Put a manufacturing project out to bid
Describe what you need made — the part, the process, the volumes and what a supplier has to prove — and we turn it into an RFP that shops can quote from.
Most manufacturing quotes come back incomparable because the briefs behind them were. One shop prices the tooling, another amortizes it; one assumes standard tolerances, another reads the drawing. The questions below are the ones that decide whether a shop can bid at all — process, volume, tolerance, certifications and who owns the tooling — asked once, in the order somebody who has run a sourcing exercise thinks about them.
Questions people ask before sending one
- What does it cost to send a manufacturing project out to bid?
Submitting a brief and having it turned into an RFP costs nothing, and there is no obligation to award. RFP.co is paid by the companies that use the platform to manage their own bidding, not by charging buyers to publish a requirement.
- How much detail do I need before I can start?
Enough to describe the part, the process and roughly how many you need a year. Drawings, tolerances, certifications and commercial terms all help, and every one of them is optional — a project at the concept stage is a normal thing to send, and the missing answers are what the first conversation is for.
- Do I have to upload drawings or CAD files?
No, and the form deliberately does not accept them. Drawings are exchanged directly once you know who is looking at them, after an NDA if you asked for one. Nothing you send here is shown to a supplier until you approve it.
- What is the difference between an RFQ and an RFP for manufacturing?
An RFQ asks for a price against a specification you have already fixed — the part is defined and what you want back is a number. An RFP asks a supplier how they would approach the work, which is the right instrument when the design, the process or the tooling arrangement is still open. Most manufacturing sourcing starts as an RFP and narrows to an RFQ once the specification settles.
- How many suppliers should I invite to quote?
Three gives you a comparison, five gives you a market. Beyond about ten the returns fall off sharply and the evaluation cost rises, because every additional quote is another package to normalize before it can be compared to the others.
- How long does it take to get quotes back?
For a well-specified machined or fabricated part, one to three weeks is typical. Tooled processes — injection moulding, die casting, stamping — run longer, because the supplier is quoting a tool as well as a piece price and usually wants a design-for-manufacture review before committing to either.
- Can I use this to second-source a part I already buy?
Yes, and it is one of the most common reasons people send a brief. Say so under stage, and name the certifications and inspection documentation your current supplier provides — matching those is what makes a second source a real alternative rather than a cheaper quote you cannot act on.