quote or warrant on their behalf.

  2. 02Qualify and protect
    04

    Opportunity research

    Named operations, evidenced requirements, a dated procurement trigger. We record the source of every material fact.

    05

    Buyer verification and screening

    The actual contracting entity and its parent, screened against the DFAT Consolidated List, with procurement route and authority established.

    06

    Opportunity registration

    Control gate

    The named opportunity is registered with the supplier and acknowledged in writing BEFORE the buyer's identity is disclosed. Nothing proceeds until that acknowledgement exists.

  3. 03Introduce and settle
    07

    Introduction

    One relevant document pack, never a generic bundle, then a direct introduction to the supplier's named technical contact.

    08

    Technical handover

    The supplier owns all technical dialogue, specification, quotation, warranty and delivery commitment from this point. We do not paraphrase or intermediate.

    09

    Commercial coordination

    Follow-up, scheduling, document control and unblocking across time zones, for as long as the opportunity is live.

    10

    Contract and delivery

    The supplier contracts directly with the buyer. Incoterms, payment and delivery are agreed between them. We record and coordinate; we do not advise.

    11

    Commission settlement

    Payable as the supplier receives cleared customer funds, never before. Repeat orders from protected accounts are tracked and reconciled.

Fig. 01 Transaction sequence. The control gate at step 06 is the point the process stops until written acknowledgement is received. There is no path around it.

Who is responsible for what

The column that matters is the first one. Austera Global carries two things and disclaims everything else in writing, in every agreement, so that no counterparty can later assume we took on engineering, warranty, freight, customs or payment risk.

Allocation of responsibility between Austera Global, the Australian supplier, any local partner, and the buyer.
ResponsibilityAustera GlobalOriginationSupplierManufacturerLocal partnerWhere appointedBuyerContracting entity
Opportunity origination and qualificationAustera Global: primary responsibility for Opportunity origination and qualificationSupplier has no responsibility for Opportunity origination and qualificationLocal partner has no responsibility for Opportunity origination and qualificationBuyer has no responsibility for Opportunity origination and qualification
Introduction and commercial coordinationAustera Global: primary responsibility for Introduction and commercial coordinationSupplier has no responsibility for Introduction and commercial coordinationLocal partner has no responsibility for Introduction and commercial coordinationBuyer has no responsibility for Introduction and commercial coordination
Specification, sizing and quotationAustera Global has no responsibility for Specification, sizing and quotationSupplier: primary responsibility for Specification, sizing and quotationLocal partner has no responsibility for Specification, sizing and quotationBuyer has no responsibility for Specification, sizing and quotation
Technical representations and performance claimsAustera Global repeats only approved claims, attributedAustera Global has no responsibility for Technical representations and performance claimsSupplier: primary responsibility for Technical representations and performance claimsLocal partner has no responsibility for Technical representations and performance claimsBuyer has no responsibility for Technical representations and performance claims
Product safety and liabilityAustera Global has no responsibility for Product safety and liabilitySupplier: primary responsibility for Product safety and liabilityLocal partner has no responsibility for Product safety and liabilityBuyer has no responsibility for Product safety and liability
Manufacture, quality and warrantyAustera Global has no responsibility for Manufacture, quality and warrantySupplier: primary responsibility for Manufacture, quality and warrantyLocal partner: allocated per transaction for Manufacture, quality and warrantyBuyer has no responsibility for Manufacture, quality and warranty
Export control classificationDeclared by the supplier in writing; Austera Global does not self-assessAustera Global has no responsibility for Export control classificationSupplier: primary responsibility for Export control classificationLocal partner has no responsibility for Export control classificationBuyer has no responsibility for Export control classification
Freight, insurance and customsAllocated by the agreed IncotermAustera Global has no responsibility for Freight, insurance and customsSupplier: allocated per transaction for Freight, insurance and customsLocal partner: allocated per transaction for Freight, insurance and customsBuyer: allocated per transaction for Freight, insurance and customs
Installation and commissioningAustera Global has no responsibility for Installation and commissioningSupplier: shared responsibility for Installation and commissioningLocal partner: allocated per transaction for Installation and commissioningBuyer: allocated per transaction for Installation and commissioning
Spare parts and after-sales supportAustera Global has no responsibility for Spare parts and after-sales supportSupplier: primary responsibility for Spare parts and after-sales supportLocal partner: allocated per transaction for Spare parts and after-sales supportBuyer has no responsibility for Spare parts and after-sales support
Site requirements and operating dataAustera Global has no responsibility for Site requirements and operating dataSupplier has no responsibility for Site requirements and operating dataLocal partner has no responsibility for Site requirements and operating dataBuyer: primary responsibility for Site requirements and operating data
Procurement authority and paymentAustera Global has no responsibility for Procurement authority and paymentSupplier has no responsibility for Procurement authority and paymentLocal partner has no responsibility for Procurement authority and paymentBuyer: primary responsibility for Procurement authority and payment
Sanctions and restricted-party screeningAustera Global: primary responsibility for Sanctions and restricted-party screeningSupplier: shared responsibility for Sanctions and restricted-party screeningLocal partner has no responsibility for Sanctions and restricted-party screeningBuyer has no responsibility for Sanctions and restricted-party screening
●Primary responsibility◐Shared◇Allocated per transaction○No responsibility
Fig. 02 Responsibility allocation. The sparseness of the Austera Global column is the point of the diagram, not an omission from it.

