Concepts

Tasks

Settings

Sending RFQs to Suppliers

These methods are available for communicating an RFQ to a supplier:

•	Mail: A copy of the document is printed to your default printer. You can then send the printout to the supplier by mail.

•	Fax: A copy of the document is faxed to the supplier. If the selected contact already has a fax number, the system enters it here. Otherwise, you must enter the fax number for this contact.

Note: Before you can send a document by fax, your APM administrator must have set up the Microsoft fax service.

•

Email: APM creates a report using the file format specified in Purchasing Management settings. The report is then attached to an email message and emailed to the supplier. If the selected contact already has an email address, the system enters it here. Otherwise, you must enter the email address for this contact.

You can export an RFQ bid sheet in Microsoft Excel format to one or more suppliers. On the RFQ, the supplier must be set to have the RFQ sent to them by email, and on the Email Info tab, the Spreadsheet option must be selected as the attachment type.

If you are sending an Excel spreadsheet to suppliers, they can enter their bid information in the document and email it back to you. You can then import the bid information into the RFQ.

Note: To send a purchasing document by email you must be using a MAPI-compliant messaging application such as Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express.

Note: If you will be sending the document as an Excel spreadsheet, you must have MS Excel 2010 or later installed on your computer.

•	Phone: The document is communicated to the supplier in some other manner (for example, over the telephone). If the selected contact already has a telephone number, the system enters it here. Otherwise, you must enter the telephone number for this contact.

•	Courier: A copy of the document is printed to your default printer. You can then send the printout to the supplier using the selected courier.

For mail transmission, a cover letter is included with the RFQ containing the following text:

•	Heading: The heading shows the requesting site’s address, logo, telephone number, and fax number. The requesting site is the site that owns the RFQ. Also included is the current date.

•	Contact: The buyer’s name, title, and contact information (for example, phone, fax, email)

•	Issued To: The address of the supplier is identified on the RFQ

•	Bid Instructions: The bid instructions, as entered on the General tab of the RFQ

For email and fax transmission, you can specify the messages that will be used for the subject line and body. These are defined for the site in the Purchasing Management Settings, Printing, Faxing and Email tab, RFQs tab.

To set the RFQ faxing options for a site, see **Setting up RFQ Forms, Faxing, and Email Defaults.

This topic explains how to verify the contact method and information and then send the RFQ to each supplier. It also explains how to export a bid sheet to Excel.

To set up the Microsoft fax server for fax transmission, see Setting up an APM Fax Server.

To Send an RFQ to Suppliers

1.	Open the RFQ.

2.	Make sure that editing is enabled.

3.	On the Properties view, select the Suppliers tab. This tab lists the suppliers to which you will send the RFQ.

4.	Double-click the supplier. The RFQ Supplier dialog appears.

5.	Review the sending information to ensure that it is correct:

Setting Name

Description

Send to

The name of the supplier’s contact person to whom you are sending the RFQ. The system enters the name of the RFQ contact identified for the supplier. If no RFQ contact has been entered for the supplier: • The system enters the supplier’s primary contact. • If neither contact is set up on the supplier, you must select a contact from the list. • If no contacts have been entered for the supplier, you can open the supplier record to add a contact.

Send by

Select how you will send the RFQ information to the supplier.

6.	If you are sending the document by mail or courier, ensure that the Mailing address information is correct. The system enters default values from the supplier record.

7.	If you are sending the document by fax, ensure that the following information is correct:

Setting Name

Description

Fax number

If appropriate, enter the fax number for the supplier’s contact person. If the supplier contact has a fax number entered already, it is displayed here when you select the Fax transmission method.

Cover page

If you will be sending the fax using the MS Fax Server, you can select a cover page template for the fax. To browse for the cover page file, click the folder icon in the box. Cover pages must be in a *.cov file format and accessible on the server.

Subject

If you will be sending the fax using the MS Fax Server, you can enter a subject line for the fax. The subject line is printed on the cover page.

