Why 70% of RFQs are weak and what it costs the buyer
Imagine the request "we need a compressor for 10 bar". Sounds fine. The engineer who receives it cannot make a selection. They do not know: flow in m³/h, type of medium (plant compressed air or process gas), drive power, cooling (air or water), noise limit, duty cycle. Each parameter changes the model — from a compact screw unit to a large piston compressor with redundancy. Without them one request spawns three to five clarifying emails, a week of back-and-forth and a missed deadline.
I once worked at a plant that prided itself on "flexible RFQs", free of unnecessary detail. A year later we ran the numbers: the average vendor selection cycle was 19 days, of which 12 were correspondence. After we rolled out a standard RFQ form, the same metric dropped to four to six days. It is not magic — it is information collected correctly at the start.
Every hour spent on a clean RFQ saves four to eight hours of correspondence — and a model-selection mistake that later costs years of downtime.
The twelve fields of a good RFQ
Below is the structure I use daily. It fits a Word file, an Excel template or a plain email. The rule is simple: do not skip fields. If you do not know a value, write "to confirm" rather than leaving it blank — that way the engineer immediately sees the gap and asks the right question.
1. Equipment type and class
First — category and subcategory. Not "pump" but "horizontal multistage centrifugal pump for process water" or "diaphragm metering pump with solenoid drive for chlorination". This is not academic precision; it is focus for the search. If you are unsure about classes, browse our pumps catalog or open the list of all 13 categories — the wording on each page will help you name your class.
2. Working parameters
The numbers without which a calculation is impossible. They differ by category:
- Pumps: duty point Q/H (flow in m³/h and head in m), available NPSH, inlet pressure.
- Motors and drives: power in kW, rated rpm, torque, duty class S1-S9.
- Machine tools: workpiece envelope (X/Y/Z or diameter × length), positioning accuracy, number of axes.
- Cranes and hoists: capacity at the outreach, lifting height, span.
- Boilers: thermal load in kW, supply/return temperatures, fuel type.
- Transformers: rating in kVA, primary and secondary voltage, vector group.
If the duty point is unknown, give us the network or process characteristics and we will calculate it. If parameters are unknown, ask the maintenance team rather than guessing. One phone call is cheaper than a wrong model.
3. Medium and materials
What the machine will transfer, machine, heat or cool. For pumps — the fluid (potable water, process water, sewage, aggressive chemicals, food-grade), its temperature, presence and concentration of abrasive. For machine tools — the material (carbon steel, stainless, aluminium, special alloys) and its hardness. For an I&C cabinet — the room environment (humidity, temperature range, aggressiveness). This field decides the wetted or working materials: cast iron, bronze, SS304, SS316, duplex or special alloy.
4. Required delivery date
Not "as soon as possible". A real date when the equipment must be on the buyer's site. Distinguish between "manufacturing lead time" and "delivery date" — logistics, customs and installation sit between them. A serial European unit is 8-14 weeks from PO to DAP. A custom configuration — 16-26 weeks. A shorter timeline means either a priority surcharge or pulling from European stock.
5. Budget or ceiling
The most painful field for many buyers: "I do not want to show my cards." I get it. But without a budget we propose what we see in our manufacturer registry, and that is often the premium tier. If you expect 28 000 USD and we offer 95 000 USD for an original Grundfos unit, both sides lose time. Even a range helps. Better: "budget 30-40k, open to a tier-two analogue".
6. Delivery city and site
Not "Kyiv region", but the specific city or site coordinates. This drives logistics: can a low-loader reach the site, is there a crane for unloading, do we need a route study (for oversize loads). Power equipment additionally requires coordination with the local utility — that is a separate document package.
7. Supervised installation
Will the manufacturer or our engineering team install, or will the buyer do it in-house? OEM-supervised installation usually extends the warranty and removes the "wrong installation" risk. Self-install saves 5-15% of equipment cost but caps warranty. For critical assets (hospitals, data centres, production lines) supervised installation is mandatory.
8. Permits and certification
If the equipment falls under regulation (medical, food, radio, hazardous-area) it shapes the manufacturer pool. Not all manufacturers carry CE, ATEX, IECEx, GMP. Not all are listed in Ukrainian registries. If a tender requires a Ukrainian conformity certificate, we narrow the pool to 30-50% of manufacturers from the start. Without this field we risk picking a "technically perfect" model that fails the regulatory review.
9. Incoterms
FCA, DAP, DDP, CIF, EXW — not just a line in the contract but the split of responsibility. If you are new to foreign trade, we recommend DAP ("delivered at place", customs fees on you). If you have a freight forwarder and want control of logistics, FCA. If you want a turnkey "no involvement" delivery, DDP, but 5-10% more expensive. We covered the full split in our article "Incoterms 2020 for industrial equipment".
10. Integration with existing equipment
If the new machine has to talk to your I&C, name the protocol (Modbus RTU/TCP, ProfiBus, ProfiNet, EtherCAT, OPC UA), cabinet type and PLC brand. It drives the BOM (interface modules, licences, gateways). If you have no I&C yet, say so — we will pick a stand-alone controller.
11. Payment schedule
Standard: 30% advance, 70% before shipment, or a letter of credit. If you can offer other terms (75% advance — manufacturer discount; payment after commissioning — harder), flag it early. It affects both price and the manufacturer pool: not every supplier ships on post-payment or against an uncovered LC.
