Timeline on quote

[neiowa]

How long did you give potential manf to respond to your detailed quote package?

Give a long time and it's likely just going to sit in someone's in box. Too short and maybe not enough time to get it thru engineer/draftsman so get a no bid.

[Sandinmyboots]

NE Iowa-
I think 30 days is extremly reasonable. Here is how the flow of the proposal works - mail -5 days
1) local sales rep reviews the specs, enters the apparatus on the manufactureres quote system - 2 days
2) local sales rep enters "special pricing" - anything that is not standard for the manufacturer - 1/2 day - then emails it to the factory for engineering review and special option pricing
3) factory engineers and special pricing people scratch their ***, pick their noses, then get around to figuring out if they can do the option and just how much they can gouge you for it. 3 weeks.
4) local rep gets pricing back, prepares bid package, delivers it 4 minutes before bid closing time (24 hours or 1 day)
Total - 29 1/2 days.
In other words, it depends on just how many bids the factory is working on at one time and how many engineers and special pricing people they have.
Place a bid opening time on your bid package. Send it out 30 days prior. Those who want your business will respond accordingly. Those who don't - well, you know the rest. Good luck!

[CooterRob]

We gave 30 days from the open date of the bid to the due date...

[HSFDChief600]

We gave 30 days for our rescue.

[Sandinmyboots]

Did you get suitable response with the 30 day time line?

[npfd801]

As a sales guy, I like 45 days. Gives me some slop time in case something happens in the process. If you really do want my bid, those extra two weeks shouldn't really matter that much.

We can do them in 30 days, but most engineering departments want at least two weeks for drawings. If they get really busy, this time can be pushed out even longer. And as much as I try to make sure I spec a rig right, it does happen that I miss something in the spec that becomes very evident in the drawing. The extra time is a nice little buffer to get things correct.

You don't want all the bidders to be in a mad rush with your new rig especially in the bid/spec phase, do you? Thirty days isn't impossible though...

[efd281]

Also being in sales, I like the 45 days too, especially when there are things like loose equipment in the bid. But my experience so far is that the company bidding my truck will look at the due date and won't get the completed quote back to me until the last minute anyway.......so 30 days, 45 days, whichever!!!

Troy

[Catch22]

We gave 45 days on our last two trucks. Most got bids in, a couple whined they needed more time (didn't give it and they managed to get the bid done), and a couple opted not to bid.

[HSFDChief600]

Yes we did, from 6 companies.

[Sandinmyboots]

HSFD Chief - you got 6 responses with a 30 day turn around time. I noticed the two "sales guys" on here liked the 45 day time. I can understand that, but in all honesty, there is very little that can be done on apparatus today that hasn't been done already. While their engineering department discusses their choice of panty liners, the world moves on. If you gave them 45 days, then they would "like" 60. Once upon a time when we depended on snail mail and cut and paste specs, that would have been acceptable. Today, it takes less than 2 seconds to email an entire 60 page spec around the world. We expect production line employees to produce more products in less time, why not engineering?
Good luck - have fun with your selection process.

[lrpott]

As a Regional Sales Manager for a manufacturer, I usually tell my dealers 2-3 weeks for drawings and a quote. This is as long as I'm not working on bids or at a show. When this happens, it's usually 3-4 weeks or even longer. I've turned them out in less than a week when it's a hurry up deal.

As for bids 30 days is plenty of time. 45 days is another 2 weeks of the unit not getting produced!!

So hopefully I've answered some of your questions.

[Command6]

30 days minimum; 45 days maximum.

I personally prefer 30 days with a mandatory pre-bid conference about 10-12 days after the RFPs are sent out.

With technology such as electronic communications and apapratus design software programs, it really shouldn't take as long as used to.

On our last bid, we created a .pdf file of the specs and emailed the RFPs to those dealers who requested them. I'm sure they in turn forwarded the document to the engineering departments at the factory. This alone used to take a week using snail mail and now can be done in a few minutes.
C6

[CooterRob]

Anyone else but me find it weird that largest "custom fire apparatus" manufacturer takes 5 weeks or more to get a pre-lim. CAD drawing... take a guess who! LOL

[Command6]

Don't you know its because they are sooo busy putting bid packets together, they get behind some time.:D

Here is something I forgot to add. Let's say you establish a 30-day time frame. If you hold a pre-bid conference, then you can ask all the vendors in attendance if the timetable is too tight.

That's what happened during our process. It was interesting to hear the responses from the potential vendors:

1) A couple more weeks would sure help us out.
2) We're fine with the timetable (I guess so, since their's was the first packet received).
3) If that is you requirement, then we'll meet the deadline.

C6

[CooterRob]

Don't you know its because they are sooo busy putting bid packets together, they get behind some time.:D

Here is something I forgot to add. Let's say you establish a 30-day time frame. If you hold a pre-bid conference, then you can ask all the vendors in attendance if the timetable is too tight.

That's what happened during our process. It was interesting to hear the responses from the potential vendors:

1) A couple more weeks would sure help us out.
2) We're fine with the timetable (I guess so, since their's was the first packet received).
3) If that is you requirement, then we'll meet the deadline.

C6 If we did that here... we'd have some blow being thrown... man out bid process swung like a pendulum.. BACK AND FORTH, BACK AND FORTH, BACK AND FORTH. The funny thing was the winner (Seagrave) just hung back and threw facts out there when asked while MR. DOMINANT flushed himself down the toilet with nonsense answers... quiet funny in fact. I laughed when he lost. :-D

[RFDACM02]

After reading this thread yesterday, we bumped our bid opening back to allow for a full 30 days, which really isn't 30 days if you count the holidays. We had favored a short timeframe, which would less of an issue if the builder has been working with us throughout the porcess, as 3 or 4 have. But reading here, just the add on tool bids and such would have made the short window difficult for anyone.

