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ENTEK.AI

Procurement

From RFQ to purchase order, with an approval trail at every step

Buyers in ENTEK Corporate write a structured RFQ, get it approved inside the company, and send it to suppliers. Suppliers bid and negotiate in ENTEK Supplier. The buyer compares the bids, awards one, and the purchase order is issued in the same step.

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Request type
RFQ (Request for Quotation)
Supplier selection
3 modes: verified auto selection, manual, worldwide
Delivery options per bid line
1 to 5
Attachments
PDF, DOC, XLS up to 10 MB

The flow, end to end

  1. 01Create RFQ
  2. 02Internal approval
  3. 03Sent to suppliers
  4. 04Suppliers bid
  5. 05Negotiate in rounds
  6. 06Compare bids
  7. 07Award
  8. 08Purchase order issued
01

Create an RFQ

Buyer: any company user whose role includes the Create RFQ permission

The RFQ form lives in ENTEK Corporate under Marketplace, Submit RFQ. One form holds everything a supplier needs to price the request. A summary panel on the right updates as you fill it in.

  1. Open the form and add basic information

    Enter the RFQ title and description. Both fields have a Generate button that drafts the text with AI, which you can then edit.

    Open the form and add basic information

  2. Add the items

    Add items by hand, or use Select products to pick them from the catalogue. A catalogue item carries its full product details to the suppliers. You can also start an RFQ from a product card in Browse Products.

    Add the items

  3. Choose how suppliers are selected

    Verified Auto Selection invites every supplier with products in the matching categories. Manual Selection lets you pick suppliers yourself. World-wide opens the RFQ to a supplier search beyond the directory.

  4. Set delivery details

    Pick the preferred date, time and delivery branch. You can add a new branch from the form. Under Delivery preferences you can say how each item should be delivered, so suppliers price the same thing.

  5. Set project, priority, deadline and approvers

    Optionally link the RFQ to a project. Set the priority (Low, High or Urgent) and the last date to bid. Choose one or more approvers from your company users, or invite a new approver from the form.

  6. Add terms and attachments, then submit

    Fill in the contact, specifications, optional budget without VAT with its currency, and payment terms. Attach files if needed. Click Submit RFQ for Approval: suppliers receive the RFQ, and your approvers sign it off inside the company.

Tip Get AI Suggestions and the Generate buttons use AI tokens from Settings, AI Tokens. The AI drafts text and suggests categories; you review everything before submitting.

Rule Title, description, items, delivery date, time and branch, last date to bid, contact, specifications and payment terms are required.

Limit today Suppliers found by the World-wide search are not checked by ENTEK. The verification badge applies to directory suppliers only.

02

Approve the RFQ inside your company

Approver: a company user named on the RFQ

Your approvers sign off every RFQ on Manage RFQs & Bids. Suppliers receive the RFQ when it is submitted, so keep confidential details out until it is ready.

  1. Find RFQs waiting for approval

    A submitted RFQ shows the status Pending. The Pending Approval card at the top counts RFQs awaiting review. Use the status filter to list only Pending RFQs.

    Find RFQs waiting for approval

  2. Review and approve

    Open the RFQ and check the items, budget, terms and deadline. Approve it as an approver. If something is wrong, the RFQ can be edited, including its list of approvers, or cancelled.

    Review and approve

  3. Send to suppliers

    The RFQ, its items, your delivery preferences and attachments reach the selected suppliers in ENTEK Supplier, and its status shows Sent to suppliers.

Rule Who can create and who can manage RFQs is set by role permissions in User Management. Approvers must be users of your company.

Tip RFQ statuses on the board: Pending, Sent to suppliers, Approved, Cancelled, Expired. An awarded RFQ also shows its PO number.

03

Suppliers receive the RFQ and bid

Supplier: a supplier user whose role includes RFQ permissions

Suppliers work in ENTEK Supplier, a separate portal with its own login. They see the RFQ under Request Quotation and answer it with a structured bid.

  1. Get notified

    The invited supplier gets an invite email and an in-app notification, New RFQ Received. The notification links straight to the RFQ details.

  2. Find the RFQ in the RFQ List

    Filter by Open, Closing soon, New updates, Shortlisted or My bids, and by location and category. Each card shows a countdown to the bid deadline.

  3. Read the request

    The RFQ detail shows the required date, delivery location, budget, payment terms and category. Below are the line items with their specifications and any attachments from the buyer.

    Read the request

  4. Build the bid in three steps

    Step 1: price each line. Step 2: add commercial terms such as discounts, payment, validity and extra items. Step 3: review and submit. Each line can carry 1 to 5 delivery options.

Rule A supplier needs a listing score of at least 60 to see RFQs. The supplier's plan also limits how many RFQs it can take (the Free plan allows 10).

Tip Suppliers you already work with can join through Manage Suppliers, Invite Supplier (one by one or by bulk upload).

Limit today On some RFQ screens the supplier sees the buyer shown as Buyer instead of the company name.

04

Negotiate in rounds and compare bids

Buyer: procurement user. Supplier: bid owner

Bids arrive on the buyer's Manage RFQs & Bids board. Each bid can go through several rounds, called iterations, before you decide.