Priority

Select the priority level for the fax: • Low: All faxes that have a normal or a high priority are sent before a fax that has a low priority. • Normal: All faxes that have a high priority are sent before a fax that has a normal priority. • High: The fax is sent with a high priority.

Schedule type

If you will be sending the fax using the MS Fax Server, you can select how the fax will be scheduled: • As soon as possible: Sends the fax as soon as the fax server is available. • Discount period: Sends the fax during a predefined discount period. The discount period can be set up on the fax server. • Specific time: Sends the fax no sooner than the selected time. The actual time the fax is sent depends on the availability of the fax server and the fax priority. Enter the date and time that you want the fax to be sent. Note: The time that the fax is sent also depends on how frequently the Action Scheduler is set up to check for pending APM faxes. For example, if the Action Scheduler checks for APM faxes at 12 noon every day, faxes are only sent to the Fax Server queue once a day. To have faxes sent to the queue as soon as possible, set the Action Scheduler polling interval to a small duration, such as 5 minutes. Once a fax is in the queue, the Fax Server uses the schedule type setting to determine when to send the fax.

8.	If you are sending the document by email, review the following:

Setting Name

Description

Email address

The email address to be used when sending this document to the supplier. The system enters the supplier contact’s email address by default. If necessary, you can enter a different email address.

Subject

Enter the text that will appear in the subject line of the email.

Attachment

Select the type of email attachment to use to send the RFQ. This option is only applicable for sending RFQ documents. • Spreadsheet: The system exports the document to a Microsoft Excel file. For RFQs, the supplier can enter bid information into the file and then send it back to you. You must have Excel installed for this option to work. • Report: The system creates a printable report of the document. For RFQs, the supplier cannot enter bid information directly into this file.

9.	If you are phoning the supplier, make sure that the phone information is correct.

10.	If you are sending the document by courier, ensure that the appropriate Courier is selected.

11.	When you are finished entering supplier contact information, click OK.

12.	To send the RFQ by mail, fax, or email, right-click the supplier and click Send to Supplier. A confirmation message appears.

Verify that the contact information is correct and click Yes. The system prepares and sends the print document, fax, or email.

13.	If the method of transmission is verbal, after you have talked to the supplier, right-click the supplier name and select Mark as Sent.

14.	Repeat steps 4 to 13 for each supplier.

15.	When you have received the bids from the suppliers, you can enter them in the RFQ. See:

•	Importing Bid Information From an Excel® Spreadsheet

•	Entering Bid Information on an RFQ

To Export an RFQ Bid Sheet to Excel

1.	Click the RFQ menu, Send To, and then All Suppliers.

Tip: You can also click the Suppliers tab, right-click a supplier, and click Send to Supplier.

The system uses the selected transmission method to send the RFQ to the suppliers. Suppliers who receive RFQ bid sheets via email will see an attachment to the email. The format of the Excel file name is Bid sheet #, RFQ#, Supplier name.xlsx.

The Excel spreadsheet contains two worksheets: a summary worksheet and a detail worksheet. The summary worksheet contains information about the RFQ as a whole and the bidding process in general. This includes:

•	RFQ number

•	Buyer’s name

•	Bid required by date

•	Supplier name

The detail worksheet identifies the RFQ resources. A row is added to the spreadsheet for each resource on the RFQ. The following information is included for each resource and is not changed by the supplier:

•	Resource description

•	Quantity required

•	Date required

•	Preferred manufacturer

•	OEM number

•	Lead time unit of measure

Columns are included for the supplier to enter for the following:

•	Manufacturer

•	Declined (yes/no)

•	Price per unit: The supplier’s price in the supplier’s pricing unit of measure

•	Ordering unit of measure

•	Lead-time: The supplier’s lead time

•

Notes

•	Effective date

•	Expiry date

Once the supplier has completed the spreadsheet with bid information, he or she will return it by email. The buyer can then import the bid information into the RFQ.