An RFQ they can't ignore.
Share your CAD. We render a structured brief, redact you out of it, and route it to three to five vetted Canadian shops who can actually quote it. Real quotes back in days, not silence.
Bad RFQs are why
shops stop replying.
We sat with shops across Canada and asked the same question forty different ways: why do half the inquiries you get go unanswered? The answer was always the same. The brief is half a brief. The clock is too tight to chase what's missing. The next RFQ in the queue is more complete. So they pass.
We rebuilt the RFQ around what shops actually need to quote. Then we redacted what they don't.
I've gotten used to getting ghosted by manufacturers now and that's weird.
Canadian businesses don't like to quote, and quote too slow.
Suppliers either don't respond or stop after 1 to 2 emails.
There is no honest signal in this market.
A guided RFQ process.
Not a blank form to fill in.
Five basics every shop expects. Eight smarter questions we ask in your place so you don't get a "TBD" quote back. Skip what you don't know. We'll fill the gaps with you before anything goes out.
Material
Grade, spec, and substitutes the shop is allowed to suggest.
Tolerance
Critical callouts called out as critical. Process standards declared, not implied.
Finish
Named spec, brand, colour, coverage class. Multi-finish stacks supported.
Quantity
Tiered breakpoints native to the form, not buried in notes.
Lead time
Prototype and production split. Fixed deadlines flagged.
Prototype + production split
One job? Both? The intake separates them so the shop quotes both correctly.
Recurring + cadence
One-off, monthly, scheduled production run. Captured up front so capacity-fit is checked early.
Tolerance governance
A toggle that makes "standard" a deliberate choice with a number behind it, not a cop-out.
Multi-finish stack
Bead blast plus anodize. Powder coat plus UV print. Stacked, not crammed into a free-text box.
Target price as a range
Low, high, and "is this a hard ceiling?" Optional cost-stack disclosure if the buyer is comfortable.
Comparison context
Who else is quoting. Why the buyer is shopping. Saves a shop a week of guessing.
Files manifest
STEP, IGES, PDF drawing, BOM. Listed by name, type, and size before the shop opens the link.
Buyer notes verbatim
The buyer's own words, untouched. Context the shop would otherwise mine from a phone call.
You see a short form. We do the matching, redacting, rendering, and routing in the background. Every question above earned its slot from a shop telling us they couldn't quote without it.
What the shop receives.
A two-page Assembly-branded PDF. Buyer identity redacted. Specs structured. Files attached. A reply-block at the bottom with the three numbers we need back: unit price, lead time, MOQ.
Internal Fork & Shock Pistons
CNC-machined aluminum, recurring 30 to 40 unit batches, motorcycle suspension
Reply directly to The Assembly with the items below. Quotes accepted by email or by uploading to your partner portal.
Two minutes for you.
Two days for us.
You fill a short form. We do everything else: pick the shops, render the brief, redact your identity, and route it. You get quotes back. No portals, no chasing, no follow-up emails.
You share CAD and answer the guided form
STEP, IGES, PDF drawing, BOM, or just a sketch. Most answers are dropdowns and toggles. Skip whatever you don't know. We'll fill it in with you before anything goes out.
We redact you out of it
Your name, company, contact, and ship-to never appear on the brief shops see. Shops compete on the work, not the logo. We release your identity to the awarded shop, and only then.
We curate the right shops
The matcher reads your process, material, finish, and lead time, then curates three to five vetted Canadian shops who can actually quote it. No reverse auctions, no directories, no spam.
Quotes land on your desk
Your brief becomes a two-page Assembly-branded PDF. We email it to the shortlist with your files attached. Shops reply with three numbers. We hand you a clean side-by-side.
Three real shops.
Side by side.
When quotes come back, you get a clean comparison. Same brief, same files, three real prices. Pick the one that fits and we'll release your identity to that shop on award.
You tell us in plain English.
A shop reads a brief.
You answer the form once. We rewrite it into the format shops actually want. Same files, same specs, twice the response rate.
The forwarded-email RFQ
What ships from most platforms.
- ✗ Subject line, three sentences, a Dropbox link
- ✗ No tolerance toggle. "Standard" means whatever the shop assumes.
- ✗ No prototype vs production split. Lead time is one number.
- ✗ No buyer context. The shop doesn't know if this is a one-off or a year of work.
- ✗ Buyer logo at the top. Shop competes on the company, not the part.
- ✗ Reply-by-portal with eight required fields the shop won't fill in.
- ✗ No file manifest. Shop opens the link to find out what's attached.
The Assembly RFQ
Built with the shops who quote it.
- Two-page Assembly-branded PDF, files attached
- Tolerance governance toggle. Critical callouts called out.
- Prototype lead time and production lead time as separate fields.
- Recurring flag, cadence, target volume, and pipeline note.
- Buyer redacted. Identity released only on award.
- Reply by email with three numbers: unit price, lead time, MOQ.
- Files manifest with name, type, and size before the shop opens anything.
Your design stays
your design.
We take this seriously because the buyers we built this for take it seriously. Aerospace, medical, defence, and consumer hardware all have one thing in common: a leaked file is a leaked product. Our default posture is NDA-first, redaction-by-default, vault-isolated.
Read the full security architectureNDA before any shop sees a file
Every Assembly partner shop signs a Master NDA at onboarding. We extend cover to your specific job automatically. No per-RFQ paperwork on your end.
Buyer redacted until award
Your name, company, contact, and ship-to never appear on the partner-facing brief. Shops bid on the work, not on who you are.
Vault-isolated files
Encrypted in transit and at rest. Single source of truth, never duplicated across mailboxes or Dropboxes. Auto-purge after the job ships.
Canadian by default
Files don't cross the border. Our matcher only routes to vetted Canadian shops, which keeps your IP under Canadian law and out of foreign disclosure regimes.
Two ways to use this.
The same workflow handles both. We tune the form by what you tell us up front.
Path A. Just make this.
CAD ready, specs in hand, PO loaded. Drop the files, tap through the form, quotes back in a week. Done.
- CAD-ready jobs, prototype or production
- Recurring batch work or scheduled production runs
- Comparison-shopping a current supplier
Path B. Help me figure this out.
You know what you want, not what to ask for. Skip the technical questions. We jump on a call, fill in the gaps, and finish the brief for you.
- Material and process selection guidance
- Tolerance and finish translation
- Founder and engineering teams without supply-chain depth
Skip the silence.
Join the waitlist for founding-member access. No platform fee, priority matching, and a real human walking you through your first RFQ.
Or email us at hello@theassembly.io
