A quotation is much more than a price calculation!
In my previous post, we went through the attributes of a perfect quotation.
Let us see now what perspectives provides a strong quotation process. It is much more than a price calculation!
Transparency.
Transparency is an important concern for any company. It is not only about transparency toward the state administrations, the financial institutions and the shareholders. It is about being transparent in your daily operations inside your company as well as with the organizations you are working with. Of course, especially in a client – provider partnership, transparency is a setting to be adjusted. It may be either a purchasing requirement or a sales argument. In either case, you need a structured and clearly communicated budget. It is a powerful mean of both communication and conviction.
Full scalability.
The modus operandi are changing. At any time, the day after the 1st quotation or 2 months later, they may be updated or used for another quotation. In any case, both parties must know what does the quotation include or not. The modus operandi must be defined in a clear and simple way as a part of a frame of reference. They are managed within a library, which should also include equipment’s. It is the only rational manner to standardize your activity across your region. It doesn’t only make the quotation process easier, it also enables you to make effective comparisons. It lets you harmonize your approach to your business. It means better understanding and faster scalability: from one to all activities, from one to all locations, from one country to all regions.
Simplicity.
Quoting means modelling your activity. Once it is well-structured and designed, an intuitive and user-friendly interface makes the quotation process swift. These days, simplicity goes together with an access online via the internet. That is not an issue for a clearly defined process.
There is another major topic here: the education and the skills development for your own teams and the people you are working with. Firstly, as you are the master of your business, your quotation process is designed to reflect the DNA of your organization. It constitutes in itself an instruction. It sets your vision. Secondly, as a consequence, it becomes a working tool and educates every day all the persons involved. Therefore, a tailor-made quotation system is a very powerful mean for ensuring the best level of competence for your colleagues and partners. Ultimately, it makes your organization more agile. It minimizes switching cost for in-house as well as out-sourced activities. Whatever solution you go for, your DNA remains the key player and secures your success.
A collaborative tool.
Working together is better. In today’s business, it is a must. Globalization, outsourcing and marketing trends have totally changed the way brands produce and deliver products to the final customers. Complicated processes have to be set up. They require and generate a lot of data and coordination between various parties for different parameters. For any person involved, an easy and customized access is mandatory in order to integrate, visualize and share the data that matter most. It can be, on the client company or the service provider side, a corporate or regional director or an area manager. It can also be a 3rd party expert or a supplier. Each one, within or outside your organization, can be part of a validation workflow or an information flow. Status are updated in real-time.
Sustainability.
You’re just a step away! Your quotation is built up to mirror your vision of the business. It is all what you care about, not exclusively finance. Human rights and global environmental sustainability are major topics.
From a profit point of view, a thoroughly quotation process gives an exhaustive cost tracking, an insight into the hourly rate as well as a clear view on the margin level. You take full control of the financial part.
From a people point of view, a quotation is a way to assess working conditions. For instance, you check compliance with regulations about handling weight limitation during a shift.
From a planet point of view, a quotation can let you follow up the waste generated during your activity. For instance, you can understand the quantity of cardboard or plastic thrown away.
Make your business stand out!
Get behind the wheel and find the way to further improvement.
Your quotation process helps your organization to make data-driven decision. You create and update quotations. You collect and share data including planning and production volumes. You get the full picture and the complete history. Based on that, you can do:
– Data analysis
– Statistics
– Simulation
– Comparison
– Forecast
– Tracking of changes
– Financial impact calculation
Dig into data and surfacing insights has never been that easy.
– Need to define where the biggest savings can be done?
– Make right and global comparison between your different operations sites?
– Assess an innovation project proposal?
– Explain your last decision including full Return On Investment calculation to the CFO?
– Run benchmark or RFQ?
– Simulate and assess different network scenarios?
– Interested in a particular kind of data like processing time for all the locations of your area?
– Answer questions from corporate about material costs?
– Or to clarify why some prices have changed?
Leverage data, make decision with no doubts and boost your activity performance.
No one believes in magic. No one is naive. The quotation process is about money. It is the root of business and a driver of change. When a client company and its service provider make their quotations exhaustive and transparent, it makes you:
- get a sharp visibility into meaningful data,
- come to a better understanding,
- improve the business together.
A quotation is actually the place to:
- initiate powerful continuous improvement,
- guarantee to keep your prices at the fairest level,
- make effective benchmark and RFQ,
- design the best possible network.
It paves the way for best-in-class production costs, finance control and material management.
Last but not least, a trustworthy quotation process lays the foundation for a long-term partnership!
Thank you for your interest.
Don’t hesitate to contact me for any question or comment.
Yannis FAURE
The 1st post was about the reasons why transparent price calculation process is the sine qua non of long term partnership.
The 2nd post was about the quality of quotation as a key part of your profitability and an essential part of a serene commercial partnership.
You may also like this other post about continuous improvement, which is much more than a marketing argument.
Your packaging value-added services activity is:
– About managing many modus operandi, bills of material and the associated processes whatever they are manual, automatic or semi-automatic,
– About ensuring end-to-end operations performance,
– About ensuring the best service quality level,
– Subject to continuous and frequent price calculation because of an update, a new requirement, a product change, a new technology,
– Subject to regular global benchmark, RFQ, network optimization project,
– Organized within a multi-country network of production sites,
– In-house or sub-contracted.
Check out the e-Quotation Models solution, a ground breaking Continuous Improvement software based on the quotation process.
e-Quotation Models – Smart Vision, Great Impact