RFQ vs RFP: what is the difference?

Use a request for quotation when the scope is already defined and the open question is price and lead time. Use a request for proposal when the outcome is defined but the solution is not, and you want suppliers to propose how to get there.

A practical test: if two competent suppliers reading your document would deliver the same thing, you have an RFQ. If they would sensibly deliver different things, you have an RFP.

RFQs work when identity and quantity carry the requirement. A maintenance team replacing gearbox seals and bearings on a known machine already knows the designations; what it needs is availability, a landed price and a delivery date. The same is true for MRO consumables, for machined parts against a released drawing revision, and for equipment specified down to its ratings and interfaces.

Because the document is identical for everyone, an RFQ also makes per-position awards practical: you can take three of six positions from one supplier and the remainder from another when that produces a better overall result.

RFPs suit work where the supplier's approach is part of what you are buying. Retrofitting a packaging line, replacing a control system, building an automation cell around an existing process, or commissioning an engineering study: here the interesting differences between suppliers are method, interfaces, risk handling and commissioning plan. Asking for a bare price at that stage produces numbers that are not comparable, because each supplier priced a different concept.

A request for information comes earlier and asks nothing binding: who can do this at all, with what capabilities, capacity and geographic coverage. It is useful when entering a new market or category and the supplier landscape is unknown. An RFI narrows the field; the RFQ or RFP that follows does the actual sourcing.

Restocking wear parts → RFQ. Twelve positions of bearings, seals and a coupling for a mixer, all with manufacturer designations, annual quantity known, delivered to one plant. The document is a position list plus Incoterm, currency and deadline; suppliers answer with unit prices and lead times.

Adding an inspection station to an existing line → RFP. The requirement is a defect-detection rate and a cycle time inside an existing footprint. Vision system, handling concept, integration with the line controller and commissioning window all differ per supplier, so the document describes the outcome and constraints and asks for a proposed solution.

NetROQ is an industrial B2B procurement marketplace built around the RFQ half of this picture. Buyers publish structured requests with positions, quantities, delivery terms and a deadline; suppliers find them by category and market, ask clarifying questions and submit structured quotations that can be compared line by line. If you are still assembling the request itself, the RFQ template builder walks through the fields.