Cable and harness RFQ template: get quotes you can compare

Quotes become comparable when every supplier prices the same revision, volumes, test scope and workmanship class, and returns unit price, NRE, MOQ and lead time on separate lines. The email below does that, and it adds what the eight public guides compared here leave to you: none asks about change notification or a cost breakdown, and none asks for the workmanship class of the cable standard. In the worked example at the end, a 16.7% gap between two quoted prices falls to 1.1%, and all three quotes finish within 2.3%; without the lead-time stock the spread is 4.4%.

The email to paste

Replace the brackets and delete what does not apply. Leaving a line in with "none" tells the supplier you thought about it. Allow time: 13 of 23 respondents in WHMA's 2026 survey said quotes take six or more business days, and the delay they named most was waiting for their own suppliers' prices, which a complete RFQ does not remove.¹

Subject: RFQ [part no.] rev [x], [short description]. Reply by [date]

Please quote the assembly below by [date]. If anything is unclear or missing, ask us rather than assuming.

WHAT TO BUILD
Part number and revision: [ ]
Drawing number and revision: [ ] (attached)
Wire list or pin-out: [file, revision] (attached)
BOM: [file, revision] with manufacturer part numbers for connectors, contacts, seals, wire and sleeving
Application: [where it is installed, temperature range, fluids, flexing, vibration, IP rating]

PARTS AND ALTERNATIVES
BOM lines marked SC are source controlled and must be as listed.
Other lines: quote as drawn, and list any alternative you propose separately with its price effect.
No substitution after order without our written approval.
Material we will supply: [none / list, quantities]

QUANTITIES AND DATES
Prototype: [qty], needed by [date]
Production release quantities to price: [ ] / [ ] / [ ]
Forecast: [qty] a year for [n] years. This is a forecast, not a commitment.
First production delivery needed: [date]. Ship to: [address]. Incoterm: [ ]

QUALITY
Workmanship: [standard, revision and class, e.g. IPC/WHMA-A-620 rev _ class _]
Electrical test: [continuity and shorts on 100%, all contacts including unused and shells]
                 [insulation resistance: voltage, limit, on how many]
                 [hipot: AC or DC, voltage, dwell, limit, on how many]
Test specification: [document, revision]. Test records supplied: [none / with each delivery]
Crimp control: tell us how you control crimp height and how often you pull test.
Sampled checks: state n and c, and what happens to a rejected batch.
First article or PPAP: [qty / level] with report, approved by us before production starts.
Traceability: [serial or batch label content]. Records kept for [n] years.
Labels and packaging: [marking, bag or box, kitting, quantity per pack]
Compliance: [EU RoHS / GB RoHS, EU REACH / UK REACH, export control, other]. Certificate of conformity: [Y / N]
Change control: written notice [n] weeks before any change to materials, process, site or sub-tier source. No change without our approval.

PLEASE RETURN, EACH ON ITS OWN LINE
1. Unit price at each quantity, currency, validity date, the copper price it assumes and any adjustment rule
2. NRE: tooling, test fixture, programming and first article, each priced, and who owns the tooling
3. MOQ and order multiples
4. Lead time: first article, first production, repeat orders
5. Which tests the unit price includes, and the price of any that it does not
6. Cost split: materials against labour and test, and what would trigger a price change
7. Exceptions and assumptions, and any long-lead or end-of-life parts

What goes wrong when a line is missing

These consequences are reasoned from how quotes get built, not case records. Where a source backs one up, it is cited.

Wire is a case where published advice points both ways. VSE and the Connector Supplier article prefer generic wire call-outs, so the supplier can use what runs well on its machines,⁵⁶ while East West's checklist says, for PCB assembly BOMs, that a generic specification is not enough.⁷ Settle it line by line with the SC mark: name what the design depends on and leave the rest generic.

