RFQ triage
Manufacturing RFQ workflow audit for quote intake, drawing review, and follow-up
Turn RFQ emails, drawings, specs, revisions, due dates, capabilities, material questions, and quote follow-up into a visible workflow before good jobs stall.
From CAD 6,500 · fixed before we start · 10 business days · 6 deliverables
How the sprint works →Built by Duncan Anderson, an AI engineer and data scientist who builds practical automation around real operating workflows.
What usually breaks
Where small manufacturers and job shops lose time or revenue
The first audit is deliberately narrow. We identify the repeatable workflow, the owner, the inputs, the status points, and the places where a small automation would actually survive daily use.
- RFQs sit in inboxes waiting for someone to notice missing drawings or specs.
- Quote/no-quote decisions depend on tribal knowledge.
- Customers ask for status because there is no internal quote aging view.
- Lost quote reasons are not tracked by lead time, price, capability, material, or fit.
Readiness Sprint
A fixed first step before any larger automation build
Before anyone builds, we map one costly workflow end to end, decide what AI should draft and what people must approve, and write the pilot brief. You keep every document whether or not we build together.
- From CAD 6,500, fixed before we start
- 10 business days
- 50% to start, 50% at readout
- English or French
Six things you keep
Workflow map
Current state end to end: steps, handoffs, systems, volumes and where time goes.
Intake and status schema
The fields and states a system would read and write, agreed with the people who do the work.
Exception taxonomy and decision rights
What goes wrong, how often, and who is allowed to decide each case.
Review-first prototype spec
Exactly what AI drafts, what a person approves, and what is never automated.
Pilot and measurement brief
Scope, baseline, success metric, stop conditions and a fixed-fee build quote.
Executive readout
Findings and a clear build / don't-build recommendation, with one round of revisions.
Offer path
Operations Inbox and Admin Queue
A practical queue for owner, status, aging, missing information, and next action.
First build could be
A small workflow your team can review
RFQ intake checklist that catches missing drawings, specs, quantities, due dates, and revisions.
Not this
Clear scope boundary
This supports quote operations and missing-info triage; pricing and production judgment stay with the shop.
Workflow map
The audit follows the real work, not a generic AI checklist
The audit supports quoting operations and status visibility; pricing judgment remains with the shop.
RFQ intake source, customer, due date, files, drawing revision, material/spec requirements, quantity, and delivery needs.
Capability and missing-info triage before estimating time is spent.
Estimator/production routing, quote status, customer follow-up, and won/lost reason.
Reporting for quote aging, close rate, bottlenecks, and fit patterns.
Automation candidates
Likely first builds
The right first build is usually small, specific, and close to revenue or deadline pressure.
RFQ intake checklist that catches missing drawings, specs, quantities, due dates, and revisions.
Quote/no-quote triage queue based on capability, value, deadline, and missing information.
Customer missing-info follow-up drafts.
Quote aging and follow-up dashboard for open opportunities.
Audit output
What you get back
The goal is a decision-ready plan: what to automate first, what to keep manual, and what data or tool connection is needed.
- An RFQ intake and quote-status workflow map.
- A missing-info checklist for drawings, specs, revisions, quantities, and due dates.
- A quote/no-quote triage structure.
- A first automation plan for intake, routing, follow-up, or reporting.
Request a fit review
Send the workflow that is costing time, deals, or deadline confidence
Specifics help. Include the tools involved, how the work arrives, who owns it, where status gets lost, and what would count as a useful win.
What happens next
I review every workflow personally and usually reply within two business days. If there is a fit, the next paid step is the AI Readiness Sprint.
From CAD 6,500 · fixed before we start · 10 business days · 6 deliverables
How the sprint works →Other workflow audits
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