The source
What comes in
- Approved part specification and drawing revision
- Quantity breaks, required dates and delivery terms
- Approved supplier list and RFQ deadline
RFQ automation agent One requirement.
One requirement.
Comparable supplier replies.
LaunchAI prepares your RFQ package, tracks the responses and gathers missing details so the buyer can compare the offers.
The job in one minute
What the agent takes off your desk.
RFQ automation coordinates the work of requesting supplier prices and delivery commitments for a defined requirement. LaunchAI can prepare request packages, track responses and organize the returned bids. Buyers retain responsibility for the specification, invited suppliers, negotiation strategy and final award.
The finish
What comes out
A complete RFQ register, supplier response trail and bid comparison package.
Your rules
Who owns the decision
The buyer and the responsible team keep commercial, qualification and financial authority. The agent does the permitted work and brings exceptions to their owner.
See it run
Watch the agent work through it.
In this conceptual walkthrough, an AI agent reads planner03's requirement PR-3318 (one 15 HP motor, 6 flanges and 12 elbows by 11/20/2026) and three vendor quote PDFs. Arbor's AES-Q-7712 totals 2,061.40 with freight included; Bellmont's BI-40551 has the lowest unit prices but adds 165.00 freight for 2,172.40 and has no validity date; Cobalt's CMF-2290 sells fittings only in boxes and packs, so 8 flanges and 20 elbows plus 60.00 freight come to 2,186.00. The agent normalizes all three in a comparison workbook and recommends Arbor under policy CMP-01; buyer01 awards Arbor and keeps Cobalt as a backup. In Business Central-style screens the agent finds there is no existing purchase quote for PR-3318, checks the vendor card, enters purchase quote PQ-1018, replaces a defaulted 1,760.00 motor cost with the quoted 1,840.00, attaches the evidence and reopens it, then runs Make Order to create PO-1043. After buyer01 approves the PO, the agent reopens it beside the bid, confirms every line and the 2,061.40 total, and reports the outcome.
Conceptual walkthrough with sample data. Screens are generic stand-ins modeled on the named system, not its own interface; workflow and screens vary by ERP.
- S01 · short · 1:18Three quote formats → one comparison
At the buyer’s desk
The work is spread across several windows.
Three suppliers. Three email threads. One has the old drawing, one leaves out finishing and one never answers the lead-time question. The buyer spends the morning collecting a comparison before the sourcing decision can even start.
An RFQ becomes difficult to compare when each supplier receives a different revision or answers a different quantity break. The administrative task is to preserve one requirement, distribute the right package and make missing commercial information visible before anyone chooses a quote.
How the agent does it
Same screens. Your rules. A checked result.
LaunchAI follows the purchasing task through your existing applications. Each step has a source to read, a rule to apply or an outcome to check.
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Assemble one requirement
Check the part, revision, quantity breaks and required dates. Identify confidential attachments that need restricted distribution.
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Prepare supplier requests
Use the approved recipient list and a consistent response structure. Retain a copy of exactly what each supplier received.
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Track replies and gaps
Record who has responded and which fields are missing. Prepare reminders against the agreed deadline rather than sending indiscriminate follow-ups.
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Hand over comparable bids
Link each reply to its RFQ and revision. Present commercial differences without selecting a supplier merely because its unit price is lowest.
The detail that changes the job
What gets caught before the next step.
Three machine shops quote the same drawing, but one excludes finishing and another quotes an older revision.
Move the divider to see how the starting information becomes a checked outcome. The complete fields are in the table below.
| Field | Starting information | Checked outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Unstructured email replies | Finishing inclusion identified |
| Revision | Different attachments | Current revision checked |
| Award | Lowest headline price | Buyer sees qualified comparison |
Worked example, not a customer result. Values and documents illustrate what to test.
Exact rules. Context. A person where needed.
The exception has somewhere to go.
The agent needs to recognize the point where the next action depends on missing information or another person’s authority.
- The drawing changes after the RFQ was sent.
- A supplier substitutes material or excludes a required process.
Define the allowed fields and actions in your software. A draft, an external commitment and an approved payment are different steps.
Show the working
Measure the work that actually gets done.
Agree on the baseline and the finish before the pilot. Count review and exception work as well as completed transactions.
Measure 01
RFQs with complete response packages
Measure 02
Time spent collecting missing bid fields
Measure 03
Supplier response rate by deadline
The practical questions
What buyers ask.
Can an agent negotiate or award an RFQ?
That is a separate authority decision. Start with request preparation, response tracking and comparison; define negotiation and award limits explicitly.
Do suppliers need a new portal?
The proposed workflow can use existing email and available portals. Confirm the actual channels and access requirements in the demo.
Your applications. Your purchasing rules.
See the work happen on your screens.
We’ll scope the input, the saved output and the exception that needs your team.