For UK subcontract engineering firms of 50 to 500 people
RFQ and quote handling for subcontract engineering firms
RFQ automation for a subcontract shop means each request is read with its drawings, checked part by part against what you have made or quoted before, and set out as a draft quote with only the judgement calls left for the estimator. We build that step, your estimator approves every quote, and we’re measured on how fast quotes go out.
Or send us one RFQ with its drawings, and see the draft it would become.
What engineering firms’ websites say
One of 25 engineering firms says how fast it quotes.
1 of 25
engineering and fabrication firms in our study say on their website how fast they will quote. That one says 24 hours.
5 of 25
let a customer upload a drawing with the quote request.
92%
say nothing about how a customer should place an order.
20%
still list a fax number.
From our October 2026 study of what 209 UK supplier websites, 25 of them engineering and fabrication firms, tell customers. Read the research note.
The problem
Twelve part numbers, and one drawing at the wrong revision.
An RFQ pack lands: PDF drawings, STEP files, a spreadsheet of part numbers and quantities, and a line about certificates at the bottom of the email. Before anyone thinks about cycle times, someone has to check revisions, materials and finishes, and whether you made any of these parts last year.
That checking is where RFQs queue, and where mistakes get in: the stainless part quoted with an anodised finish, the revision that changed a tolerance, the material certs nobody priced. Buyers often send the same pack to several suppliers.
Comes in
Please quote the attached 3 parts at 50/200/500 off, material per drawing, black anodise, C of C and material certs required. Delivery 4 weeks ARO. Regards, Purchasing
Checked
- 3 parts, revisions read from the title blocks: B, A and D
- Part 2 made in May at revision A: cycle time and price from that job
- Part 3 is 303 stainless, which can’t be black anodised: ask
- Part 1 bore tolerance ±0.01mm, tighter than your usual: estimator to review
Waits for your estimator
Draft quote · 3 parts · 1 question
Part 2 priced from May’s job. Parts 1 and 3 wait for the estimator’s cycle times. One question ready for the buyer about the finish on part 3.
Illustration with invented data.
How it works
Step by step, from RFQ to approved quote.
- RFQs from the estimating inbox and the website form go into one queue with every attachment. Packs downloaded from a customer’s supplier portal can be forwarded in.
- Each part is read: part number, revision, material, finish, quantity breaks, notable tolerances, certificates and inspection, delivery.
- Each part is checked against your history: made before, quoted before, or close to something you have made.
- Conflicts and gaps become questions for the buyer, worded ready to send.
- A draft quote is costed from your rates for material, outside processes, set-up and machine time. Cycle times for new parts are left for the estimator and marked.
- Your estimator fills in what needs their judgement and approves. Nothing reaches a buyer before that.
- We record RFQ-to-quote time for every request and report it each month, with your quote-to-order rate.
What it connects to
It works from your rates and your job history.
- RFQ inbox
- Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, through access you grant and can withdraw.
- Drawings and models
- PDF drawings are read for the title block, notes and tolerances. STEP files stay attached for the estimator; we don’t price from the 3D model.
- Rate table
- Machine rates, set-up, material and outside-process prices, from the spreadsheet or system your estimator uses today.
- Job history
- Your ERP or job records, so a repeat part starts from what it really took last time.
- ERP or MRP
- If it accepts quotes from outside through an API or an import file, the approved quote goes in. If not, it is copied across, as now.
What it costs you today
Put your own numbers in first.
The quote desk calculator takes RFQs a day, minutes per quote and the cost of an estimator’s hour, and shows hours a week and pounds a year. With your win rate and average order value it also shows what a month of quotes turns into.
For example, 8 RFQs a day at 45 minutes each is 30 hours a week of estimator time, or £45,000 a year at £30 an hour. That is before counting the work that went to the supplier who replied first.
Illustration with invented data.
What you get, in order
From a first call to RFQs measured every month.
-
30 minutes
Call with you
What you make, how RFQs arrive, and where they wait.
-
1 hour
Session with your estimators
We watch real RFQs being priced. The same day you get a one-page verdict: the workflow, the KPI it moves, today’s baseline and a fixed price. Or a written no.
-
A fixed number of weeks
Build
Connected to your RFQ inbox, rate table and job history. Your estimator approves every draft.
-
Every month
Run and report
We run it and report RFQ turnaround against the baseline. Stop at any report.
Nothing is subcontracted. If we don’t find anything worth doing, we’ll tell you and leave. For other make-to-order trades, see quote automation. For work outside the quote desk, see AI for UK manufacturers.
Questions
Questions engineering firms ask about RFQ automation.
- Can it work out cycle times from our drawings?
- Not for new parts, and we won’t claim it can. For repeat and similar parts the draft brings the times from your own job records. Cycle times for new parts stay with your estimator.
- What about certificates and inspection?
- They are read from the RFQ and the drawing notes and listed on the draft, with a price where you charge for them, so they are caught at quote stage.
- Our customers send RFQs through supplier portals. Does that work?
- Download the pack as you do now and forward it to the RFQ inbox. It joins the same queue as every other request.
- Do we need new ERP or estimating software?
- No. We build from the rate table and job records you use today. If your ERP accepts quotes from outside, the approved quote goes in; if not, it is copied across as now.
- What does it cost?
- The build has a fixed price, written on the one-page verdict and valid for 30 days, then a monthly fee for running it. You can stop at any monthly report.
Contact
Thirty minutes about your RFQs.
Tell us what you make and how RFQs reach you. Or send us one quote request as it arrived, drawings included, and we’ll send back the draft it would become.
The Open Build. We’ll build one UK supplier a quote desk system, free and in public, measured on its own numbers. Everyone who applies gets a one-page read of their own workflow. Applications close at 5pm UK time on Friday 6 November. See the Open Build.