Cable assembly RFQ checklist for procurement and engineering

Attach the assembly drawing at a stated revision, the BOM with manufacturer part numbers, wiring or from-to lists if applicable, and any labelling specification. Include AVL or substitution rules, quality requirements, and packaging instructions. Photographs may clarify orientation; they do not replace dimensions. If a harness board drawing exists, include it — quoting without it understates forming work.

State whether the package is preliminary or production-released. Preliminary packages need a list of known open items (connector TBD, label format TBD). Suppliers can price conditionally; they cannot honestly price silence. Include applicable customer standards by document number and revision, not by informal name.

Casablanca Cable Company reviews RFQ packages against manufacturing-partner capability before committing dates. Incomplete packages delay that allocation. Sending a clean checklist-driven RFQ shortens the path to a comparable bid set.

State target first-article quantity, pilot quantity and annual volume by SKU. Include expected batch sizes and delivery locations. Volume bands without forecast quality or revision freeze points create false price breaks. If demand is project-based (halls, machine serials), say so — the capacity model differs from steady kanban.

Clarify Incoterms, consignment or buffer expectations, and whether safety stock is desired for long-lead connectors. Ask for price validity period and for currency. If multiple ship-to sites exist, list them; packaging and freight assumptions change.

Require the quote to restate drawing revision and to separate non-recurring costs (fixtures, boards, moulds, programming) from unit price. Hidden NRE in unit price distorts make-versus-buy and dual-source decisions.

Ask the bidder to confirm connector orientations, shield termination interpretation and length measurement method. Ask whether all BOM lines are available on stated lead times and which items gate the schedule. Ask for proposed alternates only through the written substitution process — not as silent quote assumptions.

Request confirmation of crimp tooling availability for each terminal/wire pair. Where tooling does not exist, require a stated plan (purchase, subcontract, or redesign suggestion) with cost and time. Untoolable crimps discovered after award are avoidable if the RFQ asks.

For overmould or special braid, ask about tooling ownership and cavity capacity. For complex harnesses, ask how form boards will be built and maintained across ECOs.

List required electrical tests (continuity, shorts, polarity, hipot, shield continuity) with limits or references. State 100% versus sample. Define crimp validation method for FAI and whether micrographs are required. Visual criteria for jackets, boots and labels should be referenced to a standard or to your acceptance sheet.

State traceability expectations: component lots, work order, retention time for records. If PPAP-like or first-article formats are mandatory for your programme, attach the template. Do not assume every manufacturing partner uses the same form.

Incoming inspection criteria at your site should be shared when possible. Aligning builder checks to receiver checks reduces ping-pong rejects that are really method mismatches.

Specify bagging, reels, carton size limits, kink protection and whether assemblies may be folded. State label content on the part and on the shipper. If kits are required, attach kit BOM and packing-list rules. Logistics failures are often misclassified as product failures — prevent them in the RFQ.

For international programmes, state any documentation needed for customs classification and whether preferential origin statements are required. These are commercial documents, but they gate delivery as surely as a missing connector.

Ask suppliers to confirm packaging cost inclusion. “Unpackaged” low bids are not savings if your warehouse must rework presentation for the line.

Ask for lead time to FAI and lead time to production after FAI approval, with critical-path components listed. Ask about capacity reservation for your volume band and about premium options only if you truly need them — and still require the base path to be realistic.

Require a description of ECO handling: cut-in rules, WIP disposition and revision labelling. Programmes with frequent drawing churn need this more than programmes with frozen SKUs. A cheap quote with slow ECO response costs more in line stops.

Ask how the supplier works with manufacturing partners if that is their model: who owns technical queries, who freezes process after FAI, and how quality escapes are contained across sites. Accountability must be named.

Rank quotes on completeness of assumptions, alignment to AVL, test scope match, realistic critical path and clarity of NRE — then on price. Disqualify bids that change the BOM without calling it out, or that omit required tests. Invite clarification rounds for genuine questions; do not reward silence.

Score technical risk separately from commercial score. A mid-priced bidder who flags bend-radius conflicts is often cheaper at programme level than a low bidder who discovers them at FAI.

After award, feed the RFQ checklist into the quality agreement and purchasing notes so the winning scope cannot quietly shrink. The checklist’s job continues after the PO is issued.