Buying Resources

Why the request decides the quality of the quotes

Proposals for a bottling line are rarely comparable as received. The RFQ checklist gives the cause: one quote may include controls, trials and spare parts, another may list only the machine, and a third may define output on a different bottle or product. The fix is to send every supplier the same inputs, the same scope boundaries and the same performance basis, and to ask for answers in a fixed format. Most of that material already exists in the guides on this site. The work is collecting it into one pack before the first email goes out.

Documents to assemble before you write to anyone

Build the pack from the input groups the RFQ checklist names, and note where each one comes from.

Document	What it contains	Where to read how to prepare it
Container specification	Drawing with revision, finish designation, brimful capacity, fill point, weight, color, tolerances, label panel	Glass bottle specification checklist
Closure data	Closure type and size, liner, feeding method, torque or vacuum requirement	Neck finishes and closure compatibility and capping equipment
Product data	Type, viscosity or carbonation, temperature at the filler, particulates, shelf-life	Glass bottle filling machines
Line layout and site	Floor plan, ceiling height, utilities, drainage, sanitation rules, existing upstream and downstream equipment	Planning a glass bottling line
Output basis	Speed needed at launch and in ongoing production, operating schedule, what counts as output	RFQ checklist, performance basis section
Formats	Current bottles and planned additions	Bottling-line changeovers

The RFQ checklist also asks you to number each requirement, separate mandatory from preferred items, avoid subjective wording, and share question-and-answer exchanges with all bidders so everyone prices against the same document.

Which checklist do you need?

The site has several checklists, each built for a different decision. Choose by the question in front of you.

Your situation	Use this	What it gives you
You need bottles and must describe them to glassmakers	Glass bottle specification checklist	Drawing-based list of dimensions, capacity, finish, color, strength, packing and quality terms
You have not decided between a catalog design and a new one	Stock vs. custom glass bottles	Six comparison points: tooling ownership, minimum quantities, sampling, documentation, line trials, supply continuity
A new bottle will join a line that already runs	Bottling-line changeovers	Change parts by station, bottle data to check, trial and record plan
You are briefing a wine line or a mobile bottler	Wine bottling equipment	Brief sections for wine and pressure, oxygen, closure, capsule, label and sanitation
You are buying beer or sauce lines	Beer bottling equipment or sauce and dressing bottling lines	Product-specific questions to add to the brief
You have the inputs and need comparable quotes	Bottling equipment RFQ checklist	Scope, performance basis, acceptance, commercial terms and a comparison matrix

The order usually runs from the container outward: specify the bottle, settle stock or custom, confirm the closure and finish, then describe the line and its formats, and only then ask for equipment proposals. The glass containers section and the bottling lines section hold the supporting guides.

Comparing proposals

Normalize scope before you look at price. The RFQ checklist cites a manufacturing-quote guide from SupplyForge that recommends classifying every requirement as compliant, clarified compliant, deviation, exclusion or not stated, and treating “not stated” as an uncertainty rather than an assumption in your favor. Use those categories in one matrix across all suppliers, and add rows from the application guides. If inspection is in scope, add rows from bottle inspection systems so each check is defined.

Compare the performance basis next. According to a packaging-labelling.com buyer’s guide cited in the checklist, a rated throughput figure is typically measured under ideal conditions, and real output is lower once changeovers, variability and maintenance count. Ask which bottle, closure, label and product a figure refers to, whether it is nominal, peak or sustained, which stoppages are counted, and what acceptance run would prove it. The same applies to the whole line, so ask how accumulation, rejects and downstream machines affect the overall figure.

Common gaps between proposals

When two quotes differ, the difference usually sits in one of these places.

• Scope. Conveyors and accumulation between machines, controls and data export, installation, commissioning, trial product and who supplies utilities.
• Performance basis. A different bottle, a different speed type, or a different set of counted stoppages.
• Change parts. Sets for the formats on your list versus the first bottle only, and tooling for future formats.
• Acceptance. Whether a factory acceptance test (FAT) and a site acceptance test (SAT) are priced, who writes the protocol and what counts as pass.
• Documents, spares and training. What is delivered, when, and for whom.
• Warranty and timing. The start date of the warranty, the point from which lead time is counted, and the delivery basis.
• Assumptions. Items that depend on the glass, closure or label specification and that nobody has confirmed with the glass supplier.

Each of these maps to a row in the RFQ matrix, which is why a blank or “not stated” cell deserves a written question instead of a guess. The RFQ checklist is editorial guidance, not contract advice; review commercial terms with qualified advisers. Return to the buying resources section for the full set of pointers, and see the applications section when the product changes what you must ask.