How to compare material quotations beyond the unit price
Two quotations are comparable only when you can explain what each total buys. Before ranking prices, put every offer against the same material requirement, quantity and delivery boundary. Keep missing information visible; a blank cost is not a zero cost.
A comparison sheet should let a colleague follow the decision without recreating the entire email conversation. Record the supplier's original offer reference, date and revision, then add your comparison notes separately. Preserve the original values so that a normalized total can always be traced back to its source.
Check technical scope before arithmetic
For each request line, identify the offered product and the evidence supporting it. Record whether the supplier confirms the requirement, proposes a stated deviation, excludes it or still owes an answer. An alternative may be useful, but it should have its own row and an approval decision.
Do not make a whole-system claim from a component document. For example, a board datasheet is not automatically evidence for the performance of every wall built with that board. Refer unresolved design questions to the responsible project specialist.
Put quantities on a common basis
Show the requested unit beside the supplier's selling unit. Record any pack conversion and rounding. Keep net quantity, waste allowance and spare stock distinct so that different assumptions do not hide inside the total.
Consider this fictional arithmetic example:
- The comparison quantity is 100 m² of one specified product.
- Offer A is €20 per m², plus €150 delivery: €2,150 for the stated scope.
- Offer B is €42 per box covering 2 m². Fifty boxes cost €2,100, with delivery included.
- Offer B is €50 lower on these stated assumptions. This does not establish technical suitability or the final purchase decision.
If Offer B did not say how much area a box covers, its comparison total would remain “clarification required.” Do not invent the missing conversion to complete the spreadsheet.
Record the commercial boundary
Use separate fields for currency, price validity, taxes as stated, packing, transport, unloading and any other relevant charge. Keep included, excluded and unconfirmed amounts distinguishable. If currencies differ, record the comparison rate, date and source; retain the original quotation amounts.
List payment milestones and the event that starts lead time. “Six weeks” after drawing approval and “six weeks” after payment can produce different delivery dates. Do not turn either into a promised arrival date without confirmation.
Keep a short clarification register
For every unresolved point, record the line reference, question, responsible person and response deadline. Typical questions include pack contents, accessory scope, alternative-product approval, delivery access and the status of a required document. Share the same material change with every supplier still being compared.
The UK Government Commercial Agency's specification guide connects clear requirements with comparable bids. Here, the practical step is to keep the requested scope and each supplier's response side by side.
Finish with a decision note: the selected option, the reasons, approved exceptions and conditions still to be confirmed before an order. For product-specific requirements, use Matravo's material guides; for help with your enquiry, contact the team.
