Step 3 - Standard RFI Framework
Standard rfi framework
Objectives of the Template
The objectives of this template is to provide a framework with which to develop a Request For Information (RFI) during Step 3 of the strategic sourcing process.
The information collected throughout this process will help the user to complete the supplier questions in Step 3 in a more detailed manner allowing the system to give more detailed analysis though supplier-specific analysis as opposed to a generic market analysis only.
A Standard Request for Information (RFI) Questionnaire
This RFI is divided into the following three sections:
A. General Business
B. Operational and Commercial Competence
C. Operational and Commercial Congruence
Each section has a number of questions. Each question should be scored against a weighting structure to provide an overall competence and congruence score.
NB: A separate analysis may need to be undertaken for each section for specific products/services in particular markets. It is critical that proper weights are assigned to each question, and as objective an assessment/scoring system as possible is used as part of the supplier selection process. This cannot be decided on an a priori basis but must be discussed carefully with operational and commercial staff in the buying organisation:
A. General Business
A1. Company Information
A1.1: Type of Company (Publicly Quoted/Privately Owned)
A1.2: Company Registration number
A1.3: Describe how your business unit/division fits into the parent organisation structure. Please provide detailed organisational charts.
A1.4: When was the parent organisation established? Are there any plans to change your current legal status and/or to acquire other companies in the future?
A1.5: When was the business unit established? Are there any plans to change your current legal status and/or acquire any other companies in the future?
A1.6: List the products/services produced by the business unit?
A1.7: Rank-order each product/service as a percentage of the overall turnover of the business unit, and of the parent organisation.
A1.8: What is your current market share (% and/or by volume)?
A1.9: Have you ever supplied to this business unit or elsewhere to the company within the last 5/10 years? Specify previous terms and conditions of supply.
A1.10: Please provide the following information for both your business unit and the parent organisation for the last three financial years:
· Turnover
· Number of Employees
· Return on Capital Employed
· Return on Sales
· Gross Operating Profit
· Net Operating Profit (EBIT/PBIT)
A2. Business Strategy
A2.1: What is your strategy for the product/service in the market (cost leadership/differentiation or both)?
A2.2: Are you attempting to increase/decrease or leave static your share of the market volume?
A2.3: What % of your customers business would you prefer to have, by customer?
A2.4: Who are your preferred customers and why?
A2.5: How attractive is our account to your future business strategy and what rank order of importance would you give us amongst your current customer base?
A2.6: How many customers do you wish to work with in the future?
A2.7: Does the business unit make or outsource the whole or part of product/service supplied?
A2.8: Describe what elements of the product/service are insourced and which are outsourced?
A2.9: For the elements outsourced are the supplier(s) a part of the parent organisation or separate supplier(s)?
A2.10: How are outsourcing relationship managed? Are they long-term collaborative strategic alliance/partnership or short-term arm’s-length contested relationship? Specify by each key outsourced elements of supply.
A2.11: Is any review taking place of any current make-buy relationships, and any alternative strategies being considered? When will any decision be made in the future?
A2.12: Are the overall marketing and make/buy strategies documented?
A2.13: At what level of senior management are these strategies endorsed?
A3. Market Structure
A3.1: Describe the current structure of the market as you see it in terms of the number of competitors and their respective market shares, as well as current demand and supply issues.
A3.2: Who are your major competitors?
A3.3: What do you believe are your unique differentiators in this market?
A3.4: How do your see this market developing over the next 1, 3 and 5 years (especially related to barriers to market entry, technological innovation, substitutes and competitive forces)?
A3.5: Why will the market develop this way?
A3.6: How do you think your market share will develop over the next 1, 3 and 5 years?
A3.7: Who are your customers and what is their % of your business?
A3.8: Do you have any plans to merge with or acquire any of your competitors?
A3.9: If not, under what circumstances would you do so?
A3.10: Do you have any plans to collaborate with any of your competitors?
A3.11: Under what circumstances would you exit from this market?
