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[ Vendor RFQ ]

Vendor RFQs from the reviewed set.

Packages drafted from the documents you already read. The estimator approves. Nothing auto-sends. Coverage stays on one queue until the quote lands.

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Outbox versus the usual list.

The status quo is a zip and a remembered vendor list. ArosBid drafts from this pursuit and will not send without a recorded approval during training.

Outbox versus the usual list.
On the deskArosBidManual RFQ
Where the package comes fromPlans, specs, scope, and bid form already in the reviewed set. Not a blank email with a link to a folder.Whoever last zipped the drawings, plus a scope paragraph written from memory.
Who sendsThe estimator. During training, a recorded approval is required. The mail connector will refuse a send that does not cite it.Whoever has the vendor’s address and enough time to attach the files.
Follow-upOpen quotes stay on the queue with reminders until they land or the trade is covered.Follow-up happens when somebody remembers, usually the afternoon of close.
StatusDraft or sent, per vendor, per trade, on one table. Nothing is “probably sent.”A sent folder, a personal inbox, and a spreadsheet that disagrees with both.
What never happensAn agent holding the mail credential and releasing an RFQ because a prompt said yes.A well-meant “just send it to the usual list” with last job’s exclusions still attached.
After the repliesQuotes land on the leveling sheet. Same workspace. Same pursuit identity.A second pile of PDFs, leveled in a new workbook if there is time.

What you can check on a walkthrough.

Three claims that are architecture, not a pitch. None of them is a customer story we do not have.

  1. 01Nothing auto-sends

    The mail connector is a separate, capability-scoped service. The agent does not hold the credential. A send must cite a recorded, approved decision.

  2. 02From the reviewed set

    RFQ packages are drafted from the documents already read on this pursuit. The vendor gets the scope you actually priced, not last Thursday’s zip.

  3. 03Coverage is a queue

    Draft and sent sit on one table. Follow-ups are part of the stage, not a favor somebody does when the close calendar turns orange.

The package is this pursuit

An RFQ that goes out with last job’s exclusions, or with a drawing set that addendum 3 already superseded, is not a small clerical miss. The vendor prices what you sent. You carry what the specification requires. The gap shows up as a “cheap” quote that cannot perform the work, or as a late scramble when the vendor asks which revision is current.

ArosBid drafts trade packages from the documents already in the reviewed set: plans, specs, scope, bid form. The package is assembled from this pursuit, then it waits for a recorded approval before anything sends.

Waiting is the product

During training, nothing leaves without a recorded human approval. That sentence is easy to print and expensive to build. A confirmation dialog the agent could route around is a courtesy. In ArosBid the mail connector is a separate, capability-scoped service. The agent cannot reach an SMTP endpoint. It does not have the credential. A send request must cite a specific decision, by a specific person, at a specific time, about the specific package in hand. If the decision does not exist, or does not match the artifact, the request is refused and the refusal is logged.

That is the same rule as every other outbound action in the product. It is not an RFQ setting. There is no plan on the pricing page that turns it off. Read What “nothing auto-sends” costs to build for the architecture, and Trust and control for the three rules that do not move.

Empty conference table after hours. No screens.

Coverage is a table, not a feeling

Draft and sent are different states. A package that is still a draft is not covering a trade. A package that was sent last week and never answered is not covering a trade either. The queue is the list of open quotes, with follow-ups, until the quote lands or you decide the trade is covered another way.

Response rates on bid invitations in this industry are low enough that hoping the usual three vendors reply is not a plan. ConstructConnect’s published coverage guidance for general contractors is about how many sub bids to collect. The trade desk has the same shape pointed the other way: how many vendor quotes you actually need, and whether the ones you have are for the scope you sent. ArosBid does not invent a response-rate percentage for your office. It keeps the queue honest.

Then the sheet next door

When a quote lands it does not start a new pile. It goes to vendor quote leveling in the same workspace: stated total against itemized sum, exclusions treated as scope, integer-cent code. The category hub is AI bid leveling. Takeoff and estimate are already in the product and replace Trimble AutoBid. Isolated instance. Microsoft Entra ID. The estimator approved the send. The estimator will approve the award recommendation too.

Empty estimator office. Plans and a desk. No product chrome.

[ FAQ ]

Asked on the first call.

Does ArosBid email vendors by itself?

Not during training. Nothing leaves without a recorded human approval. It learns those decisions, then automates what you already signed off. The gate does not move.

What is in the RFQ package?

The reviewed set for that trade: plans, specs, scope, bid form. Drafted from this pursuit, not copied from the last one by habit.

Is this a bid board?

No. BuildingConnected, PlanHub, and the other invite sources are how work comes in. This page is how your RFQs go out to your vendors.

What happens when quotes come back?

They land on vendor quote leveling in the same workspace. Stated totals get reconciled. Exclusions get priced as scope.

Are the vendors in the demo real companies?

No. Vendor names used in the walkthrough are fictional demo data, labeled as such. Riverside Office Tower is the same.

Empty lobby corridor at night. No signage.

See an RFQ that cannot send itself.

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