A clear request for quotation is the foundation of a well-run outsourcing project. Get it right and your shortlist quotes will be accurate, and you can compare like for like. Get it wrong, and the process stalls, assumptions creep in, and the gaps surface only after a decision has already been made.
The pressure on that decision has grown. Since 2022, higher interest rates have made the cost of carrying inventory and component liabilities a real line item rather than an afterthought. Tariff changes and component volatility have pushed many OEMs to diversify sourcing and look at near-shoring, co-shoring, and regional production. Across the industry, the move toward supply chain resilience and regionalised manufacturing is now one of the defining trends for OEMs choosing an electronics manufacturing services (EMS) partner. All of that makes the quality of your RFQ more important, not less.
It is tempting to send a generic document to every contract electronics manufacturer to get quick pricing back. That approach tends to cause problems later. If key data is missing from the quote pack or if sections are open to interpretation, the responses you get back will not be comparable, and the process will drag.
To improve response quality and move through the process efficiently, here are seven points to consider for your next RFQ.
What should an RFQ to an electronics manufacturer include?
A strong RFQ to an EMS provider should include seven things:
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A statement of objectives
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Relevant company background
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A single point of contact
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Your capability and certification requirements
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Your service expectations
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Response format and timing
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Your terms and conditions.
The more clearly you set out volumes, forecasts, build standards, and supply chain responsibilities, the more accurate and comparable the quotes you receive will be.
1. Statement of objectives
Summarise what you expect from your outsourcing project, what it means to your company, and what your ambitions are for the partnership in the short, mid and long term. This helps potential suppliers build a proposal around your vision and gives them room to show how they add value rather than simply quoting a price.
Be explicit about the outcome you are buying. Lower landed cost, faster time to market, supply continuity, a route into a new market, or freeing your engineers for the next project are all valid objectives, but they lead to very different proposals. Say which one matters most.
2. Company background
What is your vision, and how are you setting out to achieve this? Which market sectors are you focused on today, and are there others you are considering for the future? What does your product portfolio look like: a range of similar products built on common components, or products that vary widely in complexity? What is your market share and geographical reach?
Keep this concise. The aim is to give the EMS provider enough to judge whether they are a good fit, not to drown them in detail.
3. Key contacts
Include the details of the person heading up the project. Assigning a single point of contact is a good way to control the RFQ process. The trade-off is that a single contact can become a bottleneck if technical queries need another department, or if that person is away from the business.
Direct access to other team members can help the EMS provider, but you will need to define roles and responsibilities and manage the flow of communication so nothing is lost or duplicated.
4. Capability requirements
The RFQ should set out your requirements in detail: the areas of expertise, qualifications, and certifications you need. If your process relies on a particular piece of production equipment or a specific process, for example, selective soldering or conformal coating, make the EMS provider aware upfront.
State the mandatory standards and the nice-to-have ones. For regulated products, certifications are not negotiable. A medical device programme will need ISO 13485. A transportation programme will often need IATF 16949. Build quality is usually specified to IPC-A-610 Class 2 or Class 3. Spelling this out early avoids comparing a quote built to one standard against a quote built to another.
Vendor questionnaires are useful here. They gather the data in a consistent format and make side-by-side comparisons easier. As with the RFQ itself, tailor any questionnaire to the service being offered, and flag early which accreditations or processes are essential.
5. Service expectations
How much of your operation are you planning to outsource, and how involved do you want the chosen EMS partner to be? Design for manufacture, prototyping, and industrialisation sit at one end. Comprehensive test, configure-to-order, postponement, and direct-ship fulfilment sit at the other. Many EMS providers add services like these to differentiate, so it is worth exploring which ones would genuinely benefit your organisation.
Supply chain responsibility deserves particular attention. You might plan to source some or all of your own materials and free-issue them to the assembly partner. That single decision changes how the provider approaches the material element of the quote. With the cost of capital higher than it was a few years ago, the question of who owns the inventory, who carries the supply chain risk, and who is liable for excess and obsolete stock has a direct effect on price. If supply chain responsibility is ambiguous, you will receive very different quotes from providers you assumed were similar.
