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What is a cellmap in bid automation?

A cellmap is a machine-readable map of a tender workbook: sheets, requirement rows, and response cells. Automation uses it to know where requirements live and where bidder answers must be written. Without a reliable cellmap, fill tools risk writing the wrong columns or skipping mandatory rows.

Details

What a cellmap usually captures

  • Sheet roles (primary tech, accessories, service…)
  • Requirement vs instruction vs header rows
  • Response columns (device details, yes/no, source)
  • Anchors for multi-line requirements

Why it breaks

  • Merged cells and decorative layouts
  • Repeated “note” blocks
  • Mixed languages in headers

Ops tip

Validate the cellmap on a sample of rows before bulk fill. Fixing map errors after fill is far costlier.

Product note

Orbid supports structured scan → match → fill for medical-device tenders. Product: orbid.dev.