Request for Information Template
Contents
- Introduction
- The Requirement
- Instructions to Respondents
- Confidentiality
- Appendix 1 Supplier Profile Questionnaire
- Appendix 2 Insurance & Indemnity Questionnaire
Introduction
[Example introduction] Procurement Templates is a consultancy firm specialising in providing procurement support for FTSE 100 Companies in the UK. The company has 50 employees working across EMEA and we service global clients by acting local applying our specialist knowledge to buying behaviour in different cultures and geographical locations.[Company] UK Facts and Figures
- Operate in 3 Locations London, Madrid and Paris
- More than 50 Associates
- Specialism in Procurement Business Transformation and Shared Services
- [insert more based on your organisations profile]
- [insert more based on your organisations profile]
The Requirement
[Company] is currently seeking information from potential Suppliers active in the UK Marketplace in order to both qualify requirements and assess market supply opportunities for the provision of [INSERT NAME] products and/or related services.Company] will seek to assess opportunities for implementing supply contracts for such products and services which will deliver tangible value for money and best in class quality whilst ensuring a compatible strategic fit. The RFI is classified as pre-market engagement and a formal tender will be used to identify the supplier that best meets our needs.
You are requested to answer all questions contained within this RFI by no later than [INSERT TIME AND DATE] and [Company]may use this information to identify a short-list of potential suppliers who may be given the opportunity to be included in a subsequent [Invitation to Tender / Request for Pricing]
Instructions to Respondents
Vendors are required to submit responses to all questions contained within this document
Responses must be submitted to [Insert Name], Procurement Manager via [your procurement portal or email to firstname.surname@company.co.uk]
- [Company] will not be responsible for any expenses incurred in the preparation of your response.
- All values are to be quoted in pounds sterling (£GBP) unless otherwise stated.
- Any requests where you are unable to offer a response should be clearly marked as “No response to this request”.
- You are advised to check the accuracy of your response prior to submitting.
Confidentiality
Written information received from the other party regardless of it being marked or confidential or not and,
Oral or visual information identified as confidential or otherwise at the time of disclosure which is summarised in writing and provided to the other party in such written form promptly after such oral or visual disclosure.
Each party may use information received from the other party hereunder and may provide such information to its parent corporations, if applicable, and their respective employees for their use, only in connection with the evaluation and response to this RFI. Each party agrees that, for a period of two (2) years from receipt of information from the other party hereunder, such party shall adopt the same means it uses to protect its own confidential and proprietary information, but in any event, not less than reasonable means to prevent the disclosure and to protect the confidentiality of the information received.
The foregoing shall not prevent either party from disclosing Information which belongs to such party or is (i) already known by the recipient party without an obligation of confidentiality, (ii) already in the public domain, or becomes publicly known through no unauthorised act of the recipient party, (iii) rightfully received from a third party without obligation of confidentiality, (iv) independently developed by the recipient party without use of the other party’s Information, (v) disclosed without similar restrictions to a third party by the party owning the Information, (vi) approved by the other party for disclosure, or (vii) required to be disclosed pursuant to a requirement of a governmental agency or law so long as the disclosing party provides the other party with notice of such requirement prior to any such disclosure.
Appendix 1 Supplier Profile Questionnaire
This questionnaire has been designed to obtain the following information:
- To achieve an understanding of your company it’s objectives and policies to evaluate the common areas of understanding for the formation of a positive working relationship.
- To establish your company’s capabilities to meet our needs and business requirements; quality, service and cost.
| 1.0 General Company Information |
| 1.1Company Name. |
| 1.2Company Website: |
| 1.3Address: |
| 1.4 Company Registration Number: |
| 1.5Please provide details of your company history |
| 1.6Please provide your company structure, including ownership, sister companies, subsidiaries, affiliations, divisions and details of your board members |
| 1.7Describe your overall business scope and goals. What is your business strategy? |
| 2.0Financial Information |
| 2.1Please provide the following financial data for the last three years:
A. Annual Sales Revenue B. Profit Before Interest & Tax C. ROCE D. Annual Capital Investment |
| 2.2Please provide with your response, copies of your annual report and accounts for the last three years. |
| 2.3Please provide details of the types of insurances that you hold and the limits that apply for; Employers Liability, Public Liability, Product Liability, Professional Indemnity, Other (Please provide details). |
| 3.0 Sales Information |
| 3.1What were your overall £ sales in the last year?
