Request a Quote: Industrial Food Machinery

Why preparation decides quote quality

A request for quotation (RFQ) for an industrial freeze dryer or vacuum fryer is not like asking the price of a commodity. The supplier is sizing a machine — vessel volume, pump package, heater power, control system — around your numbers. When those numbers are missing, the supplier fills the gaps with assumptions, and two quotes built on different assumptions cannot be compared. In our experience, buyers who arrive with the five inputs below get accurate quotes back in days; buyers who write "send me your price list" get slow clarifying rounds — or a price for a machine that doesn't fit their plant.

A prepared RFQ also tests the supplier. Good manufacturers answer detail with sharper technical questions — about your product's moisture, your oil, your voltage. Weak ones answer anything with a price. Preparation filters the market before you spend a dollar.

The five inputs every RFQ needs

1. Target capacity: kg per batch and kg per day

State both figures, and state which one is binding. Batch size (kg per batch) selects the machine class: our QS-VF100 runs 100KG/batch, the QS-VF150 runs 150KG/batch, and the QS-300 runs 300KG/batch. Daily output (batches per shift × batch size) tells the supplier whether you need one machine, a bigger class, or two machines. State whether the weight is fresh input or finished product — vacuum fryer batch size is rated on finished-product weight, since most water leaves during frying.

2. Product form and moisture

Name the product, its cut size, and its moisture content if you know it. "Banana chips, 4 mm slices" lets an engineer estimate cycle time; "dried fruit" does not. If the recipe is still in development, say so — the supplier can recommend a machine class that leaves headroom. For freeze dryers, also note whether you need wet/dry separation for raw-material handling.

3. Available utilities

List what your plant can supply: power (three-phase voltage and available amperage — our machines' power draws are stated on the data sheets, e.g. 35 kW for the QS-FD-20 and 135 kW for the QS-FD-100/200), compressed air if your line uses it, floor loading for the heaviest single piece, and drainage/ventilation for washdown and vapor. Discovering after delivery that your panel can't feed the heater is the most expensive email in the project.

4. Installation country, voltage, and shipping route

State the country, the local industrial voltage standard, and whether you want the supplier to arrange sea freight or you will. Southeast Asia runs on different voltages across markets, and freight + customs + inland transport to your factory can be a meaningful part of the landed cost. If you need export documentation — packing list, certificate of origin — mention it now so it lands in the quote.

5. Project timeline

Give your target production date, then work backward. Industrial-class batch machines typically run about a 3-month lead time from order confirmation to delivery, plus sea freight and on-site installation and commissioning. If you need the line running before a harvest season or a retail listing window, the supplier needs that date in the RFQ — it changes how the build is scheduled and whether freight needs to be expedited.

What a good RFQ includes

Beyond the five inputs, a strong RFQ reads like a brief one-pager:

• Company and contact: who you are, what you make today, and who decides.
• Capacity: kg per batch and kg per day, fresh vs finished weight stated.
• Product: product name, cut size, moisture content, target final moisture if known.
• Utilities: voltage, amperage, floor loading, water/air availability.
• Logistics: installation country and city, sea-freight vs self-pickup, delivery route clearances for the largest piece.
• Timeline: order window, target commissioning date.
• Scope questions: machine only, or including installation, commissioning, operator training, and spare parts?
• FAT: whether you want a factory acceptance test (or on-site witness) before shipment.

Suppliers who receive this list rarely need more than one clarification round — and the quotes that come back can actually be compared.

How to compare quotations fairly

Put every quotation on the same playing field with a four-part check:

1. Same duty point. Is every quote sized for the same product, same batch weight, and same target moisture? A 100KG/batch quote and a 150KG/batch quote are different purchases — don't let the cheaper one win by default.
2. Same scope of supply. What is included: machine only, or also installation, commissioning, training, and a spares kit? What are the named brands of key components — for our freeze dryers that means Siemens S7-200 PLC control, Roots + screw vacuum pumps, and SUS304 chamber construction; for vacuum fryers, Delta PLC + MCGS touchscreen — a quote that names components is auditable.
3. Same commercial terms. Compare lead time (about 3 months from order confirmation is the industrial norm), warranty (1-year warranty is standard on our equipment), and exclusions: freight, customs, installation travel, and operator training usually sit outside the headline price.
4. Same evidence. Does the supplier offer a factory acceptance test plan, technical drawings, and a reference installation list? The paper trail is part of the product.

If a quote is missing any of these four, ask for them in writing before you compare. Never compare on headline price alone — a machine that doesn't fit your duty point is the most expensive mistake.

Red flags in a quotation

• A price far below the rest, with no technical explanation. Cheaper can mean smaller pumps, thinner steel, or omitted systems. If the supplier can't say where the saving comes from, it comes from somewhere you can't see.
• No technical parameters at all. A quote that says "freeze dryer, 1 set" without chamber area, tray count, refrigeration spec, or control system is not a quote — it's a number.
• No stated duty point. If the supplier never wrote down what product at what throughput the machine is sized for, you have no basis for a warranty claim when it underperforms.
• No factory acceptance test plan. For exported equipment, the FAT — running the machine to agreed parameters before it leaves the factory — is your main quality gate. Its absence is a signal about how the supplier feels about verification.
• Vague warranty terms. "1-year warranty" is standard; what it covers (parts? labor? remote support response?) should be written, not implied.

Worked example: briefing QS models

To make this concrete, here is how a Southeast Asia snack producer might brief us:

With this brief, a supplier can answer in one pass: which class fits, what the landed cost looks like, and whether the timeline is realistic. That is what preparation buys — and it also exposes the supplier who quotes without asking.

Specifications are for reference only and are subject to the final supplied equipment.