Published 2026-04-09 · Practical guides · Workflow Improvement
Is Your RFQ Process Getting Faster?
Measure response quality and handling effort alongside turnaround time to see whether a workflow change helps.
A faster quote is useful only if the buyer can evaluate it. Measure a small set of comparable requests before and after changing the process.
Choose comparable requests
Separate repeat exact-item orders from requests that need application engineering. Define the teams, dates and request types included. Count unfinished and cancelled work as well as successful requests.
Use the same starting point in both groups. Measuring the old process from first contact and the new one from completed intake would hide work rather than remove it.
Track four things
Intake time: how long does it take to obtain a usable requirement, drawing and required date?
Supplier response time: from complete RFQ issued to the first response that covers the requested scope or clearly states exclusions. Track partial responses separately from complete coverage.
Rework: how many clarification rounds occur because revisions, quantities, features or options are unclear?
Handling effort: how much staff time goes into entering, searching for and passing along the information? Record this consistently, or leave it out of the claimed saving.
Test a handover
Ask someone outside the original conversation to identify the current drawing, latest quote, unresolved question, owner and next action. Record what they cannot find and how long the search takes.
If the new process is quicker for the first user but still requires a phone call to explain every handoff, there is more work to do.
Decide what to change next
Report completed, unfinished and cancelled counts with the median and range of completed turnaround times. Do not treat unfinished requests as completed on the review date.
Explain unusual jobs or supplier delays. Keep measured handling-time savings separate from estimates and from cash savings.
Expand the change if it reduces effort and produces clearer responses. Fix the remaining bottleneck if it only moves work to another person. Keep the measurement definitions so the next review is comparable.