What an RFQ actually does in a custom automation project
A request for quotation for custom equipment is not a price request. It is the first engineering document of the project. Two buyers can send nearly identical descriptions of a line and receive radically different machines, because the RFQ determines what the supplier feels free to assume. Where the document is quiet, the supplier fills the gap with a default — and defaults are chosen to keep the quotation simple, not to keep your process safe.
That is why the quality of an RFQ for automated production line solutions is judged question by question, not page by page. A good RFQ removes the places where a supplier has to guess. The questions below are grouped by the decision each one forces the supplier to make.
Group 1: Questions about your product and process
The machine exists to serve a process, so the process comes first. If this section is thin, everything that follows is estimated.
- What is the part, in material and dimensional terms, including tolerances and the allowable variation from batch to batch?
- What is the current process route, station by station, and which stations must the new line take over?
- What are the process parameters that cannot drift — temperature, pressure, dwell time, force, alignment — and how tightly?
- Which existing steps are being kept, and what interfaces (mechanical, electrical, data) must the new equipment match?
State both the required cycle and the tolerated cycle. A line designed for exactly the number you quote has no margin for changeover, jam recovery, or upstream variation, and it will be re-engineered later at your cost.
Group 2: Questions about the surrounding environment
Custom lines fail on site for environmental reasons more often than for mechanical ones. Describe the room, not only the machine.
- What utility supply is available: voltage, phase, compressed air, water source, drainage, exhaust, and available floor area with clear height?
- What is ambient temperature, humidity, and dust or oil mist loading in the installation area?
- Is the line stationary for its service life, or must it be movable and reconfigurable between product families?
- Are there cleanliness, ESD, or contamination constraints that dictate material choice and enclosure design?
The same constraint shapes cleaning duties around the line. Where residue, grease, or process fluids build up on equipment and floors, cleaning is a line-design question, not a housekeeping afterthought, and it belongs in the RFQ. Specify the residues and their location so the supplier can account for cleaning equipment series duty around the cells, including machines that alternate between dry and wet steam for mixed grease and particulate loads.
Group 3: Questions about scope and handover
Most disputes about custom equipment are about scope boundaries, not machine performance. Draw the boundaries explicitly.
- Where does the supplier's responsibility start and end — up to the infeed, or including fixtures, conveyance, guarding, and exhaust?
- Who supplies controls, HMI, and the data interface to MES or ERP, and in which protocol?
- What is included in commissioning: installation, calibration, operator training, spare parts, documentation language and format?
- Which standard governs electrical work, and who is responsible for local conformity assessment?
If parts of the build are outside your internal capability, ask the supplier to quote those scopes rather than leaving them blank. Engineering services such as product development, hardware testing, and manufacturing automation support can be priced as named line items, which makes it obvious what you are buying and who owns the outcome.
Group 4: Questions about acceptance and performance
A quotation is only comparable if every bidder is measured the same way. Put the acceptance test in the RFQ.
- On which parts is the line accepted — your samples, or supplier-standard samples?
- Which measurable criteria decide acceptance: cycle time, yield, defect rate, alignment accuracy, availability over a continuous run?
- How long is the qualification run, and who pays for a failed retest?
- At which stages is the design reviewed and signed off before metal is cut?
Do not accept performance claims stated without a test condition. Ask for the condition, and ask for it in the same units on every bid. Where a supplier's own published materials record the same figure differently in different places, treat the discrepancy as a question to close in writing before order placement.
Group 5: Questions about change, service, and life
- What product change is expected within the machine's life, and what does accommodating it cost in changeover parts and time?
- Which wear parts need replacement, at what interval, and at what price?
- What support is available after handover, in which language and time zone, and with what response commitment?
- Which drawings, parameters, and programs are handed over, and who owns them?
A supplier that answers this group in advance is signalling that they expect the relationship to outlast the machine. A supplier that answers only the first group is quoting a box.
How to use the answers when you compare bids
Send the same question set to every bidder, then read the quotations for what is missing rather than for the headline number. A bid that quietly omits acceptance criteria, utility assumptions, or changeover cost has answered your silence with a default. Put the omission back into the conversation before you compare prices — the lowest total on the page is rarely the lowest total for the line.
FAQ
Should the RFQ name a specific machine model? Usually not. Name the process duty and the acceptance criteria, and let bidders propose the configuration. Name a model only when you have already validated it.
How detailed should the process section be? Detailed enough that a supplier can state the parameters they will hold and how. If they cannot, they are quoting an assumption.
Is it better to ask for one line or for each station separately? Ask for both: a total line price and a station-by-station breakdown. The breakdown exposes where cost sits and what you can phase.
