Competitive sourcing
Compare eligible suppliers on a frozen scope and carry the chosen offer into an independently authorised purchase order.
6 stages · 2 approvals
Roles and responsibilities
-
Step 1Scope
Req NumberRequesterDepartmentCost Center
-
Step 2Invite
RFQNumberFrom RequisitionScope DescriptionIssued By
-
Step 3Send and respond
RFQNumberFrom RequisitionScope DescriptionIssued By
-
Step 4Compare
RFQRFQResponseNormalized Price ScoreNormalized Lead Time Score
-
Step 5Award
PONumberSupplierOrder DateTotal Amount
-
Step 6Order approval
Step NumberDocument TypeRequisitionPurchase OrderPurchase Order
Process steps
Follow the process from start to finish. Select a step to see who acts and what changes.
Scope
Buyer creates the RFQ from an approved requisition or as a standalone exercise. Department, cost centre and each line's category support the later approval path. The scope retains quantities, units, need-by dates and original requisition references. Buyer sets the response deadline and evaluation weights before sending; a standalone exercise has no spend authority merely because it exists.
Invite
Buyer chooses eligible Active suppliers and checks the category's current verified qualification evidence. Each invitation retains its delivery and response state. Scope and weights freeze when sent through the configured supplier channel. A changed requirement needs a reviewed re-issue so bidders are compared against the same request.
Send and respond
Supplier receives the invitation through configured access and submits its own priced lines, quoted lead times, commercial terms and proposed alternatives. Buyer controls sending; Supplier controls its response before the deadline. Withdrawals and revisions preserve their history. After the deadline, response changes cannot silently alter the comparison already under review.
Compare
Buyer reviews calculated price and quoted-lead-time scores alongside the latest published quality score with usable inspection observations. Missing quality history uses the documented neutral basis. Delivery punctuality remains separate evidence. Alternates, incomplete coverage, expired offers or incomparable quantities need explicit review before a low total can support an award.
Approval required
Award
Buyer records the selected offer and reason. Procurement Manager reviews a proposed departure from the recommendation before that exception is used. The award retains the response and decision evidence and creates a draft order. No acceptable offer leads to NoAward with its reason. Supplier notifications use the configured channel and remain separate delivery records.
Approval required
Order approval
The resulting order must have matching unconsumed spend authority. Otherwise Approver, Controller or Procurement Manager decides the assigned matrix tiers. Standalone RFQ orders require matrix approval and cannot use the Buyer-limit exception. Procurement Manager separately clears price exceptions. A standalone RFQ award supplies no authority by itself. Buyer can propose a draft contract rate from the award for Procurement Manager activation.
Approvals and exception handling
2 approvals required in this process
-
Award
Buyer or Procurement Manager signs · order approval waits
RFQs, RFQResponses, PurchaseOrders -
Order approval
Approver or Controller or Procurement Manager signs when prior authority is insufficient · closes the process
PurchaseOrders, ApprovalSteps, SpendApprovals, SpendApprovalLines, CommitmentAllocations, ContractRates - Separate selection and authorityThe winning response cannot create an approved spending allowance. Reused authority must match the order's scope and remaining capacity.
- Compare the requested coverageA cheaper partial quote or alternate needs an explicit scope decision before award and order creation.
- Use the right scoreRejection history informs quality; quoted lead time and actual delivery punctuality are distinct measures. Lateness alone does not change the RFQ quality score.
- Record exceptionsRecommendation overrides retain the reason and Procurement Manager review. Later source changes cannot overwrite the recorded comparison.
- Respect accessSupplier sees its own response and invited scope. Requester and Viewer cannot read competing quoted totals.
When the process needs attention
-
exception
Award
Procurement Manager reviews a proposed departure from the recommendation before that exception is used.
-
exception
Order approval
Standalone RFQ orders require matrix approval and cannot use the Buyer-limit exception.
