Table of contents
1. What is a large items RFQ?
The Request for Quote (RFQ) is the most popular document amongst business owners when it comes to sourcing goods or services. Traditionally RFQs have been issued and analyzed manually, but this has begun to become expensive and time-consuming as these requests get more complex. The email was originally used in order to send out an RFP; however, email can sometimes be clumsy, prone to error, not at all secure- so there must be a better way: cloud-based online solutions!
When you need to buy something, but don't want the hassle of going store-to-store or shopping online for hours on end then an RFQ may be your answer. Unlike an RFP (request for proposal), which is used specifically for high-value items with more specific requirements, an RFQ can cover all sorts of things from simple products like paper towels and pens to purchasing bulk orders at wholesale prices.
An RFQ is a document used to invite suppliers or contractors to submit competitive bids. It does more than just offer pricing information and includes commercial requirements as well, which makes it perfect for those looking for high-volume/low-value items that come with pre-defined technical specs.
Large capacity events are Request for Proposal or Request for Quotation events that contain up to:
1.000 line items
100 suppliers
30 terms per line items
2. Who needs to do it
The RFQ process is most commonly used by procurement specialists when looking for something specific or quantifiable. The RFQ also requires vendors to itemize the costs of every stage of a product and project, which can be very useful if you need monthly/weekly updates on prices offered by suppliers. Furthermore, an RFQ may be your best option in certain situations like large projects where you want to have a breakdown with detailed cost analysis per line item; this way it's much more efficient than doing man work that would take hours otherwise! Lastly, there are cases such as commodities whose price fluctuate according to markets regularly - so make sure any vendor has all necessary information about these fluctuations beforehand through the use of an RFP (Request For Proposal).
In the traditional industries, such as airlines and manufacturing that have remained unchanged for decades. The way companies use RFQs has also changed drastically in recent years; now they are using this system to source products from suppliers who can provide them with what their company needs most efficiently and at a lower cost than before. For example, if you were running an online organic food shop where there were 5,000 items available to sell sourced by 50 farms or producers then instead of asking each farm or producer about prices via emails or phone calls (which would take up so much time), it is more efficient just send out RFQ every week which will do all your sourcing on behalf of you!
These data are sent to the online platform where they're automatically added and final prices published on your website. This saves hours of manual work with excel, phone calls, and eliminates operational risk.
3. Best practices
Last but not least, to effectively doing large items RFP/RFQ, follow these best practices best-in-class organizations apply:
Make sure to allow enough time for participants to generate, view, edit and submit bids
Participants should avoid waiting until the last minute of an event before submitting their bid responses because response files are accepted up until the close date
If a participant submits their response file but it is not processed in time by the closing date then that bidder's submission will be deemed ineligible since they did not meet all deadlines as stated in our terms & conditions (noted below)
To get accurate Rank and Leading bid information in an event report, generate the report after the event closes
Add a pre-requisite question to explain how the RFP event will function and use a Yes/No question format to have them acknowledge that they understand this
Use an RFI in conjunction with the Large Capacity RFP to gather all required information/questions/attachments from suppliers.