Procurement Workflows For Rep Firms

There are 29 distinct workflows and 37 handoffs for a manufacturer rep firm to move HVAC and MEP equipment from a project's earliest design phase through years of service.

10 Project Phases

Rep firm work spans the entire commercial construction timeline, from before a building is designed to long after it opens.

  1. 1 Pre-Design
  2. 2 SDSchematic Design
  3. 3 DDDesign Development
  4. 4 CDConstruction Docs
  5. 5 Bidding
  6. 6 Submittals
  7. 7 Procurement
  8. 8 Install
  9. 9 CxCommissioning
  10. 10 Service

13 Roles

Thirteen roles appear across the workflows: seven inside the rep firm and six external parties.

Rep firm roles

  • OS Outside Sales
  • IS Inside Sales
  • BD Business Development
  • PM Project Manager
  • MGR Manager
  • PRIN Principal
  • SVC Service

External parties

  • ENG Engineer
  • GC General Contractor
  • SUB Subcontractor
  • OWN Owner
  • MFG Manufacturer
  • DIST Distributor

29 Workflows

A rep firm represents equipment manufacturers to the engineers and contractors who specify and buy equipment. Across a project it influences specifications, handles RFQs, runs takeoffs and equipment selection, prepares quotes and submittals, places and tracks orders, and supports startup, warranty, and replacement parts.

Trace the arc from first handshake to final replacement part.

Market Development

Work before a bid exists: getting products specified, learning what projects are coming, and building engineer and contractor relationships.

  1. #1

    Relationship Building

    Lunch & learns, CE credits, site visits

    OSENGSUBOWN
  2. #2

    Spec Influence

    Get your products specified

    OSENG
  3. #3

    Project Intel Gathering

    Field visits, jobsite intel, market chatter

    OSENGSUBOWN
  4. #4

    Project Discovery

    Learn about upcoming projects

    BDOSMGRENGSUBGCOWNMFG

Bid & Estimation

From incoming request to bid day: triage, takeoff, equipment selection, pricing, and the pricing-strategy calls behind each quote.

  1. #5

    RFQ Intake

    Receive & log incoming requests

    BDSUBGC
  2. #6

    Bid / No-Bid Decision

    Triage: pursue or pass?

    BDOSMGRSUBMFG
  3. #7

    Assignment

    Route to inside sales person

    BDMGR
  4. #8

    Plan Review & Takeoff

    Read drawings, count equipment

    ISENG
  5. #9

    Equipment Selection

    Run mfg software, size equipment

    ISMFG
  6. #10

    Pricing & Quoting

    Multipliers, margins, quote doc

    ISMGRMFG
  7. #11

    Bid Day

    Multiple subs, one deadline

    OSISMGRSUB
  8. #12

    Strategic Pricing Review

    Who gets best price?

    MGRPRINMFG
  9. #13

    Final Negotiation

    Outside sales + PM review estimate

    OSPMSUB

Submittals & Handoff

The won job moves from estimating to project management, then through the engineer's approve, revise, or reject cycle.

  1. #14

    Submittal Review Support

    OS reviews submittals on key accounts

    OSPMENGOWN
  2. #15

    Estimation → PM Handoff

    Files transfer, PM takes ownership

    ISPM
  3. #16

    Submittal Generation

    Build documentation packages

    PMMFG
  4. #17

    Engineer Review & Revision

    Approve / revise / reject cycle

    PMOSENG

Procurement & Production

Orders placed and verified, lead times tracked, change orders re-priced, and equipment staged for the site.

  1. #18

    Order Entry & Release

    PO verification, mfg order placement

    PMSUBMFG
  2. #19

    Owner Meetings / VE Sessions

    Value engineering with owners & engineers

    OSMGROWNENGGC
  3. #20

    Manufacturing & Lead Times

    Production tracking, scheduling

    PMMFG
  4. #21

    Change Orders

    Scope changes, re-selection, re-pricing

    ISPMOSSUBENGOWN
  5. #22

    Delivery Coordination

    Staging, logistics, site access

    PMSUBDISTMFG

Install, Commissioning & Service

On-site startup and commissioning, closeout and warranty registration, then the parts and replacement work that can run 10 to 20 years.

  1. #23

    Startup & Commissioning

    Factory tech, testing, balancing

    SVCMFGOWN
  2. #24

    Closeout & Warranty Reg

    O&M manuals, as-builts, warranty

    SVCPMSUBOWN
  3. #25

    Warranty & Service

    Claims, parts, field support

    SVCOWNMFG
  4. #26

    Parts & Replacement

    The 10-20 year tail

    SVCOWNMFGDIST

Ongoing — Territory Management

Cross-cutting work not tied to one project: pipeline tracking, manufacturer line-card strategy, and reporting to the manufacturer.

  1. #27

    Pipeline & CRM Tracking

    Track all projects in territory

    MGR
  2. #28

    Manufacturer Relationships

    Territory mgmt, linecard strategy

    MGRMFG
  3. #29

    Manufacturer Reporting

    Bookings, pipeline, market share

    MGRMFG

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