Romac Computer Services has been working with other organizations to develop a standard format for steel product price quote inquiries. The purpose of the RFQ standard is to present a common data format for steel buyers to send electronic “request for quote” material lists to steel suppliers. The data format is XML and the current method of transmittal is as an e-mail attachment. The standard is being developed with over-site from the American Institute of Steel Construction therefore the product emphasis is on steel for use in structural steel buildings but could be used for other steel industries.
The advantage for the steel supplier is that a quote request will be received in a standard electronic format that can be imported into their software. The received data will include; date quote required, date(s) delivery required, purpose of the quote (estimate, purchase, etc.), contact information and the materials list in a standard and consistent format along with other necessary information. The standard allows for lists of required finish sizes where nesting of the materials is required or the quote request can be for standard stock sizes. In either case, re-keying of the material list (along with data entry errors) would be eliminated.
A beta version of the data import program is available for free download. The import program will convert the XML data to files that can be read the Romac nesting programs (Length Nesting V2.0 and Plate Nesting V2.0). After feedback from users and additional enhancements, a commercial version of the program will be available for purchase. The beta version has an expiration date therefore it is important that you provide coomplete contact information when downloading the trial program so we can notify you of any updates.
To see an example of the XML-RFQ inquiry process, save the sample xml file to your computer's disk drive then import the file using the Romac Nesting Data Import program. The program can create files used by the Romac Nesting 2.0 programs but the nesting programs are not neccessary to view the RFQ file through the Nesting Data Import program.