Preliminary quotations

The major manufacturers have sales or subsidiary company offices in most, if not all, the larger industrial countries, and local to many of the large decanter markets. These offices are usually staffed with very competent sales engineers, able to convert the supplier s wealth of experience into a preliminary quotation quite easily. Such a start must usually then be followed by the trial process already mentioned. 

In order to contain time and expenses for the determination of the procurement costs of the main components, the solicitation of preliminary quotations has proven its worth. For this purpose, preliminary enquiries are made which clearly show the most important details regarding scope of delivery and performance. The preliminary enquiries consist of a cover letter, the technical data sheet and the related media data sheet. This also reduces expenses for the tender preparation while competition will be enhanced. Apart from technical details, the quotation of the plant manufacturer will also clear important commercial and organizational matters in the run-up of the actual order ... 

The load capacities are required for the civU engineering at a very early stage thus they should already be asked for at this point in time. The price maintenance states the duration of the price validity. The presentation of the preliminary quotation for the main apparatus is followed by a tedinical and commercial analysis. The prices resulting from this are the basis for deternrtning the investment. 

Once the sizes of the major equipment items are known, there are several ways to get the cost of each. By far the most accurate is to get quotations from vendors. This is difficult to do in the early stages of a project because many equipment details are not known. Also, the time between making the preliminary study and purchasing the equipment is so long that the quotation ages, and vendors cannot afford to prepare quotations on every preliminary study. However, many vendors are very cooperative in providing verbal prices or " estimating quotations. Often, the vendor is the only source for accurate cost information. 

A key aspect in most cost estimation studies is the evalutUion of the cost of individual pieces of equipment. In addition to quotations from equipment manufacturers, there are several methods for developing cost estimates. For a typical conceptual design, it is normally acceptable to develop an order of magnitude or preliminary estimate whose accuracy is within -h/— 25 to 50%. The following methods may be employed to develop order of magnitude estimates ... 

The price of each material is best obtained by getting quotations from potential suppliers, but in the preliminary stages of a project prices can be taken from the literature. 

If an answer is still not forthcoming, an equipment manufacturer may be asked to provide the information. The vendor should be told that this is a preliminary budget estimate so he will not provide a detailed quotation. That may take a couple of man-weeks (a man-week is the time spent by a man working one week), while the budget estimate may only take a few man-days. The added expense for the detailed quote will have to be absorbed by the vendor and will eventually result in increased prices for the buyer. 

Direct price quotations from prospective suppliers are preferable to published market prices. For preliminary cost analyses, market prices are often used for estimating raw-material costs. These values are published regularly in journals such as the Chemical Marketing Reporter (formerly the Oil, Paint, and Drug Reporter ). 

All information used and/or developed for the estimate must be documented and kept at least until the project is completed and audited. This includes drawings, take-offs, preliminary sketches, vendor quotations, etc. The backup information is required for cost and scope tracking and control as well as final cost analysis. 

Process plant designs start from preliminary designs based on approximate technical data, calculations, and cost data to final designs that require detailed and accurate data, calculations, and quotations. Cost estimates of a proposed plant are continuously carried out during the development of a process from the laboratory to construction. 

The cost of more complex equipment items, as reactors, furnaces, dryers, or filters can be estimated for preliminary design by means of a global quotation called the capacity ratio method. The cost is expressed by a power-law correlation as ... 

Preliminary project Revamp options and Vendor quotations for commissioning punch... 

Moreover, the quotations for the preliminary inquiries from the planning phase are available. In case the prehminary inquiries have been spread wide enough (i.e. more than five inquiries to subcontractors) the execution should be concentrated on not more than three potential subcontractors. This process bears the advantage that the usually extensive documentation for the main inquiry does not need to be copied and dispatched so often. In this connection it has to be considered that, for example, all customer specifications having to do with the respective type of... 

Regarding cathode material cost, precise price quotation is difficult. The price per pound or kilogram of the material depends on the purity of the material, the amount of material to be purchased, and the transaction time. On the basis of a preliminary price survey of various cathode materials. Table 1.5 summarizes the price quotations. 

---