A buyer emails an RFx to five vendors. The replies come back as an off-template Excel, a PDF with the discount in a footnote, a Word document with the terms in a paragraph, a phone photo of a rate card, and a one-line email. The buyer retypes all of it into a spreadsheet, three days, then the VP asks one question and the fourth day goes.
One flow, end to end. The buyer drafts the RFx with a co-pilot. Vendors reply however they like. The system reads every reply into one side-by-side comparison, same lines, units and currency, with questionnaire answers and documents beside the numbers. Then the buyer asks questions in plain language over the whole comparison, gets text, tables, charts and exports, and reaches an award that can be defended.
No template. Vendors send what they have, as files, typed prices, a note, or an email reply, and every submission enters the same reading pipeline.
| Case | System behaviour | Guardrail | Alternative |
|---|---|---|---|
| A vendor prices only some of the lines | The missing lines show as not quoted and never count as zero; coverage reads 27 of 30 next to the vendor | Not quoted is never ₹0 and never wins cheapest | Ask the vendor for the lines, or mark them not quoted |
| A price per carton or pack with no count | The line is held and the vendor is asked how many are in a pack; once known, the conversion is shown as a step | A pack size is never assumed | The buyer can enter the count if the vendor's brochure states it |
| A quote in a foreign currency on FOB terms | Converted at the dated reference rate, shown on the cell; the price stays unresolved until a freight figure exists | Rate and date are visible; freight is never estimated | Enter a freight % or ask the vendor; compare before freight as a scenario |
| A phone photo where one digit cannot be read | The price is held with the candidate readings shown | The system never picks a digit on its own | Open the source and pick, or ask for a clearer copy |
| An email that says "rest same as last year" | Resolved only if that vendor's last contract is on file; otherwise the lines are held and the vendor is asked | Last year's price is a fact only when the document exists | Mark the lines not quoted, or wait for the vendor |
| A cheaper product that does not match the spec | Kept as an alternative, never counted as like-for-like; the buyer sees what it would save | A cheaper spec is not a cheaper price | Accept it as an alternative, or ask the vendor to quote the spec |
| An invoice, brochure or terms sheet sent along with the quote | Kept as a supporting document; its prices never enter the comparison, its definitions and terms are used with the page as source | Only quotes feed the comparison | Open the document from any cell it fed |
| A file that cannot be read: empty, corrupt, locked, too blurry, or for a different RFQ | Refused with a plain reason and a next step | No guessed prices from an unreadable file | Vendor uploads again, or types the lines in the form |
| A vendor sends a revised quote | The new version replaces the old, the changed lines are listed, the history is kept | Only one version is current at a time | Open the earlier version to compare |
| A file on another vendor's letterhead, or hidden text telling the AI how to rank | Held until the buyer decides whose it is; hidden text is flagged and ignored, rankings unchanged | Documents are data, never instructions | Count it for the right vendor or leave the file out |