Article guide
1. Reduce assumptions rather than collect the lowest unit price
“Ten commercial cookers” cannot produce comparable offers. Each supplier may assume a different vessel, power, fuel, material, and packing scope. A good RFQ defines the business need and project boundary while inviting suppliers to identify conflicts and alternatives.
Three tables should result
- Requirements: menu, capacity, site, and utilities.
- Equipment: model, specification, quantity, options, and deviations.
- Commercial and acceptance: price scope, packing, documents, delivery, and test ownership.
2. Describe the end-user format and menu
| Field | Buyer input | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Country, city, project type | Hotel, canteen, central kitchen, chain outlet | Changes utilities, environment, documents, and service |
| Meal pattern | Daily total, largest wave, available minutes | Daily average does not represent the peak |
| Menu | Main foods, cooking method, target batch | Drives vessel, temperature, cleaning, and equipment mix |
| Special product or dishware | Viscous, acidic, oversize, heat-sensitive | Changes material, treatment, and cleaning |
| Operating model | Shifts, staff skill, standardization | Changes automation, fallback, and training |
3. Express peak capacity in measurable units
Do not stop at diners per day
Convert demand into kilograms, portions, baskets, containers, or door openings inside a peak window. Cooking requires accepted net load and complete cycle. Sanitation requires dish mix and return waves. Refrigeration requires incoming condition, turnover days, door load, and temperature zones.
| Category | Useful demand unit | Weak wording |
|---|---|---|
| Wok or bulk cooking | Net kilograms per recipe, batches, complete cycle | “For 500 people” |
| Refrigeration | Zone, usable volume, incoming load, door pattern | “A larger one” |
| Dish sanitation | Actual dish mix, standard baskets, return waves | “200 place settings” |
| Food preparation | Raw input state, net hourly output, finished specification | “High-speed machine” |
4. Provide measured site and access information
Include a dimensioned plan, equipment-zone height, doors, turns, lift, floor, drains, exhaust route, and service clearance. Photographs should show direction and scale. Renovation projects should identify retained appliances and areas that cannot stop operating.
Minimum site package
- Dimensioned plan or measured sketch.
- Minimum clear width and height along the route and at turns.
- Front, rear, and overhead condition photographs.
- Utility points and the responsible local contact.
- Boundary between supplier, consultant, and installer.
5. Use the actual local utility values
| System | RFQ field | Supplier response |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical | Voltage, phase, frequency, capacity, plug or hardwire | Rated input, connection, protection requirements |
| Gas | Fuel, pressure, local valves and approval | Matched configuration, heat input, connection |
| Water and drainage | Quality, pressure, temperature, drain point | Connections, use, and drainage conditions |
| Exhaust and make-up air | Hood, duct, available system, interlock | Equipment release and project coordination needs |
| Environment | Maximum temperature, humidity, altitude, indoor or outdoor | Operating boundary and required adaptation |
6. List standards, languages, and documents
“Comply with local standards” is not a complete requirement
Identify the applicable requirement or the person who will make the final determination. Specify nameplate language, manual, drawings, parts list, conformity documents, test record, and translation ownership. If unresolved, state that the buyer's local consultant must confirm before order.
| Document | Language | Delivery point |
|---|---|---|
| Specification and deviation schedule | Agreed commercial language | Quotation and technical clarification |
| Installation and utility drawing | Readable by installation team | Before production or site work |
| Operation and maintenance material | Readable by end-user operators | Before shipment or with goods |
| Packing and parts list | Readable by import and warehouse teams | Shipping-document stage |
7. Define packing, spares, and service boundaries
State the Incoterms edition, currency, tax boundary, packing method, container-loading responsibility, port, insurance, destination unloading, installation, commissioning, training, and warranty start. Build spares from fleet size, local maintenance capability, and response time rather than a generic percentage.
| Item | Buyer input | Supplier input |
|---|---|---|
| Packing | Transport, stacking, destination handling limits | Package dimensions, weight, protection, marking |
| Spares | Desired coverage and local stock capability | Recommended list, price, lead time, special tools |
| Training | Audience, language, on-site or remote | Hours, materials, boundary |
| Service | Time zone and local technical partner | Response channel, diagnosis, parts flow |
8. Compare offers with deviations and an acceptance matrix
Require every supplier to answer comply, deviate, alternate, or open. A brochure is not a line-by-line response. Define factory check, arrival inspection, installation test, loaded trial, and document closure ownership.
| Stage | Evidence | Release relationship |
|---|---|---|
| Technical clarification | Signed specification and deviation schedule | Order release |
| Pre-shipment | Model, condition, function, and documents | Shipping release |
| Arrival | Packing, quantity, shipping damage | Receipt, not performance acceptance |
| Site | Professional installation, loaded trial, training, close-out | Final release |
9. Frequently Asked Questions
Can the first RFQ contain only product photographs?
Photographs help identify direction but cannot produce comparable offers. Add application, capacity, dimensions, and utilities.
What if the local standard is not known?
Mark it open and assign the buyer's local consultant or authority to confirm before order rather than asking the supplier to guess.
Can diner count replace menu and capacity data?
No. Convert diners into peak windows, food or dish quantities, input conditions, and complete cycles.
Should the RFQ include spare parts?
State the desired coverage, local stock capability, and response time, then request a project-specific recommendation.
Is the lowest total price directly comparable?
Only when technical, packing, document, trade, and acceptance scopes are aligned.
10. About the Source and Supplier Verification
This article uses current Fengzhida product pages as equipment-fact sources while keeping the advice neutral. Before purchase, require the supplier to confirm the model, configuration, utilities, acceptance method, and service boundary in a quotation or specification sheet.
Source verification date: 2026-08-27. Product facts come from the listed Fengzhida pages. The workflows, formulas, and checklists are decision tools, not performance, capacity, or compliance guarantees.
Official source pages: Fengzhida product center · Fengzhida English product center
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