Records and postings
| Stage | Records | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Scope | RFQsRFQLinesPurchaseRequisitions | scope and routing dimensions prepared |
| 2 Invite | RFQsRFQInvitedSuppliersSupplierCertifications | eligible invitations sent; scope and weights frozen |
| 3 Send and respond | RFQsRFQResponsesRFQResponseLines | supplier response retained for the issued scope |
| 4 Compare | BidComparisonScoresSupplierPerformance | comparable offers scored and recommendation recorded |
| 5 Award | RFQsRFQResponsesPurchaseOrders | reviewed offer selected or NoAward recorded |
| 6 Order approval | PurchaseOrdersApprovalStepsSpendApprovalsSpendApprovalLinesCommitmentAllocationsContractRates | spending authority and separate pricing decisions completed |
Process reports
All reportsSpend by Category
Committed and received spend rolled up the Categories tree by Department and period, drilling to Supplier and PO, with OffContract lines flagged per category.
Spend by Supplier
Spend per Suppliers by Category and period with share of total, year-on-year change and the share tied to a ContractRates or MasterAgreements row.
PO On-Time Delivery
Eligible completed POLineItems with FulfilledAt in the period and on or before frozen OriginalNeedByDate, divided by all eligible completed lines. Partial arrivals do not count as completed delivery; justified exclusions and NoHistory periods are visible. This supplies SupplierPerformance.OnTimeDeliveryPct.
Requisition Cycle Time
Median and ninetieth-percentile days from SubmittedAt to Approved and from Approved to SentAt, by Department and Priority, with the ApprovalSteps tier that held each requisition longest and the count of Escalated steps.
RFQ Award Cycle
Per RFQs: days from IssuedAt to AwardedAt, supplier response rate (Responded over invited), awarded price against the requisition estimate, and the share of awards with RecommendationOverridden, listed with their AwardReason.
Maverick Spend
POLineItems with OffContract set, and lines that needed PriceOverrideApproved, grouped by Supplier, Buyer and the recorded OffContractReason or PriceOverrideReason; where the policy is being routed around and why.
Run by an agent
Agent support
Required approvals, supplier awards, price exceptions and supplier-status decisions stay with their designated people. An agent cannot expand a spend approval, bypass a matrix step or turn an RFQ award into authority to order. Configure any permitted automated transition explicitly and retain the policy and source revision that justified it. Acting through an agent never removes a conflict of duties or a pricing restriction.
# Example after configuration
$ curl -fsSL https://www.erp.ai/skill.md | paste into your agent
› competitive sourcing · scope on RFQs, RFQLines, PurchaseRequisitions
✓ Buyer creates the RFQ from an approved requisition or as a standalone exercise.
› competitive sourcing · invite on RFQs, RFQInvitedSuppliers, SupplierCertifications
✓ Buyer chooses eligible Active suppliers and checks the category's current verified qualification evidence.
› competitive sourcing · send and respond on RFQs, RFQResponses, RFQResponseLines
✓ Supplier receives the invitation through configured access and submits its own priced lines, quoted lead times, commercial terms and proposed alternatives.
› competitive sourcing · compare on BidComparisonScores, SupplierPerformance
✓ Buyer reviews calculated price and quoted-lead-time scores alongside the latest published quality score with usable inspection observations.
› competitive sourcing · award on RFQs, RFQResponses, PurchaseOrders
⏸ approval · waiting for the buyer or procurement manager
# 1 more stage after approval: order approval
Other processes
4 moreRequisition to receipt
Connect purchase requests, recorded spending authority and accepted deliveries through to the invoice-matching handoff.
6 stages · 2 approvals
Change orders
Review the full effect of order changes, preserve cumulative spending authority and keep suppliers on the approved revision.
6 stages · 1 approval
Supplier onboarding
Verify supplier identity, terms and qualifications before purchasing, then apply clear controls when status changes.
6 stages · 2 approvals
Blanket releases
Order within an approved agreement while keeping its term, pricing, remaining capacity and delivery obligations reconciled.
6 stages · 2 approvals