A good sourcing workflow for importers runs in five steps: send one RFQ to several suppliers, compare their replies side by side, raise the purchase order, inspect the goods before they ship, and hand the passed order to freight without retyping anything. Each step should build on the record from the one before. When the RFQ, PO, QC report and shipment are one thread instead of five email chains, nothing gets lost between buying and shipping.
What does a typical sourcing workflow look like today?
For most importers and sourcing agencies, it looks like email. An RFQ goes out to four suppliers as four separate messages. Replies trickle back over a week in four formats: a PDF, a spreadsheet, a WhatsApp photo of a price list, a line buried in an email body. Someone copies them into a comparison sheet.
The PO gets typed up in a template. The QC inspector sends a report by email with photos attached. When the goods are ready, someone forwards the supplier's invoice to the forwarder, who types it all in again.
By the time the goods ship, the same product description has been typed five or six times by three different people. Somewhere along the way a quantity changed, and not everyone heard.
How do you send one RFQ to several suppliers?
Write the RFQ once, with everything a supplier needs to quote accurately: product spec, quantity, target delivery date, Incoterm, packing requirements and any certifications. Then send that same RFQ to every supplier you want to hear from.
Sending the same document matters. If each supplier gets a slightly different email, you get answers to slightly different questions, and comparing them turns into guesswork.
In Lumen, one RFQ goes out to several suppliers, and their replies come back side by side.
How do you compare supplier quotes fairly?
Price is the first thing everyone looks at, and rarely the only thing that matters. Compare on the same terms:
| What to compare | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Unit price | Obvious, but check every quote is on the same Incoterm |
| Lead time | A cheaper supplier who ships three weeks later can cost you a selling season |
| Payment terms | A deposit with balance against documents is very different from full payment upfront |
| Minimum order quantity | A great price on a quantity you cannot sell is not a great price |
| Packing and labelling | Whether they meet your carton and label spec without extra charges |
Seeing price, lead time and terms side by side, against the same RFQ, makes the choice much clearer. Sometimes the right answer is the second-cheapest supplier with half the lead time.
What should go into the purchase order?
Once you pick a supplier, the PO should carry everything you agreed: product, spec, quantity, unit price, Incoterm, delivery date, payment terms and packing instructions. If it was in the winning quote, it should be on the PO without anyone retyping it.
In Lumen, you compare the replies and raise the PO from there. The PO then becomes the single record everything else hangs off: the QC report, the inspection photos, and eventually the shipment.
When should you do a pre-shipment QC inspection?
Pre-shipment inspection happens when production is finished and most of the goods are packed, before the balance payment and before the cargo leaves the factory. Timing is everything. Once the goods are on a vessel and the balance is paid, getting a problem fixed becomes much harder. Inspect while you can still ask for rework.
A typical inspection checks quantity, workmanship against the approved sample, measurements, function, packing, carton marks and labels. The inspector pulls a sample, records defects, and writes up a pass or fail with photos.
In Lumen, the QC inspection report and photos sit on the PO itself. Anyone looking at the order sees what was inspected and what was found, without digging through an inbox for the right attachment.
How do you hand off to freight without retyping?
This is where most sourcing workflows break. The PO lives in one place, the forwarder works in another, and the supplier's commercial invoice becomes the bridge, typed in by hand on the far side.
In Lumen, when QC passes, the PO becomes a shipment. Product details, quantities and supplier information carry over from the PO, so the shipment starts from the same record you have been building since the RFQ. From there it is tracked like any other shipment, with a tracking link you can share with your buyer or client.
When the supplier's commercial invoice arrives, it can be uploaded, checked and matched to that PO, so you can compare what was invoiced against what was ordered before you release payment.
Sourcing workflow checklist
Use this for every order, whether it is a first trial run or a repeat:
- RFQ written once, with spec, quantity, Incoterm, delivery date and packing requirements
- Same RFQ sent to at least three suppliers
- Replies compared on price, lead time, payment terms and MOQ, not price alone
- PO raised from the chosen quote, with all agreed terms carried over
- Approved sample or spec sheet referenced on the PO for the inspector
- Pre-shipment QC booked before the balance payment is due
- QC report and photos stored on the PO
- Shipment created from the passed PO, not retyped
- Supplier's commercial invoice checked against the PO before release
What about manufacturers on the other side?
If you are the manufacturer receiving buyers' POs, the same thread runs the other way. In Lumen, a buyer's PO becomes a work order. You track it through stages like cutting, stitching, finishing and packing, and the buyer sees progress and photos in their own portal. When the order is packed, it goes to shipment booking.
Buyer and maker look at the same progress instead of chasing each other for updates. That alone removes a lot of "any news on our order?" emails from both inboxes.
If you'd like your sourcing to run from RFQ to shipment on one record, you can request early access at https://lumenglobalsourcing.com.
Common questions
- What are the steps in a sourcing workflow for importers?
- Send one RFQ to several suppliers, compare their replies side by side, raise the purchase order, run a pre-shipment QC inspection, and hand the passed order to freight. Each step should build on the record from the step before.
- How do you compare supplier quotes?
- Compare unit price on the same Incoterm, then lead time, payment terms, minimum order quantity and packing. The cheapest quote is not always the best one once lead time and terms are counted.
- When should a pre-shipment QC inspection be done?
- When production is finished and most goods are packed, before the balance payment and before the cargo leaves the factory. That is when you can still ask the supplier for rework.
- How do importers hand a purchase order to their freight forwarder?
- Ideally the passed PO becomes the shipment directly, so product details, quantities and supplier information carry over without retyping. Otherwise the supplier's invoice gets typed in again on the freight side.