The Humanoid Marketplace · Part of The Humanoid Group

Running a Robot RFQ

A good request for quotes makes robot offers comparable. Describe the job, the site and the terms you need, and ask every maker for the same information in the same format.

By Liam O'Connor · Updated October 2026

Describe the job, not the robot

Start with the work: tasks, volumes, shifts, payloads and the space the robot will use. Add site constraints such as floor condition, doors, lifts, Wi-Fi and safety rules, and attach a floor plan if you have one. Makers can then propose the right model instead of pushing their flagship, and you can compare offers against the same requirements rather than against brochures.

Ask for the whole cost

Request prices for the robot, chargers, tooling, software licenses, integration, training and support plans, plus delivery and duties on DDP terms. Ask for lead times, spare-parts pricing and warranty terms in writing. Line items make it easy to see which offer is cheaper over three to five years, not just on the first invoice. Ask each maker to use your template, so no cost hides in a footnote.

Score offers and pilot the winner

Score each offer on fit to the task, total cost, support and the maker's track record, weighting what matters most to you. Shortlist two or three, then run a paid pilot with agreed success measures before ordering a fleet. Keep the pilot short and specific. Pilots surface integration problems early, when they are still cheap to fix. Write the results down for the fleet decision.

Sources and further reading

ISO 20400:2017 Sustainable procurement: Guidance — International Organization for Standardization.
Guidance on building whole-life and sustainability thinking into purchasing processes.
Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement — EUR-Lex, European Union.
EU public procurement rules, including scoring tenders on life-cycle cost rather than price alone.
Incoterms 2020 — International Chamber of Commerce.
The official trade terms that divide delivery costs, risk and customs duties between seller and buyer.

Common questions

How many makers should an RFQ go to?

Three to five is usually enough to compare offers properly without burying your team in responses.

Can THG run the RFQ for me?

Yes. Fleet quotes and bundles let THG gather offers from several makers, combining robots and infrastructure in one comparable, landed quote.

Humanoid Makers — Workplace, service and home humanoids, grouped by what each maker builds best.
Factories & Warehouses — Arms, cobots, warehouse robots and autonomous vehicles from makers who supply manufacturing and logistics.
Hospitals & Care — Rehabilitation, therapy and companion robots from makers that serve clinics and care homes.
Homes & Personal Tech — Home robots, smart glasses, haptic gloves and AI wearables from consumer-tech makers.
Security & Inspection — Patrol robots, robot dogs, security drones and AI cameras from makers working with security teams.
Farms, Sites & Utilities — Field robots, construction robots and recycling systems from makers built for outdoor and heavy-duty work.
Schools & Research Labs — Coding kits, classroom and competition robots from makers that serve schools and universities.
Vetting a Robot Maker — The checks that separate a dependable robot maker from a demo-video company.
Sourcing From China — What to know about importing robots from Chinese makers: landed cost, approvals and support.
Running a Robot RFQ — How to write a request for quotes that gets robot makers to answer the same questions.
Landed Robot Costs — How freight, insurance, duties and taxes stack onto a robot's price, and how a landed quote is built.
Robot Certifications Explained — What CE, UL, FCC and other marks on a robot mean, and which documents to request from the maker.
Paying Robot Suppliers Safely — Deposits, letters of credit, escrow and milestone payments compared, plus the checks that stop payment fraud.
Warranties and Service Contracts — What a business robot warranty covers, how spec sheets become promises, and what to ask of service plans.
Latest updates — Installations, funding and policy all moved in 2026. These figures and dated updates track how big the robot market is, who is buying, how they pay and where the parts come from.
About us — What we cover, how we source every figure, and who publishes this site.

Visit The Humanoid Group

People also search for robot RFQ, robot request for quote, robot procurement process, how to buy robots for business, robot tender and compare robot quotes.