  1. Watch bids come in

    Each RFQ card shows the latest offer, the number of bids and the expiry date. The Active Bids card counts bids awaiting your decision, and Expiring Soon counts RFQs closing within 3 days.

  2. Open a bid

    The bid detail page shows the supplier, delivery branch, the RFQ summary, the products, the current offer, discounts and the full negotiation history.

    Open a bid

  3. Counter or accept a round

    You can approve or decline the supplier's current iteration, or send a counter. The supplier sees your response in ENTEK Supplier and can submit a revised offer. Each round is kept in the history on both sides.

  4. Agree delivery terms

    Delivery terms are negotiated in the RFQ stage too. Where a supplier offers more than one delivery option, you select the one you want.

  5. Compare bids

    Use Ask AI on the board to compare the bids on an RFQ. The AI summarises and compares; the decision stays with you.

Tip Suppliers keep a Review history timeline of every iteration, so both sides work from the same record.

Limit today The delivery option you choose is not yet displayed on the supplier's bid and PO screens.

Rule Amounts are shown in the currency of each bid. ENTEK does not convert currencies, so compare bids in the same currency.

05

Award a bid and issue the purchase order

Buyer: procurement user with permission to manage RFQs. Supplier: winning bidder

Awarding and issuing the PO is one action. The PO is created on the server in a single step, then appears for both the buyer and the winning supplier.

  1. Accept the bid

    On the bid detail page, accept the winning bid and create the PO. The RFQ card then shows the PO number, for example PO #867978.

  2. The supplier is told it won

    The winning supplier gets a You won notification with the PO number and a View purchase order link.

  3. The PO appears in the supplier's Purchase Orders

    The list shows PO number, RFQ, issue date, total, delivery ETA, valid until and status. Search by PO number or RFQ, and filter by status and date.

    The PO appears in the supplier's Purchase Orders

  4. Open the PO

    The PO detail holds the total, delivery ETA, validity, status, payment terms, discount, delivery contact and the buyer's note.

  5. Fulfil and track

    From here the PO is fulfilled and tracked like other orders, with delivery confirmed by the buyer's proof code. Payment and credit are handled in Finance.

    Fulfil and track

Rule The AI never awards a bid. Award is always a decision by an authorised user.

Limit today Check the delivery ETA on each PO. Some POs have shown an ETA earlier than the issue date.

06

Track every RFQ on both sides

Buyer: procurement and managers. Supplier: sales and bid team

Buyers and suppliers each have one screen that shows where every RFQ stands.

  1. Buyer board: Manage RFQs & Bids

    Four cards: Ready for PO, Pending Approval, Active Bids and Expiring Soon. Below, search and filter the RFQs in grid or table view.

  2. Supplier board: RFQ Dashboard

    Shows active negotiations, pending bids, win rate and average response time. Urgent actions list RFQs about to expire, RFQs needing a first bid and RFQs with updates.

    Supplier board: RFQ Dashboard

  3. Ask the assistant

    On the buyer side, the AI assistant can answer questions about your open RFQs, under your own permissions.

Limit today Ready for PO counts awarded bids that do not have a PO yet, so it can differ from the number of cards that already show a PO.

Limit today The industry response-time benchmark on the supplier dashboard is a fixed reference value, not measured data.

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Who does what

RoleCan do
Owner / Administrator (ENTEK Corporate)Create and manage RFQs, edit approvers, cancel or delete RFQs, award bids and issue POs, set who else can do this.
Manager (ENTEK Corporate)Company-wide procurement: create and manage RFQs and bids, as granted by the role.
Engineer (ENTEK Corporate)Create RFQs and track orders. Cannot see billing or manage users.
Approver (any company user named on the RFQ)Review and approve an RFQ as the company's internal sign-off.
Custom role (ENTEK Corporate)Any mix of permissions, including Create RFQ and manage RFQ, set per module in Permission Controls.
Supplier user with RFQ permissions (ENTEK Supplier)See invited RFQs, submit bids, negotiate in iterations, and view purchase orders. Access is set in the supplier's own permission matrix.
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Common questions

  • Can a supplier see our RFQ before it is approved?

    Today, yes. Suppliers receive the RFQ as soon as it is submitted, and Submit RFQ for Approval tracks the internal sign-off on your side. Keep confidential details out of the RFQ until it is ready to go out.

  • How do we decide which suppliers receive the RFQ?

    Choose one of three modes on the form: Verified Auto Selection (all suppliers with products in the matching categories), Manual Selection, or World-wide. World-wide leads are not vetted by ENTEK.

  • Can our current suppliers bid?

    Yes. Invite them from Manage Suppliers, one by one or by bulk upload. They bid from their own ENTEK Supplier account.

  • Can we negotiate after the first bid?

    Yes. Each bid runs in iterations: you approve, decline or counter, and the supplier revises. Delivery terms can be negotiated in the same stage.

  • What happens when we award a bid?

    The purchase order is created in the same step. Its number appears on the RFQ card, and the supplier gets a You won notification and sees the PO in its Purchase Orders list.

  • Does the AI choose the winning supplier?

    No. AI drafts RFQ text, suggests categories and compares bids. Approval and award are always done by your users.

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