Carisam · Sprint Closeout · Source documents
Back to closeout page

DOCUMENT 01

Quote-to-invoice workflow map

The full quote-to-invoice workflow, stage by stage.

CARISAM Quote-to-Invoice Workflow Map

Purpose

This map defines the first operating layer for CARISAM. The goal is faster quote turnaround without removing Lance's judgment from the process.

Current workflow

1. Request arrives

Requests arrive through multiple channels:

  1. Email.
  2. Text message.
  3. WhatsApp.
  4. Phone call.
  5. Informal vendor or customer note.
  6. Portal or structured customer request in some cases.

Lance usually sees the request first.

2. Initial interpretation

Lance determines:

  1. What the customer is really asking for.
  2. Whether the request is complete.
  3. Whether he has handled something similar before.
  4. Which vendor category or supplier path makes sense.
  5. Whether Jim can prepare the next step.

This is a judgment layer. It should stay with Lance until the workflow has enough history to support more delegation.

3. Product lookup and prior history

Lance currently checks memory, prior emails, old quotes, spreadsheets, vendor history, product notes, and web research.

The questions are:

  1. Have we done this before?
  2. What did we charge?
  3. Which vendor supplied it?
  4. What was the lead time?
  5. Were there issues?
  6. Is there a better supplier now?

This is one of the biggest time sinks.

4. Supplier RFQ

The current supplier request process may happen by email, phone, text, informal note, or PDF exchange.

The improved process should generate a supplier RFQ with:

  1. Product description.
  2. Quantity.
  3. Unit of measure.
  4. Grade or specification.
  5. Destination or freight context.
  6. Required response deadline.
  7. Requested response fields.
  8. Optional structured response link.

5. Vendor response capture

Vendor responses may arrive as:

  1. Email text.
  2. PDF quote.
  3. Phone call.
  4. Text or WhatsApp reply.
  5. Structured form submission in the future.

The system should normalize each response into one comparison table.

6. Quote comparison

Each vendor option should be compared by:

  1. Vendor.
  2. Contact.
  3. Unit price.
  4. Total price.
  5. Lead time.
  6. Availability.
  7. Freight assumption.
  8. Quote expiration.
  9. Confidence level.
  10. Relationship note.
  11. Risk note.
  12. Margin implication.

The system prepares the decision brief. Lance makes the decision.

7. Customer quote

Once Lance approves the direction, the system should prepare the customer quote or pro forma invoice using the existing CARISAM format.

The output should preserve the familiar Excel/PDF structure while reducing manual entry.

8. Order and payment tracking

Once accepted, the quote becomes an order.

The system should track:

  1. Deposit required.
  2. Deposit received.
  3. Balance due.
  4. Vendor payment status.
  5. Production status.
  6. Shipping path.
  7. Booking status.
  8. Customer follow-up.
  9. Closeout.

First measurable improvement

The first measurable improvement should be quote turnaround time.

Suggested metric:

Average time from request received to supplier RFQ sent. Average time from supplier response received to customer quote prepared. Number of open quotes with no next action assigned.

Operating principle

Do not automate judgment first. Automate collection, formatting, comparison, reminder logic, and handoff.