How to Create Purchase Quotations in an ERP: Compare Supplier Quotes on the Same Lines and Defend the Award

Anyone learning how to create purchase quotations in an ERP is really asking two things: how to ask several suppliers for a price on the same items, and how to record their answers so they can be compared fairly. The first is the request for quotation. The second is the supplier quotation.

In many Indian SMEs the request goes out as a WhatsApp photo of a handwritten list, and the replies come back as PDFs, voice notes and a price scribbled on a visiting card. Units differ, freight is sometimes included and sometimes not, and the comparison sheet is built from memory.

This guide sets out what a purchase quotation should hold, the steps that work in any ERP, an illustrative example from a Pune fabrication shop, and how Apragya's Purchase and Payables app runs the process.

How to create purchase quotations, step by step

A purchase quotation is a supplier's priced reply to your request. It should state the supplier, the date received, how long the price is valid, the currency, and for each line the quantity, unit price, amount and lead time. Taxes, freight and payment terms should be clear, even if they sit in notes.

The request for quotation comes first. It lists what you need, the quantity, the unit and the date by which replies are due, and it goes to every supplier in the same form. That is what makes the replies comparable.

Once the replies are in, compare on more than price. Lead time, past delivery and payment terms matter, and the reason for the award should be written down.

1. Start from an approved purchase requirement, so the lines and quantities are agreed.
2. Create a request for quotation with a reply deadline and terms.
3. Invite at least three suppliers and send them the same request.
4. Record each reply as a supplier quotation against the request lines, with validity.
5. Compare price, lead time and history, and note why you chose the winner.
6. Accept the winning quote and turn it into a purchase order.

What informal quoting costs a buyer

An example: a Pune fabrication shop buying steel plate

Take an illustrative 70-person fabrication unit in Chakan that needed 12 tonnes of MS plate and 400 bolts for a conveyor order. A material request from the shop floor was approved on Monday, and the buyer had to place the order by Friday.

The lowest quote was two percent cheaper but promised delivery three weeks later. The buyer chose the second supplier, wrote the reason on the record and asked the first for a better date. When the first came back with a lower price, the quote was revised rather than retyped, and both prices stayed visible.

How Apragya runs the request for quotation process

Supplier quotation comparison: sheet or ERP

A comparison sheet shows prices on the day it was made. It does not know which quote has expired, which was renegotiated, or which request it answered. An ERP record keeps all of that, so the award can be explained months later.

What sets Apragya apart for RFQ in ERP

Read more on the purchase quotations feature, the material requests that start the process, and the purchase orders a quote turns into. For high-value lots, see reverse auctions.

Getting started

1. Pick one recurring purchase, such as steel, packing or consumables.
2. Add the three or four suppliers you usually ask.
3. Raise the next RFQ from an approved material request.
4. Record every reply against the RFQ lines, with validity.
5. Compare, note the reason, and convert the winner.

After two or three cycles the comparison becomes a habit, and the reason for each award is on file.