When a brand asks for a new carton, a packaging distributor usually needs prices from several converters before it can quote. In many businesses that means one email per converter, replies in different formats, and a new spreadsheet to compare them. Business Central holds the vendors and the purchase orders, but the RFQ itself happens outside it.
This guide shows how the same RFQ runs when it is automated. The example uses a fictional supplement brand, Saltbush & Co., and its carton SB-MAG-120.
The manual way today
- Someone copies the spec sheet into an email for each converter.
- Replies arrive over several days, each in its own format.
- Prices, MOQs and lead times are typed into a spreadsheet.
- Someone checks, from memory or an old list, that the chosen converter is approved for this pack type.
- The purchase order is keyed into Business Central and the print file is attached by hand.
The automated way
- One RFQ, every approved converter. The spec for SB-MAG-120 (350gsm FBB, CMYK plus matt varnish, 12,500 units) goes out as RFQ-S-1184 to every converter approved for reverse tuck cartons, with a reply date.
- Replies lined up as they arrive. Unit price, MOQ, lead time and freight appear side by side, whatever format each converter replied in.
- Approval checked automatically. A converter whose food safety certificate has expired is blocked before anyone chooses it.
- Your team chooses. Purchasing picks the supplier. That decision stays with a person.
- The PO is raised in Business Central. PO-18832 is created in Business Central for the chosen converter, with the approved artwork version attached, using Business Central’s standard APIs.
What your team still decides
- Which converter gets the order.
- Whether to approve a new supplier.
- Any price outside your usual margin.
Who does it
In Otopack this is the work of the Purchasing Officer, working on top of Microsoft Dynamics. It connects through Business Central’s published APIs and is set up for your account during go-live.
