How to compare quotes and select suppliers
Prepare a verifiable request
Start by defining exactly what you intend to buy. A request for quotation should identify each product or service, the required quantity, unit and technical specification. Use stable references and preserve leading zeros in product codes. Record an analysis date and, when necessary, a required delivery date. The buyer company and delivery address are optional: provide only details useful for negotiation. Export the RFQ document for manual sharing. Every supplier should receive the same description of demand. This preparation reduces uncertainty and helps distinguish a genuinely equivalent offer from an alternative that still requires your explicit technical confirmation before comparison.
Compare packaging by actual outlay
The price of a box cannot be compared directly with a differently sized pack. First convert the pack contents to the requested unit. Then divide required quantity by pack size and round upwards to whole packs. Excess quantity is part of the purchase even when it will not be consumed immediately. For 240 screws, boxes of 100 require three boxes, while packs of 50 require five packs. Nominal unit price explains the quoted rate, but cost per useful unit shows what fulfilling demand actually costs. Do not convert mass to volume without an explicit, technically justified factor supplied by the buyer.
Understand discounts, taxes and charges
The calculation starts with pack count and the applicable volume tier price. The item percentage discount applies to merchandise first, followed by the item fixed discount, with a zero lower bound. Configured taxes are separated according to whether they are included in price and recoverable. Global discounts and payment discounts accumulate only when that condition is selected; otherwise the largest supplied benefit applies. Freight, insurance, handling and other charges are added once per supplier in the selected order. Allocation uses value, quantity, weight, volume or visible manual weights. There is no automatic tax advice, and all tax assumptions require buyer review.
Choose a transparent evaluation method
Lowest eligible total cost is appropriate when every mandatory requirement is met and commercial terms are acceptable. Simple scoring uses an overall score from zero to one hundred supplied by the buyer. Weighted evaluation combines cost, delivery lead time, proven quality and commercial terms. Weights must total one hundred percent. Cost and lead time are normalized using the lowest eligible value divided by each offer’s value, multiplied by one hundred. Quality and commercial terms use explicit user scores. An essential technical requirement cannot be offset by a low price. Missing information prevents a definitive ranking and must be clarified before a purchasing decision.
Import files with human review
CSV and XLSX templates use stable field names to make supplier responses easier to return. Before importing offers, register the supplier and its currency. Select the worksheet, numeric format and columns corresponding to each field. The preview lets you check and correct references before confirmation. Matching uses the exact SKU; similar descriptions do not establish equivalence. Negative prices, duplicate identifiers and unknown references are rejected. Empty fields remain unknown and require review. The XLSX reader does not execute formulas or macros. File size and record limits reduce memory use on mobile devices. Always review the mapped data before applying a batch.
Build a feasible purchasing plan
Selecting the lowest price in each row is only the beginning. Splitting products between suppliers may add freight and activate minimum order values. The selected plan recalculates these effects for the actual combination. Supply capacity, pack multiples and partial delivery dates should be recorded when available. The budget limits cash outlay, while economic comparisons may exclude recoverable taxes. The suggestion button compares centralized orders and deterministic splits ordered by cost and delivery time. This is a documented heuristic without a global optimality guarantee. Failure to find a plan calls for reviewing constraints and does not constitute mathematical proof that no feasible purchase exists.
Simulate scenarios and preserve assumptions
Before changing prices or freight, preserve a baseline scenario with an identifiable name. Then modify multipliers, budget, quantities, suppliers or exchange rates to observe the impact. Each scenario preserves its own data, and restoring a version recovers the previous situation. Undo history remains available during the session. Saving a local version is an explicit action and stores information only in this browser. A versioned JSON backup lets you transfer work and reproduce the analysis elsewhere. Record the reference date and source of every exchange rate. Fictional rates in the demonstration are exclusively for testing and must never be used for actual purchasing decisions.
Review documents before negotiation
The report separates the summary, original offers, costs, eligibility, evaluation criteria and selected purchase plan. The workbook lets you inspect individual rows and suggested orders grouped by supplier. The PDF records methodology and assumptions for easier review. CSV exports protect text fields from being interpreted as spreadsheet formulas. A suggested order is only a document prepared by the buyer: it does not represent a purchase, transmission or approval. No data are automatically sent to suppliers or other Quima tools. Use the documented JSON contracts for manual interchange. Before deciding, confirm offer validity, availability, specifications, freight and payment conditions with each participant.
Packs = ceiling(max(demand, minimum) ÷ normalized units per pack). Goods = packs × pack price − percentage discount − fixed discount. Global charges are allocated across selected items. Exchange = source amount × supplied rate. Cost and lead scores = 100 × lowest eligible value ÷ offer value (zero receives 100). Final score = sum(weight ÷ 100 × score). Ties are preserved.
Supplier response CSV template
| Supplier | Packs required | Purchased quantity | Excess | Total cash outlay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 3 | 300 | 60 | BRL 155 |
| B | 5 | 250 | 10 | BRL 155 |
Frequently asked questions
Does the lowest pack price always win?
No. For 240 units, three 100-unit boxes at BRL 45 plus BRL 20 freight and five 50-unit packs at BRL 24 plus BRL 35 freight both cost BRL 155. Excess quantities are 60 and 10 units.
Where do exchange rates come from?
You supply the rate, date and source. This tool does not contact external services. Missing rates make cross-currency comparisons incomplete.
Can scoring override technical requirements?
No. Mandatory requirements filter eligibility before scoring. Quality and commercial terms only receive scores supplied by the buyer.
Is the suggested plan always optimal?
No. A heuristic compares centralized orders and deterministic splits. Every plan is recalculated and validated; another combination may be better.
Are my data sent to suppliers?
No. Documents are downloaded for manual sharing. Orders are suggestions, without sending, purchasing, approval or automatic changes to other systems.
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