Most bad quotes start with a bad RFQ. When the request is vague, every vendor fills the gaps differently, and you spend the next three weeks chasing clarifications and comparing quotes that were never comparable. A complete RFQ costs an extra hour up front and saves days at evaluation.
The RFQ checklist
| Section | Include | What goes wrong if it’s missing |
|---|---|---|
| Scope and specification | Datasheets, drawings, standards, the revision number of each document | Vendors quote different revisions; prices aren’t comparable |
| Quantities | Item list or MTO with units, plus spares requirements | Spares and extras get quoted (or omitted) at random |
| Delivery | Required date, Incoterm (with version) and named place | “Ex-works” vs “delivered” quotes look cheap or expensive for the wrong reason |
| Inspection and testing | ITP, FAT, witness/hold points, third-party inspection | Testing appears later as a variation |
| Documentation | Vendor document list, certificates, final dossier | Late documents hold up payment and installation |
| Commercial terms | Payment milestones, warranty, LDs, bonds, quote validity | Every vendor proposes their own terms; the cheapest has the worst ones |
| Price format | A pricing schedule they must fill in: currency, taxes, packing, freight, spares, services | Lump sums you can’t break down or compare |
| Exceptions | “List all deviations; anything not listed is deemed compliant” | Exclusions hidden in the small print |
| Evaluation basis | How bids will be assessed (e.g. technical pass/fail, then total cost) | Disputes about why a vendor lost |
| Submission rules | Deadline, format, clarification window, one contact person | Late bids, side conversations with the wrong people |
The two lines most RFQs forget
1. “Anything not listed as a deviation is deemed compliant.” This single sentence moves the burden of disclosure to the vendor, where it belongs.
2. A mandatory pricing schedule. If every vendor fills in the same table, you compare numbers in minutes instead of rebuilding five different quote formats into one spreadsheet.
Before you send it
- Is the specification frozen? If engineering is still changing it, you are about to pay for re-quotes.
- Is the required date realistic for the market’s current lead times?
- Have you invited enough credible vendors to create real competition?
Build it faster
Step 1 of The RFQ Edge Method, “Scope Before You Shop”, includes AI prompts that pull the scope, quantities and requirements out of your existing purchase requisition, so the RFQ is built from documents you already have. When the quotes come back, the RFQ & Vendor Comparison Toolkit compares them side by side.