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.

RFQs can be generated or manually created. Manually created RFQs can be based on the approved supplier list or you can manually select the bidders to whom you want to send the RFQ.

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

Create RFQs
Send RFQs to bidders
Receive the bidders' responses
Negotiate the responses
Compare the responses
Select a response

These sessions are included in the RFQ procedure:

Request for Quotation (tdpur1600m000)
Use the Request for Quotation (tdpur1600m000) session to:
- Manually create RFQs
- View the generated RFQs
  RFQ generation occurs in one of these sessions:
  - Generate Requests for Quotation (tdpur1220m000)
    Generates RFQs for a range of items or item groups and enables you to select the bidders to send the RFQs to.
  - Convert Purchase Requisitions (tdpur2201m000)
    Converts purchase requisition lines to an RFQ.
  - Generate RFQs from Contracts (tdpur3201m000)
    Copies purchase contract lines to RFQs and enables you to link the bidders to whom to send the RFQs.
  - Transfer Order Planning (cppat1210m000)
    Transfers the planned purchase orders from Order Planning to Procurement. If LN cannot find a buy-from business partner for the item, the planned purchase order can be transferred to an RFQ.
RFQ Bidders (tdpur1505m000)/ Add Bidders to RFQ (tdpur1221m000)
This step only applies if you manually create an RFQ. Generated RFQs are automatically linked to the selected bidders.

These methods exist to link bidders to an RFQ:
- By bidder in the RFQ Bidders (tdpur1505m000) session
- For a range of bidders in the Add Bidders to RFQ (tdpur1221m000) session, or based on an approved supplier list
On the Bidders tab in the Request for Quotation (tdpur1600m000) session, you can view which bidders are linked to the RFQ.
Print Requests for Quotation (tdpur1401m000)

After the RFQ is created and bidders are linked, print the RFQ in the Print Requests for Quotation (tdpur1401m000) session to send it to the bidders.
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.
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.
RFQ Compare Responses (tdpur1600m100)
You can compare and rank the RFQ responses using the RFQ line, RFQ bidder, and RFQ response sessions.

In the RFQ Compare Responses (tdpur1600m100) session, the response lines with the status Responded, Negotiating, or Accepted can be compared and ranked. This session allows you to select the best responses for conversion. You can perform an analysis for a single line or all the lines of the RFQ.

The response lines are compared and ranked based on:
- Objective and subjective criteria, if a criteria set is specified for the RFQ.
- Prices and amounts. Prices and amounts can also include landed costs (bidder and third party).
Note: Although no criteria set is required for a comparison based on prices and amounts, you can also specify prices as criteria in a criteria set.

You can use these sessions to view the ranked response lines, which are displayed as tabs in the RFQ Compare Responses (tdpur1600m100) session:
- RFQ Compare Responses Based on Criteria Set (tdpur1511m000)
- RFQ Compare Responses Based on Prices (tdpur1511m100)
- RFQ Compare Responses Based on Criteria Set Grouped by Bidder (tdpur1511m200)
- RFQ Compare Responses Based on Amounts Grouped by Bidder (tdpur1511m300)
For more information, refer to:
- Specifying criteria and criteria sets for RFQs.
- Calculating total scores for criteria
- Ranking RFQ responses
Convert RFQs (tdpur1202m000)
After accepting a response line, for which you set the status to Accepted, you can use the Convert RFQs (tdpur1202m000) session to convert the response line to a purchase order, purchase contract, or price book.

For a selected response line, you can start this session as follows:
- By clicking Convert RFQs on the appropriate menu of the RFQ Responses (tdpur1506m000) session. This command is enabled only if the Conversion Action field is set to Convert and the Conversion Type field is specified in the RFQ Responses (tdpur1506m000) session.
- By clicking Convert and then Convert to Order, Convert to Contract, or Convert to Price Book on the appropriate menu of the RFQ Compare Responses Based on Criteria Set (tdpur1511m000), RFQ Compare Responses Based on Prices (tdpur1511m100), RFQ Compare Responses Based on Criteria Set Grouped by Bidder (tdpur1511m200), or RFQ Compare Responses Based on Amounts Grouped by Bidder (tdpur1511m300) sessions.
Archive/Delete Requests for Quotation (tdpur1205m000)/ Process Non-Converted RFQ Responses (tdpur1223m000)

Use the Archive/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.

Note:

You can also complete the previous steps using the RFQ (tdpur8310m000) session.
On a request for quotation (RFQ) line, the item code can be blank. Therefore, you can request to bid for a new item. When the status of a response line that is linked to the RFQ line is Accepted, the item code becomes mandatory.