Structured bid evaluation. Documented procurement record.
A concept for a system that supports contracting authorities in analysing and evaluating incoming bids.
zuschlagr is our concept for the award phase — currently in validation with pilot contracting authorities, not yet a bookable product. The planned flow accompanies your procurement team from bid opening to award decision: four structured stages — qualification check, price check, scoring by your award criteria, a structured procurement record with separated evaluation and approval. For German contracting authorities of all sizes. 100% EU-hosted on OTC.
What does zuschlagr do?
zuschlagr is our concept product for German contracting authorities. A standalone AI tool that supports the review and evaluation of incoming bids — structured and traceable. The system is oriented to the steps of the legally prescribed evaluation process in four stages: qualification check, price check, scoring by award criteria and procurement record. Every AI pre-assessment is confirmed or adjusted by a human; evaluation and approval are separated. zuschlagr is designed as a standalone product with its own database and shares no data with auftragr or kalkulr — bidder data on the authority side stays on the authority side.
Who is zuschlagr built for?
For contracting authorities in federal, state and municipal government and utilities — turning the procurement record from biggest risk into cleanly documented outcome.
Municipal contracting authorities
From lot structure to procurement record. Support for structured evaluation — without a separate consulting budget per procedure.
Federal and state agencies
Weighted scoring matrix, traceable reasoning for every individual score. Structured documentation.
Utilities-sector authorities
SektVO-specific procedures, long contract durations, complex award criteria. Consistency across many parallel procedures.
Central purchasing bodies
Standardised scoring across all procedure types. Audit trail for internal review.
Public hospitals & municipal utilities
Medical technology, energy infrastructure, specialised services. Price checking and mixed-calculation detection at technical depth.
Procurement-law advisors
External advisors to contracting authorities use zuschlagr as a shared workspace with their client.
The four stages
zuschlagr maps the legally prescribed evaluation process completely — from formal check to finished procurement record.
- 1
Qualification check
Bidder qualification against your eligibility criteria. Detection of exclusion grounds per §§ 123/124 GWB. Use of other entities' capacities and consortia are shown separately.
- 2
Price check
Comparison of all bid prices, detection of mixed calculation and abnormally low bids. Clarification needs are automatically flagged — with draft wording for the query.
- 3
Scoring by award criteria
Evaluation by your award criteria with weighted scoring. Transparent reasoning for every individual score — with source evidence from the bid documents.
- 4
Procurement record
Automatic generation of a structured procurement record. Separated roles: the approver and the evaluator are different people. Every override is logged with reasoning.
What zuschlagr does
Evaluation process and documentation in one system.
Four-stage evaluation
Qualification → price → scoring → procurement record. Each stage with its own mandatory fields and documentation artefacts.
Scoring matrix
Your award criteria with weighting. Weighted scoring per bid, individual scores with reasoning.
Separated roles
Approver ≠ evaluator. Overrides are logged with reasoning.
Mixed-calculation detection
Automatic detection of suspicious pricing patterns in bills of quantities. Flagged for further clarification.
Exclusion-grounds check
Check per §§ 123/124 GWB. Capacity borrowing and bidding consortia are shown separately in the evaluation.
Clarification flagging
Abnormally low bids, contradictory documents, missing evidence — with draft wording for the query to the bidder.
Automatic procurement record
Structured record with the usual mandatory fields. Export as PDF and structured document.
EU-hosted, flexible models
100% EU-hosted on OTC (Open Telekom Cloud). Various LLM providers incl. European models; bring-your-own-API-key in select products.
Compared to current contracting-authority work
Where zuschlagr removes time and risk from the process — and where responsibility stays with the human.
| — | Today | With zuschlagr |
|---|---|---|
| Time per procurement record | Manual: binds scarce resources in the authority | Structured pre-assessment + documented review |
| Documentation gaps | A single missing piece of evidence can kill the award | Mandatory fields per stage, no stage without documentation |
| Consistency across procedures | Depends on evaluator and current workload | Every procedure evaluated with the same framework |
| Traceability of scoring | Reasoning is often only reconstructable after a query | Record with source evidence per individual score |
| Decision authority | Stays with the human | Stays with the human. AI structures, human confirms. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Does zuschlagr replace procurement officers or legal advisors?
No. zuschlagr structures and documents the evaluation process — the decision stays with your staff. AI structures. Humans decide. Every AI pre-assessment is confirmed or adjusted by a human.
How are evaluation and approval separated?
In the planned flow, the approver of the procurement record is a different person than the evaluator. If an approver overrides an AI pre-assessment, the change is logged with reasoning — traceable.
What does zuschlagr orient itself to?
zuschlagr is oriented to the process steps and documentation steps of VgV. It is a tool that structures and documents — the professional and legal review stays with your authority or your procurement lawyer. We make no certification or conformity promises.
Where does zuschlagr run, and with what data?
zuschlagr is designed to be 100% EU-hosted on Open Telekom Cloud (OTC). For AI steps we engage various language models from various providers, including European models; in select products you can bring your own API key.
How does zuschlagr integrate with our existing procurement platforms?
zuschlagr imports bid documents from the usual German procurement platforms (DTVP, Deutsche eVergabe, Vergabe24, state platforms). Export of the finished procurement record as PDF and structured document. Direct API integration into specific platforms is available on request.
Which procedure types does zuschlagr support?
Open procedure, restricted procedure, negotiated procedure with prior competition, innovation partnership — all VgV procedures are supported. UVgO procedures below the EU threshold as well. SektVO utilities procedures with separate configuration.
Can zuschlagr handle alternative bids?
Yes. Alternative bids are evaluated separately and shown in the scoring matrix. The decision whether an alternative bid is admissible and how it is weighted stays with the authority.
How would onboarding work?
The base configuration covers your award criteria, weighting and approval workflow. For complex tenant structures (multiple authorities in one organisation) configuration support is planned. We discuss specifics in the pilot conversation.
Can I use zuschlagr today?
Not yet. zuschlagr is in its concept and validation phase — there is no bookable product and no price list yet. We are looking for pilot contracting authorities to help shape it. Register pilot interest at blackswanai.de/en/pilot-interest.
Our other products
zuschlagr addresses the Award phase on the contracting-authority side. For bidders we offer two standalone products — with their own databases and no coupling to zuschlagr:
auftragr
Bidders use auftragr to find the right tenders — market intelligence, price benchmarks, authority dossiers.
Learn morekalkulr
Bidders use kalkulr for the 5-lens analysis before submission — risks, claims potential, go/no-go.
Learn moreprüfr
On the same side, one phase earlier: checks tender documents before publication. Also concept.
Learn moreTender lifecycle — find, evaluate, review, award
The four phases of the German tender lifecycle — and which of our four products addresses each phase.
Help shape a procurement record without documentation gaps
We are validating zuschlagr with pilot contracting authorities. Register your pilot interest — a 30-minute conversation will tell you whether the concept fits your authority.
AI structures. Humans decide.