B. Operational and Commercial Competence
B1. Operational Competence
General and Specific Operational Competencies:
B1.1: What experience do you have in working in this industry? (specify)
B1.2: How many factories do you manage? Where are they located and which have ISO certification?
B1.3: Describe the % split of your business activity by particular products/services (specify)?
B1.4: What are your printing capabilities? If you have others please specify separately.
B1.5: What best describes your product manufacturing system? (specify)
B1.6: What other in-house operations do you provide to your customers? (specify)
B1.7: Do you have other process capabilities? If you have others please specify.
B1.8: Do you have online facilities during printing process? (specify) If you have others please specify.
B1.9: Describe by plant location the equipment used with operational details (specify details).
B1.10: Can you print the following items? (specify)
B1.11: Which of the following materials are you able to print? (specify)
B1.12: Can you provide the following items in-house? (specify)
B1.13: Who are your 5 major ink suppliers? Provide their company name, annual turnover and market share.
B1.14: Who are your 5 major paper suppliers? Provide their company name, annual turnover and market share.
B1.15: How many tonnes of paper per annum do you use?
B1.16: Which, if any, of your sites is operating in Vendor Managed Inventory mode? (specify) If not, describe the current mode that is being operated.
B1.17: Do you have your own distribution facility?
B1.18: Can your systems interface with SAP?
Supply Capacity and Risk/Contingency Planning Competencies:
B1.19: Do you currently have the capacity to meet all of our requirements (specify) given your current customer mix? Provide documented evidence.
B1.20: What is the current maximum in use capacity of your business unit/company to deliver the product/service in this market to the required sites? (specify)
B1.21: Can you supply all of the required volumes to all of the required sites? (specify) Provide documented evidence of current site locations and capacities.
B1.22: Can you supply our requirements from more than one of these sites? (specify) Specify which ones from which sites.
B1.23: Do you have seasonal activity? When are your high, medium and low seasons of activity?
B1.24: What time of the year constitutes peak and off-peak in your business?
B1.25: What is your current average lead-time (weeks) for new orders?
B1.26: What is your current average lead-time (weeks) for repeat orders?
B1.27: What is your current average lead-time (working days) for call-off?
B1.28: How many shifts do you operate?
B1.29: What is your current capacity utilisation overall, and by particular sites?
B1.30: Do you have spare capacity that could be brought into operation if required, as demand increased for the required sites? (specify) If so how much spare capacity do you have, and how long would it take to bring it on-line for delivery purposes for specific sites?
B1.31: What contingency plans do you have in place to deal with supply interruption and to guarantee supply to all required sites (specify). Provide copy of contingency plan.
B1.32: How do you utilise risk management principles as an integral part of your internal business activities?
B1.33: How do you identify and manage potential risks associated with the use of suppliers and their products/services in your business?
B1.34: What level of staff turnover do you experience annually in key operational and managerial grades? (specify)
B1.35: Describe your succession planning matrix structure for dealing with staff turnover.
B1.36: Describe your internal performance measurement and management system. What are the KPIs that operational and managerial grades have to succeed against?
B1.37: If you do not have the capacity yourself and act as an intermediary, and outsource to a supplier for the bulk of the product/service required, provide the supplier(s) name(s) and address that you currently utilise.
Operational Performance and Innovation Competence:
B1.38: Provide performance indicators that demonstrate your current ability to deliver the volumes required to all sites? (specify)
B1.39: Do you currently have Service Level Agreements (SLA) in place with customers? If so describe what these are in detail.
B1.40: Provide evidence of your current functionality/quality performance related to the product/service specified (defects, on-time delivery, HSE, Investors in People etc.).
B1.41: Do you have performance improvement targets for each aspect of product/service level measured by SLAs? Describe what the targets are and your current plans to meet them.
B1.42: Do you benchmark your SLA performance against other companies in the industry? If yes, describe how and your rank orders.
B1.43: How do you access learning from others and undertake knowledge management internally and externally with your suppliers?
