How to write an RFQ that gets accurate quotations

Published 2026-07-14 · 5 min read · Beijing Hypart Technology

The single biggest cause of a slow or inaccurate quotation is an RFQ that does not contain the electrical and operational envelope. Suppliers do not guess well, and the guesses they make are usually commercially favourable to them.

The six fields that matter

1. Rated power — continuous, not peak. State whether peak is required and for how long.
2. Input voltage window — the full range including startup, not the nominal value.
3. Required output voltage — the bus voltage your inverter or load expects, with tolerance.
4. Cooling method — natural, air or liquid. If liquid, state the coolant and the flow rate.
5. Environmental envelope — ambient temperature range, altitude, ingress protection, vibration and shock expectations.
6. Compliance requirements — the specific standards and markets the part must satisfy.

What to leave out of the first RFQ

Do not specify the part number. If you name a model, every supplier will quote that model and you will have no comparison. Ask for the recommended model for your envelope instead, then compare the proposals.

Similarly, do not ask for "the best price" without a quantity. Price without a quantity is not information. State annual and batch quantities separately — they are priced differently and quoting only one of them hides half the picture.

How to compare quotations fairly

Align the quotations on the same envelope before comparing numbers. Common traps: one supplier quoting a liquid-cooled variant against your air-cooled requirement, one quoting a wider voltage window with different efficiency, one excluding the mounting hardware the other includes.

Build a comparison table with every line item visible — unit price, tooling or NRE, lead time, payment terms, Incoterms, warranty period, certification scope. The supplier with the lowest headline price is frequently not the lowest total.

On certification claims

Ask which standard, which revision, and whether a test report exists for the exact part. In hydrogen components this is not pedantry — it determines whether your system can be sold into the market you are targeting.