12. Warranty and service
Standard OEM warranty is 12-24 months. If you need more (24-60 months), a service-level agreement with a 24-72 h response window, or a stock of spares on site, say so. It is not free but a predictable service budget beats unplanned downtime. Service options are covered in our spare parts and SLA section.
Interactive RFQ scorer
The widget below scores your RFQ. Tick off what you already have — the score is an honest indicator of how long the quote will take.
Run your RFQ through the scorer before sending. Below 70% — add the missing fields and we send a quote next business day. Above 90% — the engineer rarely calls back and the quote arrives same day.
A "bad" and a "good" RFQ — real examples
Two real cases from our desk (anonymised) so the theory does not stay dry.
Bad RFQ
Hi, we need a pump. Cold water, up to 100 m³. Please send a quote.
Missing: head (10 m vs 80 m are different pump classes), installation type (borehole, surface, drainage), material (potable or technical water), voltage (single-phase 230 V or three-phase 400 V), deadline, budget, city. The manager must ask five to seven clarifying questions, on average three to five extra business days.
Good RFQ
Category: vertical multistage centrifugal pump.
Duty point: Q = 80 m³/h, H = 95 m.
Medium: potable water, +10 °C, no abrasive.
Material: SS304 wetted parts.
Electrical: 3 × 400 V, 50 Hz, VFD in a wall cabinet.
Delivery: by 10 Aug 2026.
Budget: ~25-32k USD pump + VFD cabinet.
Site: Vinnytsia, DAP at the plant.
Service: supervised installation required, 24-month warranty.
Analogue allowed.
With an RFQ like this we return two or three quotes the next business day. One — an original European brand. One — a Polish analogue with comparable quality at 35% less. One — a Turkish unit at 50% of the budget. The buyer picks, we draft the contract. RFQ-to-contract cycle: five to seven days.
Common traps we see every day
"Quote me from the catalog"
A manufacturer catalog has 50-200 models. Without parameters the supplier either picks blindly or declines. If you really want a catalog walk-through, ask for a subset within a flow / power range. That is fair.
Hard brand lock-in with no alternatives
"Only Grundfos", "only Siemens", "only KUKA". Sometimes justified (site standard, existing integration). Often a habit. Adding "or equivalent, subject to approval" buys you 20-40% savings and a wider selection. We always provide a side-by-side technical and service comparison.
Overspecified accuracy
"Duty point Q = 142.8 m³/h, H = 31.7 m". Where do those numbers come from? If from a design calculation, fine. If they are "rounded from 140", we still pick the nearest serial model — 140 m³/h or 150 — and the extra digits add no win, only a misleading aura of point-precision.
Misunderstanding manufacturing reality
"Delivery in 15 days". For a serial unit from European stock, possibly. For a custom build, 12-16 weeks minimum, no way around it. Before fixing a deadline, estimate: serial or custom, which region, how loaded is the maker's shop. Or ask us and we will tell you the reality.
How a correct RFQ varies by category
The structure is universal; the accents differ. Key fields per category:
| Category | Critical parameters |
|---|---|
| Pumps and water treatment | Q, H, NPSH, medium, material, temperature, VFD |
| Power (gensets, transformers) | kVA, voltages, duty (ESP/PRP/COP), autostart, parallel |
| Construction equipment | Bucket volume, dig depth, lift height, outreach, span |
| Automation and I&C | I/O count, protocols, SIL, existing PLC brand |
| Metalworking and machine tools | Workpiece envelope, accuracy, axes, tooling |
| HVAC | Air volume, heating/cooling load, recovery, filtration |
| Material handling | Capacity, lift height, aisle width, battery type |
| Cables | Cross-section, conductor material, insulation, armouring, fire rating |
What happens after you send the RFQ to us
A bit of process transparency so you know what to expect:
- Day 0 (today): we receive the request, log it, assign an engineer by category.
- Day 1: the engineer analyses parameters, drafts a short spec, looks up 2-4 candidate manufacturers.
- Day 2: we receive preliminary quotes from manufacturers, cross-check prices against customs statistics.
- Day 3-4: we build a side-by-side comparison with two or three options and an engineer's note.
- Day 5-7: we tune the offer based on your reaction and draft the contract on the chosen option.
That is the standard cycle. For emergencies (failure, breakdown) we run a priority track with response in two to four hours.
Ready to send your RFQ? Pick a category
Summary: the print-ready checklist
If you remember one thing — these twelve points. Print and run through them before each new RFQ:
- Equipment type and class (category, subcategory).
- Working parameters with numbers (Q/H, kW, mm, t).
- Medium and materials.
- Required delivery date.
- Budget or ceiling.
- Delivery city and site.
- Supervised installation: yes/no.
- Permits and certification.
- Incoterms (FCA / DAP / DDP).
- Integration with existing (PLC, fieldbus).
- Payment terms.
- Warranty and service.
With this list your RFQ moves into the top 10% by quality — and therefore into the top 10% by processing speed.
Frequently asked questions
What if I do not know every parameter?
Mark "to confirm". The engineer calls back and collects it. Better than a blank field — we immediately see what to ask.
Can I send the RFQ as a voice message?
You can, but we still transcribe it into a structured form. Sending the structure from the start saves your time.
How much does the quote preparation cost?
Nothing. We earn on the supply margin, not on paid consulting. That is the standard industrial-trade model.
What if I just want to compare prices without buying?
Say so honestly in the email. We still give a ballpark (without picking a specific model) if the RFQ is serious on parameters. The only thing we dislike is "quote me on everything, I'll look around" — that consumes hours of engineering time.