How Zero RFQ Supercharges Strategic Sourcing and Speeds Time to Market

Key Takeaways:

• Manufacturers require “digital procurement” capabilities to manage dynamic changes, as well as cost and component availability
• The right quoting tool can identify and remediate high product costs early and streamline the supplier purchase process

The Full Article:

Time is money in manufacturing—and nowhere is that truer than during sourcing. Yet the long-standing “three bids and a buy” approach often works against both OEMs and suppliers.

As global trade uncertainty rises, PwC reports that 91% of executives are making major changes to their supply chain strategies, and 87% are shifting toward more flexible operating models.

Traditional RFQ processes simply can’t keep pace with this new reality. Under the conventional quoting model, an RFQ cycle can stretch 10–20 weeks or more, involving constant back-and-forth exchanges between engineering, sourcing, and multiple suppliers. Every iteration, every clarification request, and every renegotiation compounds delays. Much of this slowdown comes from manual effort on both sides, including:

• Interpreting design intent
• Reviewing manufacturability concerns
• Re-quoting as designs evolve
• Chasing missing data
• Negotiating cost line by line

Because OEMs and suppliers aren’t working from the same data or assumptions, even small misunderstandings can trigger a cascade of rework. When manufacturability and cost drivers aren’t addressed early in design, the result is late-stage engineering changes, repeated part revisions, and prolonged negotiations—all of which slow down quoting and inflate program timelines.

For suppliers, manual quoting is resource-intensive and often unrewarding. Many spend significant time generating quotes for parts they ultimately do not win. For OEMs, evaluating multiple bids across email chains, spreadsheets, and phone calls becomes a bottleneck that consumes sourcing capacity.

The outcome is predictable:

• Slower time-to-market
• Excessive design iterations
• Higher risk of overpaying for parts
• A sourcing process that strains OEM-supplier relationships instead of strengthening them

Manufacturers need a faster, more transparent, and more collaborative way to align on cost, manufacturability, and supplier fit—without relying on outdated quoting cycles that impede progress.

What is Zero RFQ?

Zero RFQ—also known as self-service quoting—is a strategic sourcing approach that allows teams to automatically generate fact-based costs, routings, and manufacturability insights by digitally simulating a preferred supplier’s real capabilities through their Digital Factory. Instead of issuing a traditional RFQ and waiting for suppliers to respond, the manufacturer can use these calibrated models to determine a supplier-aligned cost instantly.

By aligning upfront on machine rates, margins, and process assumptions, the Buyer gains the ability to send purchase orders directly to the best-fit, qualified supplier—without the back-and-forth of manual quoting. This strengthens strategic supplier relationships, ensures consistent pricing, and eliminates the RFQ cycle entirely.

The result is a sourcing process that is faster, more predictable, and significantly more efficient, enabling teams to shorten procurement timelines while maintaining full confidence in cost and manufacturability.

With Zero RFQ, Buyers and Suppliers operate from a shared, data-driven foundation. Because everyone involved in product development works from the same digital model, collaboration becomes far more efficient. Design, cost, and sourcing risks are identified earlier, enabling teams to address manufacturability issues proactively, meet cost targets, and bring products to market faster.

Zero RFQ also removes the guesswork from supplier selection. Instead of cycling through multiple quotes and lengthy comparison exercises, the Buyer and Supplier align upfront on capabilities, cost structures, and margins. This ensures the right supplier is matched with the right parts at the right cost from the start—eliminating the need for traditional RFQ rounds entirely.

For Suppliers, this means fewer wasted quoting hours and a dramatically higher win rate. For Buyers, it streamlines sourcing and reduces administrative burden. And because the process is automated, both sides save time and money while building a more predictable, strategic, and mutually beneficial partnership.

Now, an aPriori customer like Alstom can leverage a highly accurate cost model to send a purchase order directly to their well-matched supplier. It underscores the power of a solid product costing tool and the ability to develop a strong supplier relationship, allowing the manufacturer to bypass the RFQ process completely.

How to Incorporate Zero RFQs into the Strategic Sourcing Process

Zero RFQ can enhance a manufacturer’s strategic sourcing process. However, it will be more achievable if manufacturers first optimize their internal collaboration strategy.

It requires all product development team members to work from the same database to enhance communication and collaboration. A user-friendly tool like aPriori leverages a manufacturer’s 3D CAD model and directly imports it into the manufacturing insights platform. Data insights can be viewed and collaborated on through aP Workspace to optimize design for manufacturability. Once it’s achieved, users can share and openly discuss it with suppliers in a more transparent fashion. As a result, both manufacturer and supplier can agree or modify key cost and manufacturing assumptions to reach a spec and pricing consensus. The latter provides the framework for the RFQ process that progresses as follows