6. Response format and timing
Set out how you expect quotations to come back. A defined framework lets you compare suppliers quantitatively rather than guessing at what each price includes. State the submission deadline and the format you require. Not every element below will be relevant to every project, but the more you standardise, the easier the comparison.
The table below turns the usual cost build-up into a like-for-like comparison framework. Ask every provider for the same elements, and the differences between quotes become much easier to read.
| Cost or commercial element | What to request | Why it matters |
| Unit price | Price per product or assembly at each volume tier | This headline figure is only meaningful alongside the detail that follows |
| Labour | Hours per assembly and hourly rate, split by resource type | Shows whether a low unit price reflects efficiency or hidden assumptions |
| Material | Material cost, material margin, and any handling fee | Reveals how much of the price is materials and how each provider marks them up |
| Lead time | Standard lead time, split by material and labour | Separates supply lead time from build lead time so you can plan demand |
| Non-recurring engineering | NRE charges itemised | Avoids one-off setup costs being absorbed into the unit price and distorting the comparison |
| Tooling and test | Cost of jigs, fixtures, and test development | Often a significant upfront cost that varies widely between providers |
| Component liabilities | Excess and obsolete exposure, minimum order quantities | Increasingly material given higher carrying costs and component volatility |
| Payment terms | Proposed terms and any consignment or stocking arrangement | Affects working capital as much as the unit price does |
To return their sharpest quote, the EMS provider will usually want the following from you:
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Annual usage, order, and call-off quantities
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Target price (a ballpark figure is often fine)
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Forecast demand and whether it is steady or seasonal
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A two-to-three-year quantity projection
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Any target pricing or design registration already agreed upon
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Your build standards (IPC-A-610 Class 2 or Class 3, or your own manufacturing standards)
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Any confidentiality constraints, such as suppliers you do not want contacted at this stage
7. Terms and conditions
Include the terms and conditions you would expect in any future contract, so prospective vendors can factor them into their responses. Cover service levels, contract length, warranties, renewal options, delivery penalties, and payment terms. Clear terms at the RFQ stage reduce the risk of a surprise during contract negotiation, when a misaligned expectation is far more expensive to resolve.
Conclusion: Writing an RFQ that gets accurate, comparable quotes
A concise document that sets out your requirements clearly will attract accurate proposals from your shortlist and help you move to the next stage. Writing the RFQ may not be the most exciting part of the project, but it is the foundation of a well-managed one. Done well, it gives you a like-for-like view of your options and the confidence to make an informed choice.
Download our free executive guide to outsourcing for more information. Or, if you would like to talk through an upcoming programme, our team is happy to help.
FAQs
1. What should an RFQ to an electronics manufacturer include?
A strong RFQ includes seven things: a statement of objectives, relevant company background, a single point of contact, your capability and certification requirements, your service expectations, the response format and timing, and your terms and conditions. Together these give the EMS provider enough to quote accurately and give you a basis for comparing quotes like for like.
2. What is the difference between an RFQ and an RFP?
A request for quotation (RFQ) asks suppliers to price a defined scope, so it works best when you already know what you need built and to what standard. A request for proposal (RFP) asks suppliers how they would approach a less defined problem, so it suits earlier-stage or more complex programmes. Many OEMs use an RFP to shortlist and an RFQ to price the shortlist.
3. How many EMS providers should I send an RFQ to?
Most OEMs send a tailored RFQ to a shortlist of three to five providers. Fewer than that limits your basis for comparison. More than that creates work for little extra insight and can dilute the quality of each response. A focused shortlist, built from genuine capability and sector fit, beats a wide broadcast.
4. Should I free-issue materials or let the EMS provider source them?
It depends on where you want supply chain risk and working capital to sit. Free-issuing can suit OEMs with strong existing supplier relationships, while a turnkey approach hands procurement, sourcing, and component liability to the provider. With the cost of capital higher than in recent years, the inventory ownership question has a real effect on price, so state your preference clearly in the RFQ.
5. How long should the RFQ process take?
Set a realistic deadline in the document itself. For a defined scope, two to three weeks for responses is common, with complex or regulated programmes needing longer. The clearer and more complete your RFQ, the faster providers can turn around an accurate quote.
This post was originally written in 2015 but has since been fully revised and republished for relevance and accuracy.
