RFI, RFP, RFT, RFQ & Bid-Management

Generally RFI, RFP, RFT og RFQ's all have a quite simple structure, basically a "Requirement Specification" issued by the Customer and an individual Response from the potential suppliers (or partners). A well developed Requirement Specification with a high level of detail, should secure better answers.

However, an RFI can be quite "airy" as the customer might want to get new ideas and unfamiliar options for consideration.

A Requirement Specification should follow a "standard format" to make comparisons between different answers simple and clear.

Both imprecise Requirement Specifications as vague replies are the fastest and "best" way to problems. It should always be clearly indicated where in the various documents there are ambiguities and interpretations. Equally the assumptions used in these cases for the underlying formulation of requirements, respectively the responses to these should be clearly stated.

Many projects set the requirement that suppliers must answer an RFI fully comparable to the established project ideas. An RFI is a business process whose purpose is to gather information about options and products from different vendors. Seldom, the sought information is on final pricing of solutions, products or services, even though it's quite common to ask for price indications.

As an RFI is a "preliminary" stage, it is acceptable that the answer include products, which may not entirely meet the established requirements, or products that are actually better than the stated needs. An RFI is a great opportunity for a supplier to demonstrate deep knowledge of products and solutions by providing a good answer.

In short, an RFI is an initial procedure used to determine the next step in the process and can therefore be identified as a pre-qualification of both potential solutions and suppliers.

The responses frequently emerges into one (or more) of the following:

• Request for Proposal (RFP)
• Request for Tender (RFT)
• Request for Quotation (RFQ)

Usually an RFP is second phase of a procurement procedure which would implement the client's wishes and requirements for solution products and services. It is thus (often through a tendering process), a customers desire to get a variety of suggestions for a particular product or service.

RFP's include many elements of the specifications for the final project or services. A high degree of detail in both the Requirement Specification as in the Response to this, gives an increased ability to align expectations and offers. The responses are used for a detailed assessment of the individual suppliers and their capabilities. It's not uncommon that there is a round of presentations, which give potential suppliers an opportunity to explain the solution offered, the selected products, and the added value this particular vendor believes he can add to the project. The process of an RFP brings structure to the purchase decision and provide both parties with a possibility of identifying benefits and risks in advance.

An effective RFP should reflect both the Customers long-term strategy that targets the business model at the same time, ensure that the answers given provide a good insight into the solutions, products and suppliers who are able to offer the optimum solution.

Other information covered by an RFP may be Supplier Information and -history (financial information, technical capability, product specifications, availability and lifetime, and customer references).

The Military often uses an RFP to meet an operational requirement (OR). Afterwards the Military Procurement Authorities ask for more detailed technical specifications. In a Military contexts issued RFP's are usually only sent to approved suppliers.

In some contexts, however, an RPF is used only to request pricing of products and / or services that are already defined by the customer. In these cases it will be more correct to issue an RFQ.

En RFT anvendes specielt i forbindelse med offentlige virksomheder, og er hér en strengt formaliseret og "stram" proces. Indenfor den private sektor anvendes RFT sjældnere, men erstattes hér af en kombination af RFP og RFQ, som typisk har en mindre stiv struktur. Within the Public Sector the issueing of an RFT is used to ensure as a strictly formal and "rigorous" process. RFT's are rarely used within the Private Sector - here they're normally replaced by a combination of the RFP and RFQ, which typically has a less rigid structure.

An RFT is usually an open invitation to all potential suppliers that can meet clearly defined needs - as opposed to an RFP, which normally are sent to selected potential suppliers only. The RFT should be based on information obtained earlier from an RFI, and usually will not only include product and service requirements, but will additionally seek information about the suppliers other business conditions.

Alternatively, an RFT can be used for the finally selected suppliers to submit a binding offer for the products and/or services after these have been extracted from the suppliers equivalent RFP's.

An RFQ is used mainly when the specifications of a product or service are already known and when you want the selected suppliers to deliver a specified offer. This can be the case after the passage of RFI and RFP, or when the price is the main or single factor for selecting the bidder.

RFQ's are best suited for solutions, products and services that can be "standardized", ie. development and delivery processes that can be planned and which do not change character during the project.

In special cases, an RFQ is also used as a prerequisite for an RFP, to determine the general price levels. In this context, products, services and/or suppliers is selected from RFQ results, in order to create a fully specified RFP.

Response to an RFQ usually involve much more than just the price of products and services. As an RFQ can be used as a part of the legal and binding contract with suppliers, often sought information is on payment terms, supplier's solidity, logistics, supply and contract length.

offer assistance (for projects) for establishing and/or reply:

• Request for Information (RFI)
• Request for Proposal (RFP)
• Request for Tender (RFT)
• Request for Quotation (RFQ)
• Bid Management

We have extensive experience in managing this - also for our customers.