Request for quotation procedure

You can use the request for quotation (RFQ) procedure to request bidders (buy-from business partners) to provide you with an offer for goods and services. You can compare the received RFQ responses (bids) to select the one that best fits your requirements.

The following RFQ procedures are available:

  • Manual RFQ procedure
    Use this procedure to manually create RFQs and send them to bidders. You can select the bidders to whom you want to send an RFQ manually, or based on the approved supplier list.
  • Generate RFQ procedure
    Use this procedure to automatically generate RFQs and send them to bidders. The creation of RFQs and the assignment to bidders is performed in one of the generate sessions.

Use the manual RFQ procedure to create an RFQ for one item. If you want to create an RFQ for several items and/or several item groups, the generate RFQ procedure is more suitable.

The request for quotation (RFQ) procedure includes these category steps:

  1. Creating and sending RFQs to bidders
  2. Receiving, negotiating, comparing, and selecting the bidders' responses
Note

On a request for quotation (RFQ) line, the item code can be blank. Therefore, the requester can request to bid for a new item. When a response line that is linked to the RFQ line receives the Accepted status, the item code becomes mandatory.

Creating and sending RFQs
Step 1. Purchase Request for Quotation - Lines (tdpur1600m000)

Use the Request for Quotation (tdpur1600m000) session to perform the following:

Step 2. RFQ Bidders (tdpur1505m000)/ Add Bidders to RFQ (tdpur1221m000)

This step only applies to the manual RFQ procedure. In the generate RFQ procedure, the generated RFQs are directly linked to the selected bidders.

In the manual RFQ procedure, you can link bidders to RFQs as follows:

On the Bidders tab in the Purchase Request for Quotation - Lines (tdpur1600m000) session, you can view which bidders are linked to the RFQ.

Step 3. Print Request for Quotations (tdpur1401m000)

After the RFQ is created and bidders are linked, you must print the RFQ in the Print Request for Quotations (tdpur1401m000) session to send it to the bidders.

Receiving, negotiating, comparing, and selecting RFQ responses
Step 1. RFQ Responses (tdpur1506m000)

RFQ responses received from a bidder can be specified in the RFQ Responses (tdpur1506m000) session. An RFQ response includes one or more response lines.

Step 2. RFQ Negotiations (tdpur1606m000)

Optionally, you can negotiate the bidder's responses and specify your counter proposals in the RFQ Negotiations (tdpur1606m000) session.

The latest negotiation response information, which includes prices, discounts, and dates is synchronized to the RFQ Responses (tdpur1506m000) session. Counter proposal information is not synchronized.

Step 3. Compare RFQ Responses (tdpur1110m000)

When the response date is expired, you can compare the Accepted response lines in the Compare RFQ responses (tdpur1110m000) session. This session is not mandatory in the RFQ procedure, but can help you to select the best responses for conversion. You can perform analysis for a single line or for all lines on the RFQ.

You can use the following sessions to compare responses, which you can start from the appropriate menu in the Compare RFQ Responses (tdpur1110m000) session:

Comparing responses based on criteria

Before you can use the RFQ Response Ranking based on Criteria Set (tdpur1806m000) session, you must complete these steps:

  1. Specify criteria and their ratings. For more information, refer to General purchase data.
  2. When you receive a bidder's response, specify the subjective scores for the response in the RFQ Response - Subjective Criterion Scores (tdpur1195m000) session. Objective criteria are automatically calculated.
Step 4. Convert RFQs (tdpur1202m000)

For Accepted response lines for which the Conversion Action is Convert, use the Convert RFQs (tdpur1202m000) session to convert the response lines to the Conversion Type as specified in the RFQ Responses (tdpur1506m000), RFQ Response Ranking based on Total Amount (tdpur1805m000), or RFQ Response Ranking based on Criteria Set (tdpur1806m000) sessions.

If you select more than one bidder, you can indicate if LN must take into account the sourcing percentage and the priority for the item-business partner combination, as specified in the Item - Purchase Business Partner (tdipu0110m000) session.

Step 5. Delete Request for Quotations (tdpur1205m000)/ Process Non-Converted RFQ Responses (tdpur1223m000)

Use the Delete Requests for Quotation (tdpur1205m000) session to delete RFQs that are expired, have no response returned, or were never linked to a bidder.

Use the Process Non-Converted RFQ Responses (tdpur1223m000) session to process response lines for which the Conversion Action is Ignore, or delete response lines for which the Conversion Action is Delete.

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