I’m looking at turning on RFQs and Supplier Price Lists at my company. But I’m not seeing good information on these tools as far as how they are actually used in a production environment. Just some hand-wavy instructions and basic how-to videos. This forum has several posts but not much information… So some specific questions:
Does anyone actually use the RFQ function to generate RFQs? Or do many people use customized POs to make RFQs (like we currently do)?
The RFQ Entry screen seems backwards, with first a list of parts and then suppliers attached to each part. Instead of like a PO with supplier in the header and multiple parts attached to it…
If I have 50 parts that I want 1 supplier to quote, it adds those 50 parts to the RFQ and then attaches the supplier 50 times. Why is it this way? Why would I want to make an RFQ with eg 3 parts for one groups of suppliers, 8 parts for another group, and 6 more for a 3rd supplier group?
When we receive a quote from a supplier (eg PDF document), where is the best place to attach this? The RFQ screen seems messy, and may be nonexistent. I’d think it should go with supplier price list, but attachments don’t appear to be allowed there.
Is it possible to create an RFQ for a subcontract operation that isn’t on a job yet? I’m seeing in RFQ entry it only allows for inventory item RFQs. And in Buyer Workbench, it is only for items with demand.
If you do/don’t use RFQs, what about Price Lists? Does you company enter all your pricing in there? Or do many do it like us, just entering pricing directly onto the PO?
I’d love to have an easy-to-read screen showing all outstanding demand awaiting purchase, with quoted prices and suppliers listed. Sort of like the PO suggestions screen but with visible options on where to buy parts and services. Has someone here made a dashboard or have another tool that shows something like this, that you wouldn’t mind sharing?
I’d also like to be able to pull metrics somehow, of negotiated price savings etc. Has anyone here implemented something like this? How?
The RFQ process in Kinetic is, charitably, clunky. I’m a consultant, so I don’t USE it on a regular basis, but I’ve implemented it several times… mostly to folks who say, wow, this is clunky.
When you create a method of manufacture, one of the selections for materials to be used is “RFQ Required”, and also “how many quotes needed”… so when the process begins it’s more about the part than the supplier. Once the parts are selected, you look at each part and determine which suppliers you want to quote you. Could it be more streamlined? You betcha.
When you receive a response, you enter it via the program Supplier Responses, which creates a Supplier Price List. I’ve never tried attaching items, but that would seem to be the logical place. It’s also probably pretty clunky.
For subcontract, gotta have a job to create an RFQ. Doesn’t seem fair, since you can create a Supplier Price List for a subcontract op WITHOUT having a job.
In my experience, a LOT more people use Supplier Price Lists than use RFQs.
Over time, the Purchase Advisor gives a lot of that kind of historical information. But it takes time to build up your history.
I’ve never done that, but if the data is in the system, it can be queried out and analyzed… so again once you have some history, it’s a matter of designing how you want to see it.
I should also have added, in Epicor’s defense, that all the things that need to happen also need to happen in a specific sequence, and are further constrained by how the rest of the system works. RFQs are not a siloed process… they don’t get created until AFTER MRP has run and all the appropriate OTHER pieces have dropped. If it seems like a “bolted-on-at-the-last-minutes” process, that’s because effectively it is. The system can’t create the RFQ suggestions until AFTER it knows what needs the RFQ, which can’t happen until all the previous steps are already defined. AND once the Supplier gives you back the response, it’s a manual process to enter all that in.
Now, could Epicor come up with an automagic “form” that could be sent out and responded to in such a way that it automagically creates the appropriate Price List? Or could there be some functionality that looks at existing price lists, notes their expiration dates, and automagically sends out RFQs when required?
Agreed that is how it works. I see the main issue is that they got the logic wrong - the only choices being either cutting a PO to an already decided supplier, and getting an RFQ. There is a 3rd much better option they missed.
Excerpt from my Ideas post:
PO suggestions need to be able to go to a Decision Wizard holding tank. Currently they can only go directly to POs or to RFQs. If a holding tank option was available, I’d have all PO suggestions go there, where the demand would stay until pricing and suppliers are available to choose from.
Decision Wizard should always be available, giving buyers a good way to select suppliers based on price lists and past PO prices. Not only from RFQs.