The request for quotation (RFQ) is one of three important forms utilized by the purchasing department of an organization; the others are the purchase requisition and purchase order. An organization’s purchasing department is responsible for buying materials of the appropriate quality, in the appropriate quantity, at the appropriate price, from the appropriate source, with delivery to the appropriate place. Purchasing employees can fulfill their obligation to their organization by using the RFQ form.
An RFQ is a request to a supplier to obtain a quotation on the items listed in the request. These items may be parts or services. This list of items is normally from one or more completed Purchase Requisitions. After receiving an RFQ, suppliers send their quotations to the customer to be included in the competition for the possible sale of the items listed in the request. Upon receipt of the supplier quotations, the customer then can decide which supplier has provided the best offer and award that suppler with the purchase by issuing a purchase order.
This brief covers the specific actions in HxGN EAM™ that are performed when RFQ and quotation information is recorded and items have been selected to fulfill the request made. It assumes the list of parts and the quantities required have been provided along with a list of suppliers compiled from a source selection process. The RFQ process discussed below does not include services, although services are recorded in a similar fashion.