[plongsfd17]

We just finished a bid process for plain jane pumper, It took from start to finish to get bids in 80 days. We gave everybody 60 days after first bid packages went out and pre build conferance. Even with that time frame out of twelve dealers and builders only 4 came in on time. Some even told us no bid because not enough whisles and bells to make money. So who realy knows on time line. But will say next one we do (if ever) 45 days will be max after packages go out.

[neiowa]

Who comes to your prebid conf? The local sales rep or the factory rep? How many days after you send out the quote pack?

A good 4hr from the various builders we on our short list.

[Hehateme]

The funny thing was the winner (Seagrave) just hung back and threw facts out there when asked while MR. DOMINANT flushed himself down the toilet with nonsense answers... quiet funny in fact. I laughed when he lost. :-D

1. You wrote a Seagrave spec.

2. Your department bought the Seagrave from the same dealer they bought their old KME's from. (Why didn't you buy them through the Illinois Seagrave rep?)

3. You misrepresented the facts of the other bids to justify your Seagrave choice. (Pierce fully met all of your specs.)

4. You settled on a Hale CAFS system. (LOL - Good luck with that one.)

5. You elected not to go with IFS because Seagrave has not got one that works yet.

6. Just come on out and admit it. You wanted a Seagrave and got one.

7. Your new rescue and tower are Pierce, right?

[Sandinmyboots]

1. You wrote a Seagrave spec.

2. Your department bought the Seagrave from the same dealer they bought their old KME's from. (Why didn't you buy them through the Illinois Seagrave rep?)

3. You misrepresented the facts of the other bids to justify your Seagrave choice. (Pierce fully met all of your specs.)

4. You settled on a Hale CAFS system. (LOL - Good luck with that one.)

5. You elected not to go with IFS because Seagrave has not got one that works yet.

6. Just come on out and admit it. You wanted a Seagrave and got one.

7. Your new rescue and tower are Pierce, right?

OK - I am an impartial observer here - what is wrong with the Hale CAFS System? And explain why the Seagrave IFS does not work.
T

[islandfire03]

because it doesn't come in kool aid flavoring!!

[Command6]

Who comes to your prebid conf? The local sales rep or the factory rep? How many days after you send out the quote pack?

A good 4hr from the various builders we on our short list.

The local sales reps come. Here's how the process usually works.

You send out RPF to the dealers, who then forward it to the engineers at the factory. The engineering dept. at the factory will tell the dealer what clarifications are needed to ask at the pre-bid meeting.

I like the the advice of our Purchasing Agent to make the pre-bid meeting mandatory. It has several advantages:

1) It lets you know who the potential bidders are; no surprises on bid opening date.
2a) Eliminates answering the same question multiple times from all the bidders.
2b) All the bidders get the exact same response to questions, so there is no room for discrepancy.
3) The potential bidders know who and how many competitors they are facing, which can (and in fact does) lower price.

Chris

[skipatrol8]

1. You wrote a Seagrave spec.

2. Your department bought the Seagrave from the same dealer they bought their old KME's from. (Why didn't you buy them through the Illinois Seagrave rep?)

3. You misrepresented the facts of the other bids to justify your Seagrave choice. (Pierce fully met all of your specs.)

4. You settled on a Hale CAFS system. (LOL - Good luck with that one.)

5. You elected not to go with IFS because Seagrave has not got one that works yet.

6. Just come on out and admit it. You wanted a Seagrave and got one.

7. Your new rescue and tower are Pierce, right?

Way to add something productive to the discussion...because we all know exactly what you are talking about. Actually I think number two is rather prevalent, smaller towns may switch manufacturers if they want to stay with a dealer that they had a good relationship with. I can think of more than a few examples.

[npfd801]

1. You wrote a Seagrave spec.

2. Your department bought the Seagrave from the same dealer they bought their old KME's from. (Why didn't you buy them through the Illinois Seagrave rep?)

3. You misrepresented the facts of the other bids to justify your Seagrave choice. (Pierce fully met all of your specs.)

4. You settled on a Hale CAFS system. (LOL - Good luck with that one.)

5. You elected not to go with IFS because Seagrave has not got one that works yet.

6. Just come on out and admit it. You wanted a Seagrave and got one.

7. Your new rescue and tower are Pierce, right?

I'm not sure how this applies to Rob's decision - my understanding after following everything was that:

1.) Don't know if it was a Seagrave spec

2.) They bought from the northern Illinois Seagrave dealer. There is also a Seagrave dealer located further south in IL, but even if he covers Rob's area now, he's only been a Seagrave dealer for a couple of months. The dealer that did all of the ground word should continue with the sale, even if the department they're working with is now in a new dealer's area (not even sure if this is the case).

3.) Price was high on the Pierce bid from what I read, so why not buy the Seagrave?

4.) I thought Rob indicated they weren't going with a CAFS system due to maintenance concerns.

5.) Unknown

6.) Unknown

7.) Rob's department doesn't have a tower or a heavy rescue.

I don't understand the context of the post to the conversation about Rob's department's desire to purchase a Seagrave.

[TonyR85]

3) factory engineers and special pricing people scratch their ***, pick their noses, then get around to figuring out if they can do the option and just how much they can gouge you for it. 3 weeks.

Have you been spying on me?