Exploring Advanced Manufacturing Technologies. Steve Krar
the tools of tomorrow and learn to use them today, assure themselves of a share in tomorrow’s prosperity.
The suppliers pay an annual fee for being listed while there is no cost for accessing this site for the purchasing department (buyer).
ManufacturingQuote, Inc.
ManufacturingQuote.com, the Web-based marketplace, is one of the leaders in the field that connects job shops with companies purchasing custom services. This easy-to-use, secure service is a Win/Win for both buyers and sellers looking to improve their bottom line, grow their business, and reduce the total bidding process to days. They are able to put the buyer in touch with a suitable supplier within the country or throughout the world. They provide web marketplaces for buying and selling custom, made-to-order, and engineered-to-order manufacturing goods and services.
Services Required
Customers at mfgquote.com do not need any special equipment or software other than a personal computer with Internet access and a modem. Even the smallest manufacturer or job shop usually has at least one computer, meaning that the initial setup to access the Web site is often very low or at no cost. Those who have used this service have found that it is fast and reduces the bidding process to days while saving money.
Two distinct business processes are addressed with the toolsets offered by ManufacturingQuote.com.
▪Buyers of manufacturing products and services receive value from the time they start their search to outsource goods and services to the point at which they decide to do business with the best supplier.
▪Suppliers optimize their sales and marketing efforts by automating traditional strategies in an online marketplace.
APPLICATION OF THE TECHNOLOGY
Both participants (buyer and supplier) in the marketplaces are in a Win/Win situation. The buyer has access to a much wider selection of suppliers in order to comparison shop for products and services. The supplier has the opportunity to expand their customer base for its products and services.
Buyer – The marketplace participant that desires to source and/or purchase manufacturing goods and services. A buyer posts Requests for Quotes (RFQs).
Buyer Advantage
ManufacturingQuote.com provides a solution to Buyers of custom manufacturing services who:
▪want to accurately source in less time.
▪have difficulty locating contract manufacturing companies (suppliers) outside their existing base of Suppliers that can perform faster and at lower cost.
▪need to reduce turn-time.
▪wish to optimize the purchasing department by streamlining comparison shopping.
▪would like to spread work over multiple Suppliers to reduce risks.
▪struggle with compatibility of engineering data between their software and their Supplier’s software (data translation).
Supplier – The marketplace participant that desires to quote or bid on a buyer’s RFQ. The supplier is typically an individual responsible for sales in a company that offers manufacturing goods and services.
Supplier Advantage
ManufacturingQuote.com provides a solution to Suppliers of custom manufacturing services who:
▪would like to expand their sales and marketing.
▪are normally dependent on a few customers.
▪are limited by geographic boundaries.
▪have recurring workloads.
▪are unable to focus on higher margins that could be realized from locating work that best matches their expertise, equipment, and capacity.
▪lack suitable tools to manage outstanding quotations.
▪struggle with compatibility of engineering data between their software and their customers’ software (data translation).
SUPPLIER FUNCTIONALITY
Job-Bots
The first step of the process for suppliers is to create a “Job-Bot”. The Job-Bot is a virtual representation of a supplier’s line of business, Fig. 1-4-1.
The supplier tells the Job-Bot to search for RFQs that were created by a buyer in a specific industry, for a specific area of manufacturing that fall within a range of unit quantities required to be delivered before or after a range of dates.
▪The Job-Bot begins to collect only RFQs in the marketplace that match the standard defined by the supplier.
▪This assures that suppliers will not have to sort through RFQs that are not applicable to their business.
Job-Bot – an automated search engine, created by suppliers, to find RFQs (Request For Quotations) in a ManufacturingQuote.com marketplace that best match a supplier’s expertise and capacity.
Fig. 1-4-1 The Job-Bot Wizard guides the user through the process of creating a Job-Bot. (ManufacturingQuote, Inc.)
▪The bidding process will then be organized inside the Job-Bot so that the supplier can manage related quotes associated with the Job-Bot’s line of business, obtaining sales and profitability indications.
▪Suppliers manage Job-Bots in the “Job-Bot Management List”.
•This provides a summary of the activity in each Job-Bot.
•They can sort the list by any of the column headers, have quick access to the RFQs and Quotes within each Job-Bot.
▪The Job-Bot list identifies which Job-Bots have grabbed new RFQs and new messages, as well as identifying accepted, rejected, or outstanding quotes for inside the Job-Bot.
•The list also tells the supplier if the Job-Bot is running or has been suspended.
•The supplier has the option to suspend a Job-Bot if that line of business is at full capacity and the supplier wishes to temporarily stop receiving RFQs.
Aside from offering convenient organization tools, the Job-Bot delivers valuable measures of sales and profitability. At any point in time, Suppliers can view the “Job-Bot” summary and obtain a Won/Loss analysis of their quoting. They can also see a summary of the RFQs in the Job-Bot, indicating opportunity that is imminent in the marketplace for that line of business.
VIEWING REQUEST FOR QUOTES (RFQS)
Once inside the Job-Bot, suppliers obtain a list of the RFQs the Job-Bot has collected. The list provides a snapshot view of the RFQ opportunity and offers easy access to RFQ details in a manageable interface. The list also indicates the suppliers quoting activity for each RFQ.
Request For Quote (RFQ)– an electronic document that defines what, when, where, and how a buyer wishes to purchase manufacturing goods and services. Quote - an electronic document, created by suppliers and delivered to buyers as a response to a RFQ
The supplier has one mouse click access to the RFQ Details from the RFQ list.
▪The RFQ displays all the specifications the buyer has defined, including part name, number and description, as well as payment terms, delivery information and any file attachments that further describe the job.
▪File attachments are usually in the format of generic CAD data. The RFQ details provide links