Aircraft parts quote comparison: how to put ten suppliers' answers into one table
You sent a 40-line RFQ to ten suppliers. The answers came back as three email bodies, four PDFs and three spreadsheets, each with its own columns, units and abbreviations, and half the fields you need are blank. This guide is the part after the quotes arrive: one table layout that holds every answer, the rules for turning each supplier's wording into the same values, what to chase when a field is empty, and how to score the offers that are left.
Why ten answers do not line up
Each supplier answers from its own system. One types a line into the email body: “NS, 8130, stk, 2 ea, subject to prior sale”. One sends a PDF quotation with a line total and a delivery term in the footer. One returns your spreadsheet with three columns added and the unit price in the quantity column. The cheapest number on the page is often not the cheapest offer: it is a different condition, a part with no certificate stated, a price Ex Works a warehouse on another continent, or the price of one piece from a pack you must buy whole.
In supplier quotes we received between June and September 2026 — about 112,000 quote lines covering 13,316 part numbers — 46.6% of lines stated no certificate at all, trace was stated on only 44.3%, 85.6% gave no delivery term (Incoterm), 65.6% did not say where the part ships from, and 9.6% gave no lead time. A part number drew a median of four offers.
So most offers have a hole in them before any price is compared. Why the prices themselves differ is covered in same part number, very different prices; how to ask for complete answers in the first place is in our RFQ guide. This page assumes the answers are already in your inbox.
One row per offer, not one column per supplier
The classic bid tabulation puts your lines down the side and one column per supplier across the top. It breaks for aircraft parts, because one supplier can answer one line with two offers (an NE unit and an OH unit, or an exact part number and an alternate), and each offer carries a dozen attributes, not one price.
Keep the data in a long table instead: one row per offer, with your RFQ line number, the supplier and the normalized fields as columns. The side-by-side bid tab is then a view you build from it with a filter or a pivot, not the place where you type. Two habits save arguments later:
- Keep the supplier's own words. Paste the original line into a text column next to your normalized values. When someone asks why you read “5 wks ARO” as 35 days, the answer is in the row.
- Record every conversion. A short “normalization note” column (“price per PK of 100 divided to EA”, “EUR at the rate of 22 Sep”) is the audit trail for the award.
The normalization table: columns to copy
Copy these columns into your own sheet; they work whether an answer arrived as an email, a PDF or a spreadsheet.
| Column | Normalize to | If the supplier left it empty |
|---|---|---|
| RFQ line and P/N requested | Your line number and the part number exactly as on your RFQ | Never empty: this is your key |
| P/N as quoted and match type | The supplier's part number as written, plus one of: exact, formatting only, different dash, alternate | Assume the requested P/N only if the description matches; confirm on anything expensive |
| Condition | A code: NE, NS, FN, OH, SV, RP, AR | Chase. “New”, “like new” or no code is not comparable |
| Certificate | 8130-3, EASA Form 1, dual release, manufacturer's CoC, distributor CoC, none stated | “None stated” — fails a certificate requirement until confirmed in writing |
| Trace | To manufacturer, to last operator, to seller only, none stated | “None stated” — same rule as the certificate |
| Tag date | Date of the release certificate, or the cure / manufacture date for shelf-life items | Chase only if your quality system limits tag age or the item has a shelf life |
| Qty available, MOQ, UOM | Available quantity; minimum order; unit of measure written out (EA, PK of 100, FT, RL) | Assume the unit is EA only after checking the price makes sense per piece |
| Unit price and currency | Price per your UOM, in the supplier's currency, then converted to yours at one rate and one date for the whole sheet | No price is a no-quote, not a zero |
| Lead time (days) | A number: calendar days from your order to shipment | Leave blank, not zero; chase if the offer could win |
| Incoterm and place | The rule plus the named place: “EXW Miami”, “FCA Amsterdam airport” | Unknown: you cannot price freight until you know it |
| Ships-from country | ISO country where the part physically is | Chase. No origin means no freight or duty estimate |
| Quote validity | An expiry date, not “30 days” | Treat as valid only until you ask again; stock is often subject to prior sale |
| Received and source | Date the quote arrived; email, PDF or spreadsheet; the supplier's quote number | Always fill: it dates the price |
For exchange offers add the columns from our guide to exchange and core charges; for charges outside the line price (minimum order value, certificate fees, packing) see the true cost of an aircraft part.
