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Playbook · Electrical Distribution

How to automate the RFQ and sourcing process in Electrical Distribution (2026)

Last updated September 2026

The short answer

Quote in minutes, not days — and never overpay again. 4 steps, in order, for a electrical distribution operation.

What you are working against in Electrical

  • Project leftovers become branch dead stock
  • Counter stockouts lose walk-in sales
  • Reorder points set once and never revisited

Before you start: where Electrical usually sits

MetricTypical for ElectricalWhat good looks like
Days Sales of Inventory 55–100 days Faster mix; under 55 is strong
Inventory Turnover Ratio 4–6 turns Faster-moving mix; above 6 is excellent
Inventory Carrying Cost 22–32% / yr Faster mix eases holding cost
GMROI 2.0–3.2 Faster mix lifts GMROI

Published ranges, not targets. Take your own baseline before step one.

The steps

  1. 1Compress RFQ cycles from days to minutes
  2. 2Benchmark every quote against fair market value to flag overpriced buys
  3. 3Compare supplier options and internal surplus in one pass
  4. 4Cut maverick and off-contract tail spend

Why it pays off

days → under 2 hours
Manual RFQ cycles of 3–4 days can be compressed to under two hours with structured automation.
Elisa IndustriQ
20–30%
20–30% of indirect spend leaks to maverick, off-contract buying.
McKinsey (via GEP)
10 days
Top-performing procurement teams reach a 10-day procure-to-pay cycle versus roughly two weeks at the median.
APQC (via SDCExec)

Frequently asked questions

How do you tell whether this is working in electrical distribution?

Recompute the same way each period. Quote Turnaround Time: Quote Turnaround = Time(quote sent) − Time(RFQ received).

What does Electrical start from?

Days Sales of Inventory of 55–100 days is the published band for electrical distribution — faster mix; under 55 is strong. The 4 steps above are the same in any sector; the band you start from is not.

See what your inventory is really costing you.

Tell us where the cash is trapped — excess stock, idle surplus, slow RFQs — and we'll show you the outcome Maintained can unlock.

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