What is RFQ?
A request for quotation (RFQ) is a document a buyer sends to suppliers asking for a price on clearly specified goods or services, so quotes can be compared mainly on cost and terms.
In more detail
Use an RFQ when the requirement is already defined: exact part numbers, quantities, delivery dates and quality standards. The supplier's job is to quote, and the buyer usually picks on price, lead time and terms. That separates it from an RFP, which asks for proposals and solutions, and from an RFI, which only gathers information. A good RFQ lists specifications, quantities, delivery location and date, payment terms, how long the quote must stay valid and the response deadline. Responses should arrive in a comparable format, which is where automation helps. An extraction step reads supplier PDFs into one comparison table, flags missing items and normalizes units and currency. The buyer still chooses, and the accepted quote becomes a purchase order.
Example
A facilities team needs 400 replacement filters to a fixed specification. It sends an RFQ to five suppliers, extracts each quote into a table of unit price, freight and lead time, and raises a PO with the supplier the buyer selects.