Normalization rules that settle most arguments
Part numbers: match, but keep what was written
Strip spaces, dashes, slashes and dots from both numbers to find the pairs, then look at what differs. A different dash number or suffix may be a different part, and an alternate is acceptable only if your IPC or engineering allows it. Our guide to alternate and interchangeable part numbers explains how to check.
In supplier quotes we received between June and September 2026, 920 of 13,321 part numbers (6.9%) reached us written in two or more ways that differed only by a dash, space, slash or dot. On 2.5% of quote lines the supplier wrote that it was offering an alternate, equivalent, interchangeable, substitute or replacement number — each one to be checked against your IPC before it counts as a match.
Units and quantities: price what you would actually pay
Convert every price to your unit before you compare. A standard packing such as MS28775-228 may be quoted per each by one supplier and per pack of 100 by another; wire and sealant come by the foot, the roll or the kit. Then apply the minimum order: if you need 5 and the supplier sells 25, the comparable figure is the price of 25, unless you will use the rest. Our guide to AN, MS and NAS hardware covers small-quantity buys of that kind.
Lead time: one number, in days, from your order
- Stock is 0 days to shipment, and C&L Aero describes stock as a part that “should be able to be shipped the same day or the next day at the latest”.
- Weeks times seven. ARO (after receipt of order) is already counted from your order, which is what you want.
- Ranges such as “2–3 weeks” take the upper figure: 21 days. Plan on the late end.
- “TBA”, “call”, “pending” stay blank. A zero there would put the worst offer at the top of your sort.
Lead time is time to shipment, not to your hangar; transit and customs come on top, as our lead time guide explains.
Of the quote lines we received between June and September 2026, 44.6% were offered from stock, 45.8% gave a lead time in days or weeks, and 9.6% stated none. Where the lead time was written in days, the median was 7 days and the 90th percentile 108 days.
Delivery term: the rule and the place
“EXW” alone does not tell you where your forwarder has to collect. Record the rule and the named place, and put the ships-from country beside it; together they decide freight, export paperwork and import duty. The differences between EXW, FCA and FOB are in our Incoterms guide.
Of about 16,200 quote lines we received between June and September 2026 that did state a delivery term, the EXW family (EXW, Ex Works, EXW plus a city) made up 63.7%, FOB in any form 29.1% and FCA 2.7%.
Validity and tag date: write dates, not durations
Turn “valid 30 days” into an expiry date from the quote date, so the sheet can flag it. Stock quotes are often conditional anyway: one parts seller's terms, for example, hold stock prices for orders accepted within 30 days but make “availability of Parts … subject to their prior sale”, and treat quotes for out-of-stock parts as budgetary. Write tag and cure dates as dates too; acceptable tag age is covered in aircraft part tag date.
Empty fields: what to chase, and how
With ten suppliers and 40 lines you cannot chase every blank. Chase in this order, and only for offers that could still win:
- Certificate and trace. These are pass/fail. A line that states neither cannot be accepted or rejected until the supplier answers, and nothing you pay saves it if the answer is no. Our guides to 8130-3 and EASA Form 1 and to traceability say what to ask for.
- Condition. Without a code, the price has no reference point.
- Ships-from country and delivery term. Without them you cannot compute cost or time to your door.
- Lead time on anything not stated as stock.
- Quote validity and tag date, for the lines you are about to award.
Send one message per supplier, not one per line: a short table of their line numbers, the missing fields and a reply-by time. Ask for the answers in writing: the award has to rest on something you can file.
Of the 112,768 quote lines we received between June and September 2026, only 2,858 (about 2.5%) carried a tag date whose year we could read from the supplier's text; the median age of those tags was about three years.
Scoring: gates first, then weights
A weighted score is only fair among offers that meet your requirements, so score in two stages.
Gates (pass, fail or unknown). Part number acceptable; condition on your list; certificate and trace as required; tag age and remaining shelf life within your limits; quantity available covers your need; quote not expired. A fail removes the offer. An unknown goes to the chase list and stays out of the ranking until answered.
