Extract data from requests for quotation
A request for quotation is the buyer's formal ask: here is exactly what we need, here are the quantities and the delivery point, please send your price by this date. Sourcing teams issue an RFQ when the specification is well defined and price is the main open question, which is what separates it from a broader proposal solicitation. A procurement group might send the same RFQ to five approved suppliers at once, with each response feeding a side-by-side comparison. The OASIS UBL RequestForQuotation document and the wider Order family model the structure, but an RFQ still tends to reach suppliers as a PDF or an email attachment, so the vendor's quoting desk rekeys the line items before it can even begin to price them. Getting the request into structured shape early is what makes the responses comparable later. An RFQ carries a response due date that governs the whole bid window, a buyer contact and email for questions, a delivery location and required date, and often a cost-center or customer reference for the buyer's own tracking. The line items are requirements rather than confirmed orders: an item code or free-text description, a quantity, a unit of measure such as EA or KG, and sometimes a per-line required delivery date or a partial-delivery flag. Incoterms and a named place set who carries the freight, and a total estimated value signals the budget without committing to it. Talonic reads the RFQ and returns the buyer block, the response deadline, the delivery terms, and a line array of requested items with quantities and units, so a supplier prices from clean fields and a buyer stores every issued request in one shape. An RFQ due 2026-05-02 with an estimated value of $120,000 becomes a structured record the eventual quotes can be matched straight back to.
What gets extracted from requests for quotation
How extraction works for requests for quotation
An RFQ can be a structured e-procurement export, a buyer's templated document saved to PDF, or a scanned purchasing form, and the line-grid granularity varies with each. Talonic classifies the request and maps it to the request-for-quotation model in the Field Registry, which keeps the buyer identity and contact details, the response due date, and the delivery terms separate from the requested-line table. The response due date anchors the bid window and is captured as its own field, the customer or cost-center reference is retained for the buyer's tracking, and a per-line unit of measure and required delivery date are preserved because a supplier prices differently against EA than against a pallet. Quantities and any partial-delivery flag are read at the line level, currency follows ISO 4217, and a stated estimated value is captured without being treated as a committed total. Each value returns with a confidence score and a region pointer into the source document under DIN SPEC 91491, so a sourcing analyst can verify a requested quantity or the deadline against the PDF before the RFQ goes out to suppliers.
Sample extraction
A buyer RFQ in USD sent to approved suppliers, response due in two weeks
{
"document_number": "RFQ-NW-2026-114",
"document_date": "2026-04-18",
"response_due_date": "2026-05-02",
"customer_reference": "CC-4821",
"buyer.name": "Northwind Utilities",
"buyer.contact_person": "J. Okafor, Procurement",
"buyer.email": "procurement@northwind-utilities.example",
"delivery_location.address": "Northwind Depot 4, 220 Canal St, Rochester, NY 14604",
"delivery_date": "2026-06-10",
"currency": "USD",
"total_estimated_value": 120000,
"delivery_terms": "DAP Rochester",
"payment_terms": "Net 45",
"line_items": [
{
"line_number": "1",
"item_code": "TX-500",
"item_description": "Pad-mount transformer, 500 kVA",
"quantity": 6,
"unit_of_measure": "EA",
"line_delivery_date": "2026-06-10"
},
{
"line_number": "2",
"item_code": "CBL-4",
"item_description": "Underground primary cable",
"quantity": 4000,
"unit_of_measure": "FT",
"line_delivery_date": "2026-06-10"
}
]
}Frequently asked
How is an RFQ different from a purchase order?
An RFQ requests prices and commits the buyer to nothing; a purchase order commits to buy. Because of that, the line items are read as requirements (code, quantity, unit, required date) rather than as priced, confirmed lines, and the estimated value is captured as a budget signal, not an order total.
Does it capture the response deadline and buyer contact?
Yes. The response due date is a first-class field, since it governs the bid window and a late quote is usually excluded. The buyer contact name and email are captured too, so a supplier knows where to send questions and the quote itself.
Can it handle one RFQ sent to several suppliers?
Each issued request is stored in one consistent shape, so a procurement team that sends the same RFQ to five vendors keeps a single structured record to compare the returning quotes against. The quotes then match back through the RFQ number.
What about per-line units and required delivery dates?
The unit of measure and any line-level required delivery date are preserved per line, along with a partial-delivery flag when the source sets one, because a supplier prices and schedules a pallet quantity differently from an each quantity.
Ready to extract from your own requests for quotation?
Author note
Reviewed by Talonic engineering · last reviewed 2026-07-06