RFQs (Requests for Quotation) are far more than a formality in day-to-day business. Properly set up, they transform scattered data and gut feelings into competition, price transparency and measurable savings. In this recording, Simon Schaub (Customer Development, Tacto) and Jakob Hafner (Product Management, Tacto) show how modern purchasing organizations use RFQs in a targeted manner: from the identification of potentials and structured requests to the evaluation and reporting of savings.

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Initial situation - Why traditional RFQs often miss their potential

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Many purchasing departments still work with Excel lists, email threads and manual copy-paste between ERP, document repositories and PDFs when requesting prices. This not only costs capacity, but also prevents systematic comparisons: Quotations are inconsistent, feedback is scattered, there is no overview. The result is that RFQs are launched too rarely, supplier competition falls short of its potential and price benchmarks are lacking.

The consequences are clearly reflected in the figures:

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• 85% of purchasing managers do not know the annual number of RFQs sent out.
• 78% of companies negotiate prices without a prior comparison request.
• On average, 5 hours per week are lost per buyer for manual RFQ maintenance in Outlook/Excel.
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Omitted RFQs quickly lead to six- to seven-figure additional costs over the course of a year. The savings are literally lying on the street, but are not systematically collected by the organization.

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Two savings levers: cost avoidance & cost reduction

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• Cost avoidance: threatening price increases are warded off with competitive offers. Offer rounds increase the pressure, provide robust counterarguments and stabilize conditions.
• Cost reduction: Regular benchmarking at the right time identifies price levels in the market - the new reference values are often enough to achieve better conditions with existing suppliers (without having to switch).
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Why timing counts: Those who rarely bench market "miss out" on falling market prices - the buying curve stays up while the market is already cheaper. Systematic RFQs level out this gap.

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Standardization that frees up capacity

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A core problem of classic RFQs is the heterogeneity of the responses. This is where Tacto comes in:
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• Intuitive setup directly from the article master; no supplier login required, answers can be taken from standard formats → higher response rate.
• Out-of-the-box comparability: Offers are recorded uniformly and can be evaluated in a structured manner - without manual normalization in Excel.
• More suppliers per request - and therefore more competition - because the administrative effort is reduced.
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Effect on process costs: Depending on the complexity, 10-20 hours can be saved per RFQ. This capacity flows into additional requests, better preparation and cleaner negotiations.

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From reactive fire extinguishing to proactive purchasing radar

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Instead of only launching RFQs for acute reasons (new parts, price increases), Tacto shifts the mode to proactive:
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• AI hints suggest suitable times for benchmarking.
• Market and dependency risks (e.g. single sourcing) become visible; alternative suppliers can be evaluated in a targeted manner.
• Round-based RFQs increase competition in a controlled manner - "best-and-final" becomes the process logic, not the exception.

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Continuous process instead of isolated solutions

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Tacto bundles the entire path from potential to reporting:
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• Data analysis: volume, quantity and price transparency as a starting point.
• Indications/signals: Where are opportunities, which articles/suppliers offer leverage?
• Implementation: Set up standardized RFQs, make offers comparable, follow up in rounds.
• Tracking: document results clearly, attribute savings and make them visible in reporting.
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Practical effect: Instead of reactive requests (e.g. only to defend against price increases), proactive timing is created: targeted benchmarking when market windows are open and RFQs not only for A-parts, but scalable across the "benchmarkable spend".

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Conclusion

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Those who use RFQs in a standardized, data-based and tactical manner shift their own role from price taker to designer:
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• More competition through increased supplier participation and bidding rounds.
• Better prices thanks to clean benchmarks and robust arguments.
• Less effort through standardization and automation of the comparison logic.
• Transparent effect via clear savings tracking through to management reporting.

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In the webinar, Simon Schaub (Customer Development, Tacto) and Jakob Hafner (Product Management, Tacto) explain how purchasing organizations can increase competition, realize cost advantages and free up capacities with an intelligent RFQ process. The focus is on creating a clear, scalable structure from scattered data and manual workflows that delivers both operational efficiency and strategic impact.

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