Every missing item gets priced, one way or another
A supplier holding an incomplete RFQ has three options. Ask you, and the quote waits on the answer. Assume, and hope the assumption survives delivery. Or price the uncertainty in, and you wonder why the number looks high.
None of those is free, and all of them are yours to prevent. The single biggest lever on quote turnaround is not chasing the supplier. It is the completeness of what you sent. Here is the pack that removes every excuse.
The seven items of a complete RFQ pack
- The drawing, with its revision number. The revision matters as much as the drawing: "built to the wrong rev" is one of the classic subcontract failures, and it starts at RFQ. Tolerance only the features that seal, locate or rotate; a title-block tolerance applied to everything quietly makes every face a precision face.
- The CAD file. STEP for machined parts, DXF for laser-cut profiles, and our file format guide covers the details. The CAD describes the shape, the drawing states what matters about it, and a machinist quotes fastest from the pair.
- Material, plus acceptable equivalents. "EN 1.4404 or equivalent" quotes faster and cheaper than a grade with no flexibility, because the supplier can use certified stock they hold. If only one grade will do, say that too, plainly.
- Finish, with a specification. "Black anodised" is a colour, not a spec. Thickness, standard, masked areas, and whether the finish is cosmetic or functional. Finishing is where surprise costs live.
- Quantity breaks and honest annual usage. Ask for 1, 5, 20 and 50 so you see the curve, and say what the year really looks like. The reasons are set out in the MOQ guide: the first of a repeating part is quoted differently from a true one-off.
- Certification and inspection requirements. EN 10204 3.1 certificates, CoC, FAIR, CMM reports: state them now, not on the purchase order. Documentation specified after the price is agreed becomes an extra; specified at RFQ it is part of the job.
- Delivery: the date you need, not the date you'd like. Plus the delivery address and any packaging requirements. An artificial rush date costs you rush money; a real date with slack lets the supplier schedule honestly.
One more line worth adding to any pack: what the part does. One sentence of function tells an engineer more about your real tolerances than the title block does, and it is what makes a DFM review useful rather than generic.
What a good quote gives you back
A quote is not just a number. Judge what arrives against this list of eight.
| # | The quote should state | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Price at each quantity break | You asked for the curve; a single number means they didn't read the RFQ |
| 2 | Validity period | Metal moves; an undated price is an argument waiting for the order date |
| 3 | Lead time from order | And whether it starts at PO or at drawing approval |
| 4 | Inclusions and exclusions | Certificates, finishing, delivery: in the price or on top? |
| 5 | Material basis and surcharge trigger | What raw material movement re-opens the price, and by how much |
| 6 | Payment terms | Agreed now, not negotiated at invoice |
| 7 | Assumptions and exceptions | Anywhere the quote deviates from your spec, stated rather than buried |
| 8 | A named technical contact | The person who answers the drawing question, not a ticket queue |
The red flags are the mirror image. A price far below the others usually means something on your spec was scoped out, which our buyer guide series covers at length. A quote silent on validity or certificates is not cheap. It is incomplete, and the missing parts arrive later with prices attached.
Suppliers who ask questions are the good ones
The instinct is to prefer the supplier who quotes fastest with no questions. Resist it. Every unknown in your pack must be either asked about or assumed, and the supplier who queries the tolerance on one bore before quoting is doing the job properly. The one who quoted an incomplete pack instantly has assumed the answers, and you will find out which ones at goods-inward.
The best RFQ response of all is the one that comes back with an improvement: a material substitution that halves the price, a tolerance question that reveals the drawing over-asks, a suggestion to batch the anodising. That is engineering happening before you have spent anything, and it tells you what the relationship will be like after the order.
What a TrueNorth quote looks like
Send us the pack above, complete or not, and this is the deal. Every RFQ gets an engineer's DFM review before pricing, which is where over-tolerated features and cheaper substitutions get caught. The quote arrives inside 48 hours with quantity breaks when you ask for them, and it states all eight items on the list: validity 14 days, price held firm unless raw material moves more than 10 percent, dimensional inspection and the traceability pack included rather than extra, and Jan-Marc's direct number for the technical questions.
If the pack is incomplete we ask, once, in one email, rather than pricing your uncertainty. And if the part is a better fit for a platform or a direct machine shop, the quote says that too, because a straight answer now is what wins the parts we are right for later.