Product Vendor RFQ and Vendor Quotes in Steelhead
Identity & metadata
Video title Vendor RFQ and Vendor Quotes in Steelhead
Date published 2025
Video type Demo / Feature Overview
Audience Purchasing; Operations; Admin; Estimating
AI-optimized summary block
What this video covers This video walks through creating vendor RFQs, sending them to vendors, collecting responses, comparing quotes, and converting the best option into a purchase order.
Problem it solves Manual vendor communication and scattered pricing data make it difficult to compare quotes and make fast, confident purchasing decisions.
Key capabilities shown • Create and send vendor RFQs
• Auto-filled email requests
• Track vendor responses in one place
• Create vendor quotes from responses
• Compare pricing and lead times side by side
• Convert quotes into purchase orders
• Organize RFQs and quotes with filters and statuses
• Tiered pricing and line-item comparisons
Full transcript
Speaker Voice over
Transcript In this video, you'll see how to easily create and send detailed vendor RFQs, track and compare responses side by side, and instantly turn the winning quote into a purchase order. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0} First, a quick overview of how fast and simple it is. Then we'll circle back for more tips to help you get the most out of this workflow. So you're running low on some inventory and you wanna check on pricing from vendors. To meet upcoming needs, easily add an item to a vendor RFQ. You can select an existing one, but in this case, let's create a new RFQ. Give it a name if desired, and add. You'll see key details at the top, which we'll go over shortly. Parts are down below. Let's add shipping as another category. Hit enter on your keyboard to save. We want the vendor to give an estimated shipping price with next day shippers. Use the tab and enter keyboard shortcuts to save. And now we can send this quote request via email. Your details auto fill based on your configurations. Select the vendors you want pricing from. Preview your request here, and when you're ready, send the RFQ email. You now see your status will change here. Any emails attached to this vendor RFQ will pull in here. And once you get responses, create a vendor quote. Select your vendor, add more files if needed, and create. Now add your lead time and put in any other details here. And it's super simple to input pricing on each item based on the response from this vendor. Once you have multiple quotes pulled into Steelhead, you can compare them easily, see which quote is the lowest price and which has the fastest turnaround time. Jump right into this quote and click create purchase order to order these items. In just a few short steps, you've gone from low inventory to a confirmed order at the right price and lead time to meet your needs. Okay, now for the fun part, further details that really streamline the process. On your homepage, things are organized into two tiles, vendor RFQs and vendor quotes. With the right permissions, you can create, edit, and manage vendor RFQs end to end. There's quick access to email settings here, such as default email templates and recipients. At the top, you have quick links, full search and filter functionality, as well as tabs for active completed and archived vendor RFQs. Here configure the table columns and send emails. Copy an RFQ or archive right from here so it's easy to focus on what needs action. Starting a new vendor RFQ from scratch, add a name and order due date if you'd like the default billing and shipping addresses, auto-fill, then go ahead and add an item. You can create items from scratch, adding everything from files, specs, parameters, process treatments, or pull from a previous RFQ item or inventory you have had in your shop. Save that. Create more categories to keep organized. Then in the contents menu, drag and drop items and categories to reorder. Add items directly from here as well. Select an item to see more details, and of course you can edit or delete as needed. Steelhead automatically generates a configurable professional PDF ready to send by email, select or add recipients. Add attachments and remove details from the email body as desired. Save your draft for later or send now. Each vendor receives your quote request via email. Easily track replies without leaving steelhead. Expand your view if needed. Here. Reply to emails. Open the email in your steelhead inbox. Ignore that marks that you've decided against this quote. Request breakdown auto creates an email asking for more details, and you can create a quote from this or use the button here. As you saw here, you have your external and internal descriptions. History gives you an ongoing list of actions related to this RFQ. Once you create quotes from RFQs, they'll show up here and related links are here. You can also copy this RFQ, create a revision mark as completed or archive. One more thing. When you're creating a quote, you can easily check on vendor pricing by clicking the add to RFQ button on any item. If this item is on a vendor quote already, quickly check the quoted price here. And now vendor quotes can be found here and each one is linked to its original RFQ. Here again, links organization, search and filters, settings, and quick actions. You'll generally start vendor quotes directly from the RFQ, but if you need to start from scratch, use this button. The layout is very similar to the RFQ. Add details here. Link an RFQ as needed. Quotes are organized by items and lines. Here you can see both side by side. Add your items either with create new or copy from existing. Then put in your pricing. And you have a few different options here. Fixed unit price or tiered pricing. If you wanna do tiered, you just add multiple line items under this item. Then put in the quantity and the price for each tier. And if you have multiple items, you can also drag and drop to reorder view, edit and delete as needed. Copy and archive quotes through this menu and when you add new files, you can associate them with a specific line item. Click to compare quotes here. You can add or remove any quote you want. Toggle off the sales tax switch between quote inventory items and lines views. Then you can also jump to this tab to compare specific items across quotes. Select from any dropdown or type in the item name. You can adjust the compare at quantity, toggle off sales tax and steelhead helps point you to the lowest price so you can make competent decisions quickly. Ready to make vendor quoting easier than ever? Log into Steelhead and start using vendor RFQs and vendor quotes to win back time today. This was built for you.
Taxonomy tags
Feature/module Vendor RFQs; Vendor Quotes; Purchasing
Workflow category Procurement; Estimating; Vendor Management
Skill level Beginner / Intermediate