Compare supplier quotes and calculate an allocation

How do you build a supplier quote comparison?

1. Define a shared requirement: the same qualified items, units, quantities and required dates. A technically different offer does not become comparable because its price is lower.
2. Capture prices and their conditions: currency, price tiers, bundle discounts, minimums and order multiples. Keep the source clause for each term.
3. Add fees and limits: freight, fixed charges, quote validity, capacities and deadlines. Clarify missing information before using it in a calculation.
4. Compare feasible allocations on the same scope. Calculate item costs, subtract applicable discounts and add fees. The lowest unit price alone is not enough.
5. Present the decision with quantities by supplier, a cost breakdown and assumptions. Distinguish a confirmed discount from a negotiation assumption.

You can apply this checklist in a spreadsheet. To calculate combinations of discounts and constraints from your quotes, explore sourcing optimization.

Supplier comparison table: the information to collect

Keep the original quotes. Record assumptions and missing information separately; a blank cell does not mean zero fees.

How do you compare a monthly quote with an annual offer?

Start with the same period and requirements. Over twelve months, multiply confirmed monthly charges by twelve, add one-off charges once and check what the annual offer includes.

The fictitious difference is 1,600 over twelve months in the displayed currency. That alone is not a decision: also check advance payment, cancellation terms, included quantities and service levels. If these differ, clarify them before drawing a conclusion.

This normalization is a preparation method, not an automatic conversion feature in BidResolve. Quotes and source terms remain unchanged; you must review and accept the terms before any calculation in the product.

Volume discounts: why buy less from the cheapest supplier?

In this fictional case, the best of 77 possible allocations costs USD 17,400: 400 X from A, 600 X and 1,000 Y from C. Choosing the lowest unit prices costs USD 19,000; buying everything from C costs USD 18,000. The terms and calculations below let you check every amount.

Requirement: exactly 1,000 units of X and 1,000 of Y, in multiples of 100 for each offer. X and Y represent already-qualified technical supplies; each item is interchangeable between the suppliers in this example. No overbuying.

C’s discount applies to all its merchandise, not just units above the threshold. Fixed fees are charged once per supplier used. For this exercise: decision on October 1, 2026, delivery on October 15, 2026; all offers are valid and capacity is available by that date. No other minimums, commitments, taxes, currency conversion or additional freight costs.

Three allocations, the same quotes

A costs 400 × 5 + 1,000 = USD 3,000. C costs (600 + 1,000) × 10 × 90% = USD 14,400. Total: USD 17,400. The USD 1,600 and USD 600 differences versus the other two choices are synthetic results, not achieved customer savings.

The threshold that changes the decision

Buying 500 X from A leaves only 1,500 units with C: the discount disappears and the total rises to USD 18,500. Buying 400 X from A leaves 1,600 units with C: the total becomes USD 17,400. A lower unit price can therefore make the complete basket more expensive.

Reproduce all 77 possibilities

A can receive 0, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 or 600 X: 7 choices. B can receive 0 to 1,000 Y in steps of 100: 11 choices. C supplies the remainder. The downloadable script enumerates these 7 × 11 = 77 allocations using integer cents, with no external packages or network calls.

• Complete fictional case in English (TXT)
• Numeric terms (JSON)
• Independent enumeration (Python 3)

Save the JSON and Python files in the same folder, then run the command below. This small teaching script is independent of the product solver.

python enumerate_allocations.py

The synthetic model prepared for this example is tested with the product solver and separate checker. Full enumeration establishes the minimum for this exercise only. This does not measure document extraction, real buyer acceptance or performance on your projects. The separate checker does not itself prove optimality.

See how quotes become a checked purchasing allocation

Try a fictional example

A requirement for 1,000 X and 1,000 Y, two suppliers and a conditional discount. Documents and expected amounts are teaching material, with no real customer or performance promise.

The download is free. Interpreting the files in a project follows the normal workflow, using your configured interpretation provider and one credit.

This fictional project needs 1,000 shipping boxes X and 1,000 protective inserts Y. A quotes USD 10 per unit with no fee. B quotes X at USD 8 and Y at USD 12, with a USD 500 fee if selected.

Decisive clause: the 20% discount requires all 1,000 boxes AND all 1,000 inserts from A.

USD 2,500 difference in this fictitious example. This is not a measured customer saving.

Both choices use the same quotes. The first allocation does not meet the discount condition; the second does. If you remove the discount in a separate scenario, the best plan becomes USD 18,500. Dates, capacities and other assumptions are in the downloadable documents.