GlossaryKind of term: Cost and economicsRequest (RFQ)
What is a request for quotation (RFQ)?
A request is a customer asking for price and lead time on one or more parts, with the files and quantities your price will rest on.
It is also called a request for quotation or RFQ, and it can cover assemblies as well as single parts. A complete request carries, per part, a drawing and often a 3D model with part number and revision, the material, the quantities or a set of quantity breaks, and the delivery date wanted. It may also carry requirements that move the price: finishing, a material certificate, a first article inspection report, packaging or delivery terms. A request does not yet commit either side to supply or purchase, although it can bring conditions of its own, such as confidentiality.
How does a request (RFQ) work in practice?
Many requests arrive incomplete: no quantities, no revision, a model without a drawing, or a drawing that refers to a standard or customer specification that is not attached. You can ask, or you can price on assumptions that you state in the quote. Asking adds turnaround time; pricing on assumptions can produce a price that does not match what the customer meant. Which route makes sense depends on the customer, the size of the job and how far the missing item could move the price. Because not every request becomes an order, the estimating time per request is a cost in its own right; how much it weighs depends on your hit rate and the size of the requests.
What is a request (RFQ) often confused with?
A request is not a quote: the request is the customer's question, the quote is your answer with price, lead time and terms. Nor is it an order; an order exists only once the customer accepts a quote or places a purchase order that you confirm.
How do you see a request (RFQ) in Blake?
In Blake a request starts with uploading STEP and PDF files, and one request can hold several parts. Model and drawing are paired per part by file name; where the name leaves doubt, the pairing stays open until you confirm it. You record the quantities per part, and the calculation runs per part and per quantity, with the result labelled as an estimate. More on requests.
Frequently asked questions
What does a request need at a minimum?
Per part: a drawing or model with part number and revision, the material, the quantity and the delivery date wanted. Without a quantity there is no price per piece; without a revision you cannot tell later which version your price was for.
Can one request hold several parts?
Yes. A request can hold several parts or a whole assembly. Each part keeps its own files, revision and quantities and gets its own estimate; the total is the sum of those lines.
What do I ask for when a request is incomplete?
Whatever is missing, in one message and listed by part number: file, revision, material, quantity or delivery date. If you would rather not wait, price on assumptions and state them clearly in the quote.
When does a request count as lost?
That is your own convention. Commonly: the customer declines, or your quote expires with no reply after follow-up. Record the reason if you know it, such as price, lead time or another supplier, so that you can later see why work goes elsewhere.