RFQ to quote without the retyping

Customer facts in this story are marked [to confirm] and will be replaced with the company's own words and numbers before it is shared.

The desk before

A forwarder's inbox is a queue of RFQs in every format a shipper can produce. A lane and a container count in the subject line. A forwarded thread with the cargo-ready date three replies down. A spreadsheet attachment with twelve lanes and no incoterms.

Each one is read by a person, who then opens carrier portals, checks contract rates, emails the carriers who don't have portals, and waits. Then the quote is typed up, with the margin applied by hand, and sent. Slow quotes lose deals, and the slowness is almost entirely reading and retyping.

[to confirm] RFQ volume and the typical turnaround before.

What was handed over

• The shared inbox where RFQs land
• Carrier portal logins and the contract rate sheets
• Margin rules by lane
• The contact list

What runs now

RFQs are read into records. Each request becomes a structured record: origin, destination, equipment, cargo, dates. When the cargo-ready date is missing, the request is flagged for clarification rather than guessed.

Rates are pulled from wherever they live. Portals are logged into and searched. Carrier emails are read into the same table. Contract rates are already there. Every rate carries its source and its validity; expired rates are flagged and re-requested.

The quote is drafted, then sent by a person. Margin is applied by lane. The draft is in the company's own format. Someone reads it and presses send. Requotes keep the history. Won quotes become shipments without copying anything across.

What the team does differently

The quoting desk spends its time on the rates that need a phone call and the customers who need a conversation. The reading and the retyping are gone.

[to confirm] A quote from the quoting desk lead.