Supplier side vs buyer side: three kinds of RFQ software
Search for "RFQ automation" and most results are procurement tools. They help a buyer send RFQs, collect quotes and compare suppliers. This guide is about the other side: the equipment maker that receives the RFQ and has to answer it.
| Buyer-side procurement RFQ software | Supplier-side RFQ automation | RFP response tools | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who uses it | Buyers, procurement and sourcing teams | Bid, proposal and application engineers, and project managers at the maker | Proposal and sales teams answering RFPs |
| Main job | Send RFQs, collect and compare quotes, award | Read the customer's spec package and check it against your products | Store approved answers and draft proposal text |
| Typical input | A list of items to buy and a supplier list | Specs, datasheets, owner standards, ITP and the requisition | Questionnaires, often IT and security |
| Typical output | Quote comparison and award decision | Compliance matrix and deviations & clarifications list | Completed questionnaire or proposal |
Some buyer teams use a related task, technical bid evaluation, to compare suppliers' technical offers. For when an RFP tool is the better fit, see OdysseyGPT vs RFP software.
What answering an RFQ involves for an equipment maker
- Receive the package and list every document and revision.
- Find the order of precedence and the scope of supply.
- Pull out each requirement, with its clause and page.
- Check each one against your datasheets, standards and test records.
- Record a status and evidence, and draft deviations and clarifications.
- Price the extras: tests, certificates, materials and documents.
- Review, sign off and send the offer.
Steps 3 to 5 take most of the engineering time on a long spec. They are also where software helps most today. The full method is in how to analyse a tender specification.
What can be automated today
| Task | What software can do | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Reading the package | Read PDF, Word and Excel files, including long specs and multi-sheet workbooks | Scans and drawings; ask how unreadable pages are reported |
| Pulling out requirements | Split clauses into single requirements, each with its clause and page | Requirements in tables, notes and footnotes |
| Checking against your datasheets | Draft a status for each requirement, with a quote from your document | That each quote really says what the tool claims |
| Drafting the outputs | Export an editable compliance matrix and deviations & clarifications list | That the matrix and deviation list agree |
| Tracking deviations | Keep each deviation with its consequence and the customer's answer | That accepted and rejected deviations are kept up to date |
What still needs an engineer
- Deciding whether to offer an alternative, and what it costs to withdraw a deviation.
- Reading general arrangement drawings, P&IDs and other engineering drawings.
- Pricing, delivery times and commercial terms.
- Judging which owner rule governs when documents conflict and the tender does not say.
- Signing off the offer and sending it to the customer.
Treat software output as a draft for review, not a signed statement of compliance.
What OdysseyGPT automates
Document Review is generally available. It checks each customer requirement in the spec package against your own datasheets. Each requirement gets a status: complies, deviates, clarification, not addressed, document requested, not applicable or out of scope. Each status comes with a quote from the source page, sheet or cell, and each quote is checked against that source. It exports an editable compliance matrix and a deviations & clarifications list, with internal to-dos on a separate sheet.
These related tools are in beta:
- Customer Specification Review: turns a customer specification into a cited requirements register.
- Deviation Register: tracks each deviation from detection to the customer's answer, with its technical and commercial consequence.
- Technical Bid Evaluation: compares several supplier offers against one requirement set. It is useful when you buy in parts or sub-assemblies for your own offer. It never picks the winner for you.
What OdysseyGPT does not do
- It does not interpret engineering drawings such as general arrangements or P&IDs.
- It does not write proposal text, price the offer or configure products.
- It does not send anything to the customer. Your engineers decide every open item.
- It is not buyer-side procurement software, and it is not an RFP tool for IT or security questionnaires.
For hosting and security facts, see security.
How to judge an RFQ automation tool
- Pick a past RFQ you already answered, with the datasheets you used.
- Run it through the tool and compare its output with the deviation list you actually sent.
- Count the rows it found that you missed, and the rows it missed.
- Click through a sample of citations to check they point to the right page and say what is claimed.
- Ask which file types it reads and what it does with pages it cannot read.
- Ask where your data is hosted and whether it is used to train models.
- Ask for a written price. Many vendors do not publish one.
Our comparison of AI tools for deviation lists covers the tools in this space.
Is RFQ automation the same as CPQ?
No. CPQ (configure, price, quote) software helps you pick a product configuration and build a price. Supplier-side RFQ automation checks whether your offer meets the customer's specification. Many makers need both: the spec check tells you what to configure and price, and CPQ builds the quote.
Where to start
Start with the free spec requirement extractor, which runs in your browser, and the free compliance matrix template and deviation list template. For standards you will meet in valve and pump RFQs, see API valve standards and API 6D. OdysseyGPT Managed starts at $999 per month: see pricing and OdysseyGPT for manufacturing, or the pages for pump and instrument makers.