1. The design engineer can see how their design impacts cost, with detailed breakdowns provided for their review. All spend categories – including labor and material rates, overhead, and profit margins – can be examined. If necessary, design and cost assumptions can be addressed to meet targets without compromising quality or impeding time to market.
2. Simultaneously, the cost engineer can access these design and cost insights. If the design is cost-prohibitive, the design engineer can identify issues early and facilitate continuous improvement of the product, thereby reducing the need for multiple iterations or ECOs. It also enables the creation of high-quality products through early design refinement.
3. Teams can rely on the design, cost, and manufacturing feedback history throughout the product development lifecycle. Once the design aligns with cost targets, the strategic sourcing team can identify the right supplier based on aPriori’s selection of the most efficient process routing. This data can then be shared with the supplier. Doing so not only fosters greater transparency in terms of fair pricing but also nurtures a Buyer-supplier relationship built on trust, ensuring the ultimate goal of a win-win scenario.
4. The manufacturer is equipped with accurate, fact-based supplier pricing data, as well as a thorough understanding of where those costs should be allocated. Additionally, this data can be used to quantify costs and share them with stakeholders. After the optimal supplier is determined, the purchase order can be submitted to the supplier. This streamlined, transparent sourcing process reduces quoting times and strengthens supplier relationship management. Since both manufacturer and supplier are now working from the same digital factory inputs, and more accurate pricing.

Aside from saving time and money, Zero RFQ has added benefits. Decision-making is more informed and faster. A more proactive stance can be taken regarding supply risks and shortages via global sourcing by comparing material rates and other supplier information from 93 regions with aPriori’s Regional Data Libraries.

A Case Study: How aPriori Modernizes Strategic Sourcing

This case study highlights how aPriori enabled a high-mix, low-volume manufacturer (primarily in aerospace and industrial sectors) to overcome complex sourcing challenges, dramatically reduce administrative overhead, and consolidate its supply base.

The Challenge: Sourcing Overload and Supply Chain Volatility

The manufacturer faced significant sourcing hurdles, including:

• Supply-Chain Disruptions & Tariffs: Navigating volatility and geopolitical changes.
• Extreme Lead Times: For critical components, lead times stretched up to 99 weeks, forcing impractical two-year forecasting.
• The “Long Tail” of Low-Spend Suppliers: 207 out of 260 suppliers accounted for only 20% of spend (as of 2021). Managing this long tail created a massive administrative burden (qualification, audits, contract management) that overloaded supply chain and quality teams, resulting in diluted spending.
• Archaic Quoting Process: Relying on traditional, time-consuming quoting methods.

The aPriori Solution: The “Four Cs” Sourcing Strategy

The company implemented a supply base rationalization and consolidation strategy centered on the “Four Cs,” with aPriori’s Manufacturing Insights platform serving as the core engine.

Key Results and Business Impact

By single-sourcing large, categorized packages to their qualified digital factory partners (“grow” suppliers), the company transformed sourcing from an administrative bottleneck into a strategic, fast, and data-driven process. The new process uses AI categorization, aPriori modeling, ERP forecasts, and supplier capacity/performance data to drive rapid, high-confidence sourcing decisions.

The results speak for themselves:

• By utilizing AI and aPriori/DF suppliers, the traditional expedited timeline was reduced from 20 weeks to 8 weeks
• Overall, 60% time reduction
• 100% first pass award rate
• Close connection with key Grow Digital Factory Suppliers
• Shared alignment to support Woodward’s sourcing needs
• Reduction of possible stockouts by 12 weeks

Zero RFQ Best Practices for Strategic Sourcing

Now that you know the benefits of Zero RFQ, what are the right strategic sourcing methods for it? Here are five best practices that should be a part of your strategic sourcing solution:

1. Identify the most suitable parts for Zero RFQ. Not all parts – particularly in early product development – will be ideal for Zero RFQ. However, commodity parts or less complex ones serve as a great starting point to achieve Zero RFQ.
2. Eliminate spreadsheet quoting with automation. Collaborate with suppliers to configure digital factories that reflect each supplier’s cost structure and enable near-instant quotes without sacrificing accuracy or losing time.
3. Reduce costs and get more accurate supplier pricing. Use digital manufacturing simulation tools combined with a sourcing strategy to model manufacturing costs for myriad and varied components, providing a more detailed spend analysis.
4. Cultivate supplier relationships. Working towards Zero RFQ via strategic sourcing and a digital manufacturing solution provides prime opportunities to identify potential suppliers and refine your procurement process. Consequently, procurement professionals can build stronger, long-term relationships with suppliers to foster trust and collaboration.
5. Create greater agility and accelerate time to market. By eliminating traditional RFQs for select components, manufacturers can compare and more accurately forecast costs, and make sourcing decisions with simulated quotes from a variety of suppliers without triggering delays.

These best practices can help manufacturers streamline their sourcing process, reduce lead times, and improve cost efficiency.

Chief Procurement Officers’ Focus on Strategic Sourcing

A McKinsey article cites one Chief Procurement Officer (CPO), “The CPO is not only the chief procurement officer anymore, but the chief partnership officer as well—partnerships externally with suppliers and internally with other functions and business units—with procurement being a knowledge broker, creating value from the collaboration between inside and outside of the company.”

The benefits of strategic sourcing cannot be understated. A single set of data is required for collaboration and decision-making, as well as to ensure alignment of goals among procurement, cost engineers, and suppliers.

aPriori provides visibility across the product development lifecycle to optimize designs for cost, manufacturability, sustainability, and individual factories. This level of insight is crucial for identifying areas for continuous improvement, enhancing supply chain management agility, fostering stronger supplier relationships, gaining a competitive edge, and driving cost savings.