RFQs

RFQ check at a glance

Status as of Sep 28, 2026 3 RFQs waiting for clarification Oldest waiting 8 days

What Keelson needs on every Tarrow RFQ before engineering review, how the 14 RFQs received since Aug 8 measured up, and the three RFQs that still wait for an answer from Tarrow purchasing. Prepared by the Keelson inside sales desk for Ingrid Solheim, director of purchasing at Tarrow Pump Systems, and the Tarrow buyers. Rosalind Chau, vice president of engineering at Keelson Precision Manufacturing, decided that no RFQ enters engineering review without the drawing revision letter. Benedict Oyelaran, commercial operations manager, returned the three open RFQs to Ingrid with the exact missing fact on each.

The check every RFQ gets

Every Tarrow RFQ is read against the same list when it arrives. The agreed RFQ rule is: drawing revision, quantity, material, tolerance and delivery date before engineering review. For blanket order releases the sheet also asks for annual volume. A quote built from the RFQ is valid for 30 days from issue, so a missing fact found late costs days of that window.

The list below shows the check for RFQ 5125, a pump housing. Five facts are present. The drawing revision letter is not.

An RFQ with all six items ticked moves to commercial fit and then to engineering review. An RFQ with any item open goes back to Tarrow once, with that item named.

How the 14 RFQs sorted

Nine RFQs were complete on the first pass and went straight to commercial fit. Two needed an answer and were released after it arrived. Three are still waiting. Read the bars from left to right: the first is the work that cost Tarrow and Keelson nothing extra, the last is the work that is stuck today.

The oldest of the three has waited 8 days for the missing fact. Before the revision rule, engineering found the same gap only after review had started. Tarrow buyers attach the drawing without the revision letter, so the gap is easy to miss on the buyer side and easy to catch on the first read.

Why five needed clarification

Five of the 14 RFQs were not complete on the first pass. Three lacked the drawing revision letter and two lacked annual volume. The two annual volume RFQs were answered and released. All three RFQs still waiting are missing the drawing revision letter.

The five RFQs took 2 clarification cycles on average. A cycle is one request from Keelson and one answer from Tarrow. The aim of this sheet is one cycle for every RFQ.

Complete on the first pass

The count below is the one Tarrow sees at the top of the sheet. It counts RFQs, not lines, and the three waiting RFQs count as not complete until the fact arrives.

RFQs complete on the first pass, 9 of 14

The three RFQs still waiting

Days waiting are counted to Sep 28. Each RFQ is missing one fact and Benedict Oyelaran sent each request to Ingrid Solheim with a reply date of Oct 6.

How an RFQ moves

An RFQ has one of four states on this sheet: received, clarification needed, commercial fit, engineering review ready. The loop on the right of the diagram is the one to shorten. Every trip around it costs Tarrow a day or more of waiting.

1. RFQ received from TarrowRead against the six facts
2. One request to Tarrow purchasingNames the exact missing fact
3. Tarrow supplies the factReply owed by Oct 6
4. Checked againThe loop repeats only if a fact is still missing
5. Engineering review readyQuote built on the accepted revision

Sending one clarification request

Each waiting RFQ follows the same five steps. The marks below show RFQ 5125 as of Sep 28.

1. Read RFQ 5125 against the six requirements
2. Name the one missing fact: the drawing revision letter
3. Send one request to Ingrid Solheim with a reply date of Oct 6
4. Tarrow replies with the revision letter by Oct 6
5. Re-check the RFQ and release it to engineering review

The request that went out for RFQ 5125 reads as follows. The same wording is used for 5127 and 5129 with their own part family and missing fact.

Owners and dates

Who is on this sheet

• IS
  Ingrid SolheimDirector of purchasing, Tarrow Pump Systems, supplies the missing facts

• RC
  Rosalind ChauVice president of engineering, Keelson Precision Manufacturing, decided the revision rule

• BO
  Benedict OyelaranCommercial operations manager, Keelson Precision Manufacturing, owns the RFQ queue