Tips on how to craft the perfect RFP for industrial electronics

For the longest time, the conceptual mistake of sales unrivalled predominance lead to little attention to the way the purchasing processes were executed and performed. Procurement has always had a relevant role, but any informational and documental flow from companies to suppliers were nowhere near as cared after as the counterpart flows of marketing and sales. Nowadays, the concept of ::optimizing procurement is a way of decreasing costs and increasing profit:: has become more popular and more available in the general business knowledge and therefore any professional now tends to pay attention to crafting well performing purchasing documental flows.

Inside the procurement processes, a special place is held by the RFP or Request for Proposal, which aims at getting detailed information on eventual supplies from a new vendor.

When it comes to placing an RFP to an Electronic Manufacturer Supplier, there are a few things to be considered, especially when time is a key element and there's urgency to receive a complete answer. Industrial electronics proposals are structured around information availability and the inputs shared by the company conducting the RFP are extremely relevant in terms of accuracy.

Specifically, there are three main elements that an efficient RFP should contain when targeted to Industrial Electronics Manufacturers.

The first element is the following:

General request overview

We firmly believe that any well crafted RFP should begin with a descriptive overview of the request and a quick mention to specific budgets and time frames. ::In this overview, there shouldn't be room for technical details: this paragraph shall be kept exclusively to state non-technical facts or information that you wish the contractor to take into account while crafting their proposal.::

The reason why this overview is important is because you can use this as a very effective introduction that allows for important information to be shared, while providing space and relavance to your own perspective on the project, product or service.

Very common information usually shared when it comes to electronics manufacturing services are the ones provided by the questions here below.

• Can you describe briefly the service/product you're requiring?
• Is it targeted at a new or an existing project or business?
• In case Technical Development is included, will it be completely outsourced to us or will it require only Technical Support from our side?
• Is there any complementary service that needs to be included, like Supply Chain Management or Outbound Logistics or others?
• Is there a specific budget for this project?
• Is there a specific time frame to be respected?

Once your introduction is complete, it's time to move on to technical details which are of course extremely relevant in the electronics industry.

Targeted request description

This is the space where any technical specification should emerge. ::As you already know, the electronics industry is extremely vast and there's a wide range of technologies that compete to achieve the same result. Your company may have preferences and requirements of any sort and and they should be highlighted from the very beginning.::

Once the project is assigned and running, there will be a predefined Engineering Team that will be in charge of Technical Development, Electronic Design and so on. They can work with different technologies and different approaches and still achieve outstanding results. Therefore: ::Specific preferences or choices should come across very clearly from the request for proposal.::

This paragragh can only be skipped in case there's no technical preference of any sort, in which case you should be able to count on an Engineering Team that's very open to share with you and define the most apt solutions. Now, it's time to give room to element number three.

Data forecasting: Volumes and Recurrence

This paragraph is as important as the previous ones, because the accuracy of the proposal depends widely on it. ::Data forecast in terms of volumes and recurrence of supplies can have a relevant impact on the costing side, so it's in your interest to be as accurate as possible when it comes to share forecasting information.:: In particular, the focus should be set on Requested Volume, Expected FAD and on After FAD Schedule. Volume is one the main variables when it comes to elaborate a supply proposal and therefore there should be total transparency about the quantities needed; even estimations shall be as accurate as they can be.

The expected FAD (First Available Date) is essential to set your expected time frame for the first supply, and the After FAD Schedule provides valuable information on supplies recurrence.

Conclusions

When it comes to crafting an RFP, it's essential to notice that there's a great difference between giving out important information and giving out too much information. No one that's professional and serious would expect to get every detail right inside of an RFP nor would ever desire it; it's better to discuss complete details only afterwards, during a friendly face to face meeting with all the parties involved. However, in order for a proposal to be accurate and realistic, the company requiring it should share at least the three main elements discussed in this article. ::By generally describing the service/product needed and by adding technical requirements and a couple of information upon quantities and timings, any company increases the chance of receiving an apt proposal, properly targeted to their actual needs.::