Talk to us
Outcomes Reduce excess & obsolete inventoryMonetize surplus assetsSurplus monetization playbookAutomate RFQs & sourcingFree working capital
Platform Agentic AI for operationsAgentic AI for MRO (guide)MRO inventory optimizationMRO digital transformationSolutions by industryGuides by role
Resources Original researchInventory & procurement statisticsBenchmarksCalculatorsGlossaryHow-to playbooks
CompareContact Talk to us

Playbook · Utilities & Power

How to automate the RFQ and sourcing process in Utilities & Power (2026)

Last updated September 2026

The short answer

Quote in minutes, not days — and never overpay again. 4 steps, in order, for a utilities & power operation.

What you are working against in Utilities

  • Critical spares over-held 'just in case'
  • Long-tail inventory compounding carrying cost
  • Little visibility into what's truly redundant

Before you start: where Utilities usually sits

MetricTypical for UtilitiesWhat good looks like
Days Sales of Inventory 90–180+ days Critical spares inflate DSI; find the redundant tail
Inventory Turnover Ratio 1.5–3 turns Critical spares lower turns; above 3 is strong
Inventory Carrying Cost 25–40% / yr Long-held critical spares raise carrying cost
Fill Rate 95–99%+ Critical spares target near-100% availability

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 utilities & power?

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

What does Utilities start from?

Days Sales of Inventory of 90–180+ days is the published band for utilities & power — critical spares inflate DSI; find the redundant tail. 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.

Talk to us Try a calculator