B1.44: Provide a list of the customers who have undertaken quality audits in your company.
B1.45: Describe your current competence development strategy for improving the operational performance of staff.
B1.46: What % of annual expenditure is devoted to internal staff development, training and competence activities operationally?
B1.47: What is your current HSE performance? How many major incidents did you report last year?
B1.48: What % of annual expenditure is devoted to working with suppliers and development of their staff operationally?
B1.49: What is your current approach to procurement and supplier/supply chain management?
B1.50: Do you have SLAs and performance improvement targets in place with your suppliers in the supply chain? If so, please describe those currently in place and the strategy to achieve any agreed improvement targets.
B1.51: What do you consider to be your current competence in procurement and supplier/supply chain management?
B1.52: Do you have any plans to insource any current supply chain activities in the future? If so, what are these?
B1.53: Do you have any plans to outsource any current internal activities to suppliers in the future? If so, which activities and to which suppliers and in what locations?
B1.54: Do you undertake value and process optimisation activities internally in your business? Provide evidence of the realised benefits in terms of increased product/service functionality improvement from your top 5 projects undertaken over the last five years.
B1.55: Do you undertake value and process optimisation activities externally with your suppliers and within your external supply chain? Provide evidence of the realised benefits in terms of increased product/service functionality improvement from your top 5 projects undertaken over the last five years.
B1.56: List any suggestions that you currently have that might improve the operational ways in which our company and yours could manage this item of spend.
B2. Commercial Competence
General and Specific Commercial Competence:
B2.1: What is the current best overall price that you are currently able to offer for the delivery of the products/services specified?
B2.2: Over what term of contract are you able to guarantee the current prices offered?
B2.3: Are you able to provide quarterly/or more regular periodic (specify) reporting to document product/service volumes and invoiced costs within the current price structure, or will this lead to additional costs?
B2.4: Do you have insurance cover for the following risks? (specify)
B2.5: Describe the mechanisms you use to monitor and measure increases in supply input costs?
B2.6: How do you propose to deal with increases in raw material and other supply input prices? Do you carry any cost increases/decreases in your price for the term of the contract, or do you expect to pass any increases/decreases to us?
B2.7: Do you have the ability to undertake activity based costing within your business and to specify the actual costs of activities related to particular customer relationships?
B2.8: Please provide a cost breakdown of fixed costs/semi-fixed and semi-variable and variable costs for each product/service provided?
B2.9: Provide a breakdown (out of 100%) of the ratios between costs of operations/overheads/profit margin in establishing your price offer to us.
B2.10: Describe the current average profit margins that you normally achieve in this market, and the profit margin you normally make from supplying us (0%-5%, 6%-10%, 11%-20%, 21%-30%, 30%-50% or above 50%). By profit margin we mean the contribution to corporate profit after costs of operations and overheads.
B2.11: What level of revenue is required annually to sustain the business operations of the company (i.e. to cover the fixed costs of operations annually)?
B2.12: What D&B and/or S&P (or other - please specify) credit rating does your company have currently?
B2.13: Do you have transparency over the supply input costs of your key suppliers in the supply chain?
B2.14: What percentage of current supplier contracts is managed through long-term collaborative or short-term arm’s-length relationships?
B2.15: Do you have effective exit strategies in place with key suppliers? What percentage of current supply relationships has high switching costs with problems of exit?
Commercial Performance and Innovation Competence:
B2.16: What % of net sales or of expenditure is invested in research and development? Provide figures for last year and for the next three years?
B2.17: What % of net sales or of expenditure is invested in capital projects? Provide figures for last year and the next three years.
B2.18: What % of net sales or of expenditure is annually devoted to work with staff internally on commercial competence development?
B2.19: What % of net sales or expenditure is annually devoted to working with suppliers and their staff on commercial competence development?
B2.20: Do you undertake value and process optimisation activities internally within your business? Provide evidence of the realised benefits in terms of cost reduction from your top 5 projects in the last five years.