The source
What comes in
- Supplier quotes and RFQ specification
- Approved comparison currency and conversion basis
- Freight, tooling and lead-time criteria
Supplier quote comparison agent Three quotes.
Three quotes.
One honest comparison.
LaunchAI lines up quantities, units, tooling, freight and delivery terms, then puts the differences in a bid tab your buyer can check.
The job in one minute
What the agent takes off your desk.
Supplier quote comparison puts competing offers on the same basis before award. A bid tabulation records each supplier against the requested item, quantity and commercial terms. LaunchAI can read the quotes, prepare that comparison in your existing tools and flag missing scope. The buyer decides using specification, qualification, cost and delivery evidence.
The finish
What comes out
A bid tab with traceable values, explicit assumptions and unanswered questions.
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
- S03 · short · 1:18Agent declines an unsafe substitution
At the buyer’s desk
The work is spread across several windows.
One quote is per piece. The next is per hundred. A third looks cheaper until the tooling charge appears on page two. Your buyer needs the same cost basis and the missing assumptions before choosing an offer.
A quote for 1,000 pieces is not comparable to a quote for ten packs unless the pack size is known. Likewise, a cheaper part can carry a tooling charge or a lead time that misses production. Normalization and clarification are often more valuable than ranking the raw unit prices.
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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Map quote lines
Match each supplier line to the requested item and revision. Preserve optional alternatives separately.
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Normalize commercial units
Align price units, pack quantities and quantity breaks. State the currency basis and avoid inventing an absent freight estimate.
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Expose scope differences
Separate recurring unit costs from tooling, setup and shipping. Mark exclusions and delivery conditions.
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Prepare the decision
Apply the buyer’s scoring criteria and attach source pages. Request clarification where a ranking would depend on an unknown value.
The detail that changes the job
What gets caught before the next step.
Supplier A quotes $4 per piece plus $300 tooling. Supplier B quotes $450 per hundred with tooling included. These are illustrative inputs.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Price unit | $450 / hundred | $4.50 / piece |
| One-time cost | $300 separate tooling | Shown outside unit price |
| Decision | Two headline prices | Comparable scope and order quantity |
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.
- A quote uses an unspecified pack size or exchange-rate basis.
- An alternate item fails the requested material or revision requirement.
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
Quotes compared without rekeying
Measure 02
Unresolved bid assumptions at award
Measure 03
Corrections found during buyer review
A format your team can use
Build a supplier quote comparison sheet.
Use one record per supplier and requested item. Extended material cost is the required quantity multiplied by the normalized unit price. Show known one-time costs separately. Leave an unknown charge unresolved instead of treating it as zero. Use the sheet for private supplier offers against your own part specification.
| Field | What to record | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Item and revision | Requested part, specification and quoted alternative | Separate a compliant offer from a proposed substitute |
| Quantity and price unit | Required pieces, pack size and supplier price basis | Convert boxes, hundreds or weight to a common basis |
| Additional costs | Tooling, setup, freight and relevant delivery terms | State what is included and what is still unknown |
| Currency and total | Approved comparison currency and conversion basis | Keep the rate/date and the original quoted amount |
| Delivery | Lead time, promised date and minimum order | Check the production need and required order quantity |
| Evidence and decision | Quote version, source page and buyer decision | Preserve the explanation behind the selected offer |
The practical questions
What buyers ask.
Can the lowest bid be awarded automatically?
Price alone is not sufficient. Supplier qualification, specification compliance, capacity and your approval rules must also be satisfied.
Can this work with an Excel bid tab?
Yes, an existing spreadsheet can be part of a screen-based workflow. Validate formulas, protected cells and the expected output with representative quotes.
What belongs in a bid comparison template?
Include the requested item and revision, supplier, quote version, required quantity, price unit, normalized unit cost, one-time charges, delivery terms, lead time, exclusions and source reference. Use the same assumptions for every supplier and keep unanswered questions visible.
How is quote comparison different from RFQ automation?
RFQ automation prepares the request and tracks responses. Quote comparison begins with the returned offers and produces a normalized decision sheet. One sourcing event can use both workflows, with a different expected output at each step.
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.