RFQ (Request for Quotation)
A structured request sent to suppliers asking them to quote a price and terms for specified components or services. In Opgate, RFQs are issued by category through a supplier portal so responses come back in a comparable form.
Tender / Tendering
The process of inviting competing suppliers to bid for a defined scope of supply, then evaluating and awarding it. Opgate runs tenders by category and scores every supplier on the same axes.
Purchase Order (PO)
A binding document a buyer issues to a supplier to confirm an order at agreed price, quantity and terms. Opgate generates the PO from the winning quote and writes it back to the ERP.
Supplier scoring
Rating suppliers on consistent, weighted criteria — price, delivery reliability, quality and risk — so award decisions are comparable rather than subjective.
Quote normalization
Converting supplier quotes with different units, minimum order quantities, incoterms and payment terms onto a single comparable basis, so 'cheapest' reflects true landed cost.
Price drift
The gradual, often unnoticed increase in a component's price over time. Continuous monitoring flags price drift against benchmarks before it reaches an invoice.
Lead time
The elapsed time between placing an order and receiving the goods. Lead-time creep is a leading indicator of delivery risk.
MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity)
The smallest quantity a supplier will sell in a single order. MOQs distort naive price comparisons and must be normalized before scoring quotes.
Incoterms
Standardized international trade terms (e.g. EXW, FOB, DDP) that define who pays for shipping, insurance and duties. They materially change the true cost of a quote.
TCO (Total Cost of Ownership)
The full cost of a purchased component beyond unit price — tooling, logistics, quality cost, inventory and risk. TCO is the number a unit price hides.
Maverick spend
Purchasing that happens outside agreed processes or contracts. It erodes negotiated pricing and hides risk; surfacing and routing it back through sourcing recovers value.
Sole-source supplier
A component available from only one qualified supplier, creating concentrated supply risk. Opgate flags sole-source exposure and helps find qualified alternatives.
Spend under management
The share of total procurement spend actively controlled through structured sourcing and monitoring, rather than left to ad-hoc buying.
ERP integration
Connecting procurement tooling to the system of record (e.g. Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, Odoo) so decisions flow back as POs without replacing the ERP.
OTIF (On Time In Full)
A delivery-performance metric measuring the share of orders delivered on the promised date and in the complete quantity. Falling OTIF signals supplier delivery risk.
NIS 2
An EU directive raising cybersecurity and supply-chain risk-management obligations for essential and important entities, including many manufacturers and their suppliers.
EU AI Act
The EU regulation governing the use of AI systems by risk category. Relevant to procurement tools that use AI for scoring, extraction or recommendations.
De-risking
Continuously identifying and acting on supply risks — price, stock, delivery, quality and concentration — before they disrupt production.
Should-cost analysis
A bottom-up estimate of what a component ought to cost — materials, labour, machine time, overhead and margin — used as a benchmark to challenge supplier quotes and target negotiations.
Tail spend
The large number of low-value purchases that together are a small share of spend but a big share of transactions — often unmanaged, un-negotiated and a common source of maverick buying.
Dual sourcing
Qualifying and buying the same component from two suppliers to reduce sole-source risk and keep pricing competitive, at the cost of some volume leverage.
PPV (Purchase Price Variance)
The difference between the actual price paid for a component and its standard or planned price. Persistent unfavourable PPV signals price drift or weak negotiation.
Safety stock
Extra inventory held to buffer against demand spikes and supplier delivery variability. Right-sizing it trades holding cost against stock-out risk.
RFP (Request for Proposal)
A request inviting suppliers to propose how they would meet a broader requirement — approach, capability and terms, not just price. Used for more complex scopes than an RFQ.