# Outside-process RFQ template

For a job shop buying heat treat, plating, anodize, powder coat, black oxide,
passivation, castings or specialty stock, per job, against a customer quote
deadline.

Published by Superalignment as part of a Praxis experiment page. Free to copy,
edit and use. Nothing in it is confidential and nothing in it is measured: it is
the wording we would send, not a wording that has been tested against reply
rates.

---

## 1. The email

```
Subject: RFQ · [operation] · [qty] pcs [part name] · need a price by [day, time]

Hi [contact first name],

[Shop name] is quoting a job and we would like a price from you.

Operation:      [operation, spec and revision, class or method]
Material:       [alloy and condition]
Quantity:       [qty], [one time or repeat, and expected annual usage]
Part size:      [L x W x H, weight each]
Drawing:        [file name and revision, which pages are attached]
Certification:  [cert of conformance, mill test report, none]
Parts needed:   [date you need them back]
Ship to:        [address, and who pays freight]

Please send price per piece and per lot, lead time in business days, your lot
minimum, and anything about this part that changes the price. If you cannot
quote by [day, time], one line telling us so is more useful than silence.

Thanks,
[Your name], [shop name]
[phone] · [email]
```

---

## 2. Nine fields a supplier has to ask back for when they are missing

Each of these turns a quotable email into a reply that asks a question, which is
how an RFQ ends up at the bottom of a pile.

1. **Spec and revision.** AMS 2700 Method 1 and AMS 2700 Method 2 are not the
   same price. Name the revision on the drawing too.
2. **Alloy and condition.** A finisher prices 17-4 H900 differently from 304.
3. **Quantity, and whether it repeats.** A one-time lot and a monthly release
   get different numbers. Say which it is.
4. **Part size and weight.** This sets rack count, basket count and handling.
5. **Racking or masking notes.** Threads, bores and faces that must stay clear.
6. **Certification.** Certificate of conformance, mill test report, or nothing.
7. **Date you need parts back.** Not "as soon as possible". An actual date.
8. **Ship to and freight.** Who arranges it and who pays.
9. **Your deadline for their reply.** A named hour is answerable. An open
   request is not.

This list is ours, built from what a finisher or a mill needs before it can
price a lot. It is not a survey of suppliers.

---

## 3. The chase, if you are doing it yourself

| When | What | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1, morning | Send the RFQ to up to four approved suppliers per line | Everyone on the line |
| Day 2, morning | One-line email reply-to-all-of-one: "still need this by [time], a no is fine" | Anyone silent |
| Day 2, afternoon | Phone, and write down what they said even if it is not a price | Anyone still silent |
| Before your deadline | Write the sheet: price, lead time, minimum, conditions in their words, and who never answered | You |

Do not fill an empty cell with an estimate. A named gap is information. A
guessed number is a margin problem you will find after you win the job.

---

## 4. The comparison sheet, minimum columns

Supplier · Price per piece · Price per lot · Lead time in business days · Lot
minimum · Conditions quoted verbatim · Date and time they replied

Plus, underneath: every supplier who did not reply, with the times and channels
you tried.

---

Superalignment, 2026. Related: `supplier-quote-chase-comparison-sheet-example.csv`,
an invented example of the sheet this template feeds.