Weights (among the survivors). Three figures per offer, each scored against the best offer on the line:
- Cost to your door: extended price at your quantity, plus freight, duties and fees under the offer's delivery term. Score = lowest cost ÷ this offer's cost × 100.
- Time to your door: lead time plus transit and customs. Score = fastest ÷ this offer × 100 (count stock as one day so the division works).
- Confidence: how much of the offer is stated rather than assumed: validity date, tag date, named place. Score it 0–100 by your own checklist.
Set the weights before you open the quotes, and write them at the top of the sheet. A routine replenishment might weigh cost 60, time 25, confidence 15; an AOG line might turn that around to time 60, cost 30, confidence 10. Here is one hypothetical line — 1 EA, NE, NS or OH acceptable, 8130-3 required — with prices as an index (lowest landed cost = 100) and routine weights:
| Offer | What the quote said | Gates | Landed cost index | Days to door | Weighted score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | NS, 8130-3, stock, EXW US, valid 14 days | Pass | 112 | 4 | (89 × 0.6) + (100 × 0.25) + (90 × 0.15) = 92 |
| B | OH, 8130-3, 21 days ARO, FCA Europe | Pass | 100 | 28 | (100 × 0.6) + (14 × 0.25) + (80 × 0.15) = 76 |
| C | NE, certificate not stated, stock | Unknown | — | — | Chase the certificate |
| D | AR, no certificate, lowest line price on the sheet | Fail | — | — | Out |
The cheapest line price on the sheet (D) is out, and the lowest landed cost (B) loses to a faster offer at a routine weighting. Put nearly all the weight on cost (90, 5, 5) and B comes first; that is why the weights are written down before anyone sees a price. If C answers with an 8130-3, it enters the ranking on the same terms.
Keep the table after the award
Keep the losing offers too. Rotabull, which sells software to parts buyers, recommends logging each vendor quote (part number, condition, lead time, price, tag, trace, tag date, serial number) so that a buyer can quickly find vendors used before: the next time the part number comes up, you know who had it, in what condition, how fast and with what paperwork. When you split an award across several suppliers, weigh the extra invoices, shipments and customs entries it creates; our guide to consolidating a long parts list shows how. And when you place the order, the same columns become the checklist for your purchase order: whatever was blank on the quote should not be blank on the PO.
If one of the suppliers on your sheet is MG AVIATION TECH, many of these fields come filled in. In our client portal, RFQ Radar, every line shows the part number, description, condition, certificates, quantity, unit price in US dollars, lead time in days, minimum order and, where the supplier states it, the country the part ships from; the list can be searched, sorted, filtered by condition and downloaded to Excel or CSV, ready to paste into your comparison. Our prices are Ex Works our warehouse in Orlando, Florida, and the cost of bringing a line to Orlando is shown separately per line (“Shipping / line”), so the delivery term column is filled the same way on every line. RFQ Radar shows our own quotes; the other suppliers' answers are still yours to key in.
Add one quote that is already normalized
Send the same RFQ you sent everyone else, as it is — Excel, PDF, a scan or the body of an email, five lines or five hundred — to [email protected]. Your inquiry will be reviewed by a specialist within one business day. RFQ Radar accounts are opened by MG AVIATION TECH for customer companies, and every quoted line there downloads to Excel or CSV.
Our client portal, RFQ Radar, keeps every quote, order and invoice in one place.
Before you buy, check what certificates and trace come with each part. Aircraft on ground? See how our 24/7 AOG desk works.
Sources
- C&L Aero — What To Know When Reading Aircraft Part Quotes (published November 2022, updated January 2024; definition of “stock”)
- Spirit AeroSystems Technical Publications — General Terms and Conditions for the Supply of Parts (articles 2.3, 2.7 and 4.3: quote validity, budgetary prices, prior sale)
- Rotabull — Vendor Quotes: Managing Data and Efficiency (6 March 2025; fields to log from vendor quotes)
- MG AVIATION TECH — offer lines from supplier quotes received between June and September 2026, aggregated; no prices or supplier names published.