What has been your specific sales trend over the last 5 years and what are your plans for future expansion or contraction in this area? (Please include a high level roadmap.) |
| 3.2What is your relative share of the market (State definition of market and geography)? |
| 3.3List your top five customer accounts for these products or services. (Indicate the total number of contracts of this nature, the average size of the total contracts in £’s p.a., and provide the name and size of the top five accounts). |
| 3.4Who is your ideal customer and why? |
| 3.5Are you currently conducting any business with [Company], either as a Supplier or Customer? If yes, indicate what products and services are Supplied&/or procured, and with which [Company] divisions/locations you are trading. Please include details of the total annual spend in the last year by division/location and expectation for the coming year. |
| 3.6Please provide references of two large contracts you have recently won and one large contract you have lost, which are relative in size etc. to [Company]. |
| 4.0Market Information |
| 4.1Who do you see as your main competitors and why? |
| 4.2Which of these do you see as you’re closest competitor and why? |
| 4.3What do you feel differentiates you from your competitors? |
| 4.4In your market what are the current developments and changes?
What future change do you expect? Describe the change, what is driving it, what you’re doing to adapt. What are the keys to future success in this market for a company like [Company?] |
| 4.5Please advise as to your future new product and service development plans etc. |
| 5.0Customer Relationship Management |
| 5.1Based on your experience in dealing with large complex accounts, what are the key success factors? |
| 5.2What is your attitude toward a close working relationship, the positive and negative, and what in your opinion does it take to work well for both buyer and seller? |
| 5.3Based on your experiences with other customers, what steps would [Company] need to take in order optimise a close working relationship with your company? |
| 5.4Please provide examples of Management Information Reports you are able to provide, detailing the level of information you are able to identify. |
| 5.5Describe your willingness and ability to undertake specific customer contract requirements e.g.SLA’s, liquidated damages, liability etc. |
| 6.0Service Delivery |
| 6.1Please provide details of your offices and locations in the UK and Internationally. |
| 6.2Please provide details of your total number of employees including temporary staff and contractors, and those in management and operational roles along with details of your staff attrition rates. |
| 6.3Do you have any geographic supply limitations? |
| 6.4What is your typical set up time for new contracts? What lead-time would you require to deliver this service?(Identify key steps to ensuring effective implementation.) |
| 6.5Please describe your full service portfolio. |
| 6.6Please describe your account management process. What communication channels would you propose as necessary to ensure a successful service delivery? |
| 6.7Please describe your call management process from receipt to closure, including escalation routes. |
| 6.8Please provide details of your standard SLA’s and methods of measurement. |
| 6.9Please provide details of the Disaster Recovery arrangements you have in place to ensure minimal disruption to supply of products and services. |
| 7.0Quality |
| 7.1Describe your Quality Assurance programs, and enclose relevant documentation. |
| 7.2Please list your current industry accreditations and certifications. Also, please provide details of any accreditation, which has been cancelled, revoked or renewal made conditional. |
| 7.3Detail how you ensure continuity of quality across all geographic regions. |
| 7.4Please detail your Health and Safety Policy for employees and customers. |
| 7.5What provisions have you made for recycling and what environmental accreditations do you hold? (Please provide a copy of your companies Environmental Policy.) |
Appendix 2 Insurance & Indemnity Questionnaire
Please provide a copy of all relevant insurance documents that your company holds.
Examples of a Use Case
An RFI (request for information) is a formal process for gathering information from potential suppliers of a good or service. RFIs are intended to be written by customers and sent to potential suppliers. An RFI is typically the first and most broad series of requests intended to narrow down a list of potential vendor candidates.
RFIs can be very useful in situations where an organization has little knowledge on possible vendors and wants to reduce the time and cost of evaluating vendors.
RFIs are often used in a variety of instances, for example, in making major IT (information technology) purchases. The goal of using an RFI is to gather information on a market in a formal, structured way. The document should identify the requirements an organization has while requesting specific answers to how the vendor will meet them.
To help identify differences among vendors, a good RFI will also focus on requirements that are unique to the inquiring business and on concerns that are less likely to be addressed by every vendor. Recipients are usually asked to submit their responses in a standard format to make comparisons easier.
Areas of use
An RFI can be used in many scenarios across lots of different categories whether if the industry is IT, Marketing or HR it doesn’t matter.
For example when buying software in the IT sector, RFI’s can be used to ask for information. Its useful to get structured information especially when the procurement may lead to an expensive long term investment. By undertaking steps to understand the initial supplier landscape organisations can be sure that by the time they get to the sourcing stage the right suppliers are in the mix.
According to RFP Bio you can:
- Kick-Off: Review requirements, assemble your team, and schedule a kick-off meeting
- Respond: Repurpose past responses and tailor content
- Collect Expertise: Assign technical questions to your company’s subject matter experts to ensure accuracy
- Review and Revise: Review RFI for consistency, tone of voice. Proofread for grammatical and spelling errors
- Submit: Send your RFI to the issuer, along with any supporting materials
- Consolidate: Save your RFI responses in a centralized location that can be used in future RFIs
You might also want to visit the sourcing page