RFQ completeness and clarification sheet

Status as of Sep 28, 2026 3 RFQs waiting for clarification Oldest waiting 8 days Client-visible

What Keelson needs on every Tarrow RFQ before engineering review, how the 14 RFQs received since Aug 8 measured up, and the three RFQs that still wait for an answer from Tarrow purchasing. Prepared by the Keelson inside sales desk for Ingrid Solheim, director of purchasing at Tarrow Pump Systems, and the Tarrow buyers. Rosalind Chau, vice president of engineering at Keelson Precision Manufacturing, decided that no RFQ enters engineering review without the drawing revision letter. Benedict Oyelaran, commercial operations manager, returned the three open RFQs to Ingrid with the exact missing fact on each.

Sample template: the firm, people, clients and figures are fictional.

The check every RFQ gets

Every Tarrow RFQ is read against the same list when it arrives. The agreed RFQ rule is: drawing revision, quantity, material, tolerance and delivery date before engineering review. For blanket order releases the sheet also asks for annual volume. A quote built from the RFQ is valid for 30 days from issue, so a missing fact found late costs days of that window.

The list below shows the check for RFQ 5125, a pump housing. Five facts are present. The drawing revision letter is not.

Requirements check for RFQ 5125, pump housing

Drawing revision letter. Missing: the attached drawing shows the part number and no revision letter

✓Quantity. Present: 120 pieces for the first release

✓Material. Present: the casting alloy named on the drawing

✓Tolerance. Present: the bore and flange callouts are legible

✓Delivery date. Present: the required date is on the RFQ

✓Annual volume. Present: the blanket order volume is stated

An RFQ with all six items ticked moves to commercial fit and then to engineering review. An RFQ with any item open goes back to Tarrow once, with that item named.

How the 14 RFQs sorted

Nine RFQs were complete on the first pass and went straight to commercial fit. Two needed an answer and were released after it arrived. Three are still waiting. Read the bars from left to right: the first is the work that cost Tarrow and Keelson nothing extra, the last is the work that is stuck today.

Live example from the Dashboards app, shown with Tarrow Pump Systems' demo data. Block dates move forward each week, so they can differ from the sample dates on this page.

The oldest of the three has waited 8 days for the missing fact. Before the revision rule, engineering found the same gap only after review had started. Tarrow buyers attach the drawing without the revision letter, so the gap is easy to miss on the buyer side and easy to catch on the first read.

Why five needed clarification

Five of the 14 RFQs were not complete on the first pass. Three lacked the drawing revision letter and two lacked annual volume. The two annual volume RFQs were answered and released. All three RFQs still waiting are missing the drawing revision letter.

Live example from the Dashboards app, shown with Tarrow Pump Systems' demo data.

The five RFQs took 2 clarification cycles on average. A cycle is one request from Keelson and one answer from Tarrow. The aim of this sheet is one cycle for every RFQ.

Complete on the first pass

The count below is the one Tarrow sees at the top of the sheet. It counts RFQs, not lines, and the three waiting RFQs count as not complete until the fact arrives.

Live example from the Dashboards app, shown with Tarrow Pump Systems' demo data.

The three RFQs still waiting

Days waiting are counted to Sep 28. Each RFQ is missing one fact and Benedict Oyelaran sent each request to Ingrid Solheim with a reply date of Oct 6.

A request that names the missing revision letter and gives a reply date gets one answer. A general request about the drawing gets two or three rounds.

How an RFQ moves

An RFQ has one of four states on this sheet: received, clarification needed, commercial fit, engineering review ready. The loop on the right of the diagram is the one to shorten. Every trip around it costs Tarrow a day or more of waiting.

flowchart TD
  A[RFQ received from Tarrow] --> B{Check against the quoting requirements}
  B -->|All six facts present| C[Commercial fit check]
  B -->|A fact is missing| D[One clarification request to Tarrow purchasing]
  D --> E[Tarrow supplies the exact fact]
  E --> B
  C --> F[Engineering review ready]
  F --> G[Quote built on the accepted revision]

Sending one clarification request

Each waiting RFQ follows the same five steps. The marks below show RFQ 5125 as of Sep 28.

The request that went out for RFQ 5125 reads as follows. The same wording is used for 5127 and 5129 with their own part family and missing fact.

To: Ingrid Solheim, Director of purchasing, Tarrow Pump Systems
From: Keelson inside sales desk
Subject: RFQ 5125, pump housing: drawing revision letter needed

Ingrid,

The drawing attached to RFQ 5125 shows the part number but not the
revision letter. Please send the revision letter for the attached
housing drawing by Oct 6.

Quantity, material, tolerance, delivery date and annual volume are
complete. Engineering review starts as soon as the letter arrives.

Keelson Precision Manufacturing, inside sales desk

Owners and dates

• Receive the drawing revision letters for RFQ 5125, 5127 and 5129. Owner: Ingrid Solheim, Oct 6
• Re-check each RFQ against the six requirements the day the letter arrives. Owner: Keelson inside sales desk, same day
• Release complete RFQs to engineering review and tell Tarrow the review start date. Owner: Benedict Oyelaran, Oct 7
• Add the revision letter to the Tarrow RFQ template so buyers see it as a required line. Owner: Benedict Oyelaran, Oct 9
• Return the three open RFQs to Tarrow purchasing with the exact missing fact. Owner: Benedict Oyelaran, sent as each RFQ was checked

How to use this template

Open one sheet when the first RFQ of a customer arrives, check each RFQ against the six requirements, and send one request per RFQ that names the missing fact and a reply date.

Variable	Meaning	Required
{{rfq.number}}	RFQ number as received from the customer	Required
{{rfq.part_family}}	Part family on the RFQ, for example pump housings or impellers	Required
{{rfq.missing_fact}}	The exact requirement that is missing, such as the drawing revision letter or annual volume	Required
{{rfq.days_waiting}}	Days since the clarification request was sent, counted to the status date	Required
{{requirement.checklist}}	The six requirements and whether each is present	Required
{{clarification.reply_date}}	Date by which the customer replies	Required
{{customer.purchasing_contact}}	Customer buyer who receives the request	Optional

If a required value is missing, show Needs review in its place and hold the request; never guess a revision letter or a volume. If the RFQ register cannot be read, show Unavailable instead of the counts.

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