Every step in full

  1. 1

    Category selection

    We work where buyers already spend budgeted money: replacement systems, wear components, consumables, spares, shutdown packages, second-source arrangements. We are not trying to create new demand.

  2. 2

    Supplier verification

    Entity, ownership, manufacturing status, capacity, insurance, warranty process, certifications and export readiness, assessed against a published standard before anything else happens.

  3. 3

    Supplier appointment

    Written authority defining product scope and territory. The supplier lists the accounts it already holds; those are excluded from the outset. We have no authority to contract, quote or warrant on the supplier's behalf, and the appointment says so.

  4. 4

    Opportunity research

    Specific named operations with evidenced requirements and a dated procurement trigger. We record the source of every material fact. We do not build lists of companies that might be interested.

  5. 5

    Buyer verification and screening

    We identify the actual contracting entity and its parent, screen all parties against the DFAT Consolidated List and other applicable regimes, and establish the procurement route and authority.

  6. 6

    Opportunity registration

    We register the named opportunity with the supplier and obtain written acknowledgement before disclosing the buyer's identity. This protects the supplier's existing accounts and our position equally.

  7. 7

    Introduction

    A single relevant document pack, never a generic bundle, followed by a direct introduction to the supplier's named technical contact.

  8. 8

    Technical handover

    From this point the supplier owns all technical dialogue, specification, quotation, warranty and delivery commitment. We do not paraphrase, estimate or intermediate technical matters.

  9. 9

    Commercial coordination

    Follow-up, scheduling, document control and unblocking, across time zones, for as long as the opportunity is live.

  10. 10

    Contract and delivery

    The supplier contracts directly with the buyer. Incoterms, payment terms and delivery commitments are agreed between them. We record and coordinate; we do not advise on them.

  11. 11

    Commission settlement

    Our commission becomes payable as the supplier receives cleared customer funds, never before. We track repeat orders from protected accounts and reconcile against the supplier's reporting.

Three rules we do not vary

Non-negotiable

  • Supplier first. We do not approach buyers until a supplier is verified, appointed and able to service the opportunity. Approaching buyers first produces enquiries nobody can fill.
  • Protection before disclosure. No buyer identity is disclosed to a supplier before that opportunity is registered and acknowledged in writing. No exceptions for a supplier who seems trustworthy.
  • Technical claims stay with the supplier. We repeat only claims the supplier has approved in writing, verbatim and attributed. If we do not know, we say so and get the answer from the person who does.

The standard behind the second step, entity, ownership, capacity, insurance and export readiness, is published in full as supplier verification.