Who asks for what

The comparison covers eight public pages read on 6 November 2026: Epec,² East West Manufacturing,⁷ Switchcraft,⁸ Galaxy Wire and Cable,⁹ ACDi,¹⁰ VSE,⁵ PCBSync¹¹ and a contributed Connector Supplier article naming TLC.⁶ They came from search, range from quote forms to general advice, and are not a sample of suppliers. "Partly" means the item is mentioned, asked only for another product type, or described as the supplier's own practice. A blank does not show what a supplier asks later in the process.

What you have to add yourself

Change notification and a cost breakdown appear on none of the pages read, which is what you would expect: both are the buyer's terms, not things a supplier needs in order to price. So put both in yourself. A small supplier may well refuse to show margin on a low-volume job. A split of materials against labour and test is enough to see what moved when a price changes, so ask for that and for what would trigger a price change.

None of the eight asks you to name the revision and class of IPC/WHMA-A-620. East West and ACDi ask for a class of IPC-A-610, and East West puts it under its PCB assembly heading.⁷¹⁰ PCBSync only links to an IPC cable and harness overview.¹¹

Test sampling is barely mentioned: only Epec says testing may be on every unit or a sample, and it does not ask which.² First article is asked only by East West, with a quantity.⁷ NRE appears as an aside. The Connector Supplier article mentions avoiding tooling charges, East West asks about existing tooling and whether a test fixture is being quoted, and Epec separates existing from custom overmould tooling.⁶⁷² None asks for it on its own line.

Document revision appears on 3 of the 8. WHMA's advisory team recommends a checklist that prioritises BOMs, approved parts, accessory definitions, specifications and revision controls. That is a proposal, not a survey finding.¹ The survey has 23 respondents and calls its sample small and non-random, so its counts show direction and no more.

Comparing the quotes that come back

Put these on the same basis before you look at price.

A worked example, with invented round numbers: 1,000 units a year for two years, a stock cost of 20% a year and a shortest lead time of 6 weeks.

The 16.7% headline gap between B and C falls to 1.1%, all three finish within 2.3%, and A and C swap places. Without the lead-time stock the totals are £23,500, £22,520 and £23,050, a 4.4% spread. The example also ignores the cost of money on NRE paid up front. The answer depends on the forecast too. A overtakes B at about 3,020 units, and if only half the forecast arrives, at 500 a year, C is cheapest at £12.63 each, against £13.14 for B and £13.50 for A. With differences this small, decide on class, change control, lead time and how far you trust your forecast.

When tooling pays

Break-even volume is the NRE difference divided by the unit price difference. With invented numbers, take a tooled route at £3,000 and £10.00 each against an untooled one at no NRE and £12.00 each: £3,000 ÷ £2.00 = 1,500 units.

Run it on the volume you would bet on, and check whether the tool would survive a revision change before you count the later units.

Notes

1. WHMA Innovation Advisory Team, 2026 Wire Harness Industry Survey results, and Global Electronics Association, news release, 27 October 2026. 23 respondents, a small non-random sample by its own description. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. Epec, Cable assembly guidelines for quoting. Supplier guide. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. HSE, About UK REACH. ↩

4. GOV.UK, Regulations: restriction of hazardous substances (RoHS). ↩

5. VSE, The wire harness manufacturing process: a guide for electronics engineers. Supplier guide, a list of build data and not a quote form. ↩ ↩²

6. Connector Supplier, I need a wire harness assembly: how to get an accurate quote. Contributed article mentioning TLC. ↩ ↩² ↩³

7. East West Manufacturing, RFQ checklist. Supplier form covering PCB assembly and higher level assembly, not cables alone. Items asked only under its PCB assembly heading count as "partly". ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

8. Switchcraft, Molded cable assembly checklist. Supplier form. ↩

9. Galaxy Wire and Cable, 5 things to consider before requesting a custom wire or cable build. Supplier guide, aimed at custom cable as well as assemblies. ↩

10. ACDi, Need your electronics manufacturing project quoted quickly? Supplier guide. ↩ ↩²

11. PCBSync, Wire harnessing. Supplier page. ↩ ↩²