IDII WMS Standard RFI (Request For Information)

WMS RFI & TMS RFI Products

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WMS RFI & TMS RFI Products

Electronic RFI / RFP

Building a RFI from scratch takes valuable time. A Request For Information (RFI) is a list of questions to ask a software provider about their company & software. The results of a good RFI is to get the answers to specific questions that one has about potential software products. A Request For Proposal (RFP) includes a detailed list of questions as well. One may utilize our detailed questions in RFP's that are being sent out to software vendors. These RFI products can save you significant time!

Our WMS RFI has questions in a standard format - a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel. We have created these questions, which are well thought out and have a pop-up window explaining what is being asked for in more detail. This maximizes your effort, since one may e-mail the RFI to vendors. One column is designated for current version response and the next column is designated for other notes that the vendor may optionally enter.

Sample Screens from the Advanced WMS RFI

Column A contains a short description and the popup box has a precise sentence or paragraph that explains in full, concise detail. No inference and no guesswork on what is meant.

Column C is where the vendors enter their answers. Answers are validated by use of pull down boxes with a limited set of possible values. Column D is for future releases and workaround notes that the vendor is needing to indicate to you.

Notice the pop-up box above - which further explains precisely the question in more detail - whether the software package has an Error Analysis Table or not. The RFI is color coded and validated on the current version column. When a vendor responds with a negative answer, the background color is yellow. For a positive answer, the background color is green. The response that the vendor enters is also validated - whether it is a number or a yes/no response. With great validation, color highlighting, and many detailed questions - one may save significant time and money by using our RFI.

Advanced WMS RFI / RFP

The Advanced WMS RFI / RFP has approximately 800 detailed questsions. It includes the 300 questions in the Standard WMS RFI - plus another 500 questions with pop-up text, validation, and color high-lighting. The Advanced WMS RFI has detailed questions on:

Return Processing
Damaged Goods Control
MSDS & CERT Questions
Value Added Services
Management Reporting
Dock Appointment
Functions for Web Enablement
Stock Ownership
Storage & Task Charge Computations
Customer Reporting
More Detailed Questions on Lot Control ( Code Dating)
More Detailed Questions on Bin Locator Capabilities

If you are serious about your warehouse operations, then get the Advanced WMS RFI. Highly recommended for large operations, contract, public, 3PL, small order processing, or those that have lot controlled items.

Transportation Management System (TMS) RFI Details

Our Advanced TMS RFI has over 800 questions focussed on Freight Quotations, Freight Orders, Freight Billing, Routing, EDI, and much more. Version 1 of this product was released in October of 2001.

The TMS RFI is in the same format as the WMS RFI with validated responses to each question, pop-up text boxes, and color highlighting. This is a tremendous time saver.

Brochures - More Information

WMS RFI marketing brochure (Adobe Acrobat PDF format). For more detail on the WMS RFI's.
Research Report & RFI marketing brochure (Adobe Acrobat PDF format)

What People Are Saying About The RFI's

Craig from McHugh says "Very well done. Easy to work with. Descriptions made life very simple. .... Excellent Tool! I like the way you ask the questions.". Lori of Uniteq says that it is "Excellent ... most professional RFI".

When IDII consults with a company and then adds their company specific requirements to the RFI, we receive high marks of praise. I.E., Marc from Tecsys says "I used to develop WMS RFP's when I was a consultant at Kom International and I have to say that the RFP work you have done is by far and away the best in the business." Please note that your expert in your company can add your specific questions to our RFI as well!

Both vendors and customers continue to praise the design. Both appreciate the precise questions and the color coding scheme that quickly points out what a solution does (green) and does not do (yellow).

Order a RFI

To order a RFI, click here for the Order Form. Considering the cost of consulting, the RFI costs less than a single day of a consultant's time. Permission is given in our license agreement so that one may expand & modify the RFI to include your company specific requirements. The RFI is an unlocked spreadsheet, so that one may tailor the RFI, if one requires doing so.

For a WMS search - IDII recommends that you purchase the Advanced WMS Bundle, which inlcudes a WMS Research Report, the Advanced WMS RFI, and the Warehouse Software Directory. The report will give you an education on common deficeiences & differences in WMS software today and also explains the selection process.
For a TMS search - IDII recommends that you purchase the Advanced TMS RFI.

About The Author

Philip Obal, is the president of Industrial Data & Information, Inc. He has been consulting and designing software for over 20 years. For more details on IDI and the author, see About Us.

Other Information

RFI's requires a PC with Microsoft's Excel 97 or higher utilizing a CD-ROM drive.

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E-mail - info@idii.com

Industrial Data & Information, Inc.
7217 East 92nd Street
Tulsa, OK 74133
(918) 292-8785 - Fax (918) 512-4132