A request for quotation that goes out thin comes back as three incomparable bids and a fortnight of clarification emails. Front-loading eleven lines costs half an hour and usually gets comparable bids on the first round.
Product specification
Dimensions with tolerances. Material, and whether recycled content or a specific resin is required. Additives – UV stabilisation, anti-static, flame retardant – and whether each is actually needed for this application. Finish: colour, edge sealing, any printing.
Performance requirement
What the item has to do, stated as a condition rather than a dimension: the load, the span, the temperature range, the number of trips. This is what lets a supplier choose a specification, and leaving it out means every bidder guesses differently.
Commercial terms
Quantity for this order, and estimated annual volume. Delivery terms and destination port. Target lead time, and whether it is firm or indicative. Payment terms you want, and validity period you expect.
Quality and approval
Whether a sample is required before production. What documentation you need – material declaration, certificates, test reports. What happens on a non-conforming delivery: replacement terms, who pays freight.
Two lines that get omitted and cause the most trouble
Who owns tooling. If the item needs a new mould or die, say whether it is yours or the supplier’s, and what happens if you want to move production. Discovering after payment that you have bought tooling you do not own is a common and avoidable surprise.
What happens at the end. Spare parts availability, whether the item will still be made in three years, and whether a repeat order will be to the same specification. For a returnable system that runs for years, this matters more than the unit price.
How many suppliers to ask
Three is usually right. Enough to see whether a number is an outlier, few enough that each gets a proper response. Asking eight suppliers produces eight rushed bids and no useful comparison.
And the part people forget
Send the same RFQ to all of them, at the same time, with the same deadline. Partial information sent to one bidder and not another is how an apparently cheap quote turns out to have been for a different product.
What to ask a reel supplier specifically is set out in what to ask a cable reel supplier before ordering.
How to send it
One document, to everyone, on the same day, with the same response deadline. Not a different version per supplier – that is how comparable bids become incomparable ones, and how a cheap quote turns out to be for something else.
State the deadline and stick to it loosely: allow a few days for questions, because a supplier who asks two sensible questions before bidding is usually going to bid something more accurate.
What to do with the answers
Score them against the same rows rather than by impression. If three bids come back and one is far below, find out why before celebrating – the explanation is usually a specification difference, and occasionally it is simply a mistake in your favour, which is worth knowing before you rely on it.
What we can do
We supply custom plastic fiber optic cable reels and respond to a complete RFQ with a complete quote. Send us the checklist filled in – or send us the application and we will help fill it in – and you will get a number you can compare directly.