A $7 trillion industry still runs on email

Summary. Inside each company there is a system of record. Between companies there is only an inbox. One RFQ takes about 18 handoffs and 12 days to become a PO. EDI, B2B networks and internal tools each solve part of it. A shared record of the same objects closes the rest.

What one RFQ looks like

U.S. manufacturing ships over $7 trillion a year, almost all of it as orders between companies, and almost all of those orders move by email. Specs, quotes, POs, promise dates, shipping updates, certificates and invoices arrive as PDFs that someone opens, reads and retypes. Follow one part:

1. An engineer at the OEM sends the drawing to purchasing.
2. Purchasing logs an RFQ in the ERP and emails it to the supplier.
3. The supplier's sales team logs it in the CRM.
4. Sales asks engineering to check the spec.
5. Engineering sends it to purchasing to cost the materials.
6. Purchasing checks the ERP and asks operations for a lead time.
7. The answer returns to sales, and a quote goes out.
8. The quote reaches the OEM, goes into the ERP and up to engineering for approval.
9. Once approved, it returns to purchasing, and a PO crosses back to the supplier.

That is about 18 handoffs, 8 teams and 3 crossings between the companies: roughly 12 days for one part. No system in the chain knows about the others.

The waiting adds up

Every crossing between companies waits for a reply, and a reply from another company takes about 5 days. The crossings happen in sequence, so the waits add up. In the workflows we have mapped, a customer learns that a tier 2 supplier is late about 15 days after it happens.

When nobody can see a slip, every tier pads its lead times and holds extra inventory, and supplier reliability lives in one buyer's memory.

Why the old fixes did not stick

• EDI has existed for about 40 years. It carries the PO and the invoice, not specs, promise dates, certificates or status, so the real conversation stays in email. It charges suppliers per document, so it exists only where a large buyer requires it.
• B2B networks charge suppliers a share of volume, so suppliers transact once and return to email.
• Internal tools organize one company's data well and lose sight of a document once it leaves the building.

Same objects, different speed

Both sides of every order work with the same objects: a company, a facility, a part, an RFQ, a quote, a PO, a promise date, a shipment, a certificate and an invoice. The objects are the same. Only the speed between them differs. To start closing the gap:

1. Map your own relay. Trace one RFQ through your company and count the handoffs and systems.
2. Track the promise, not just the PO. The ERP date is an estimate. The supplier's latest message is the current fact. Watch the gap.
3. Look up suppliers before you need them. A supplier's permits, capacity and OSHA record often signal a slip weeks before the acknowledgment.
4. Put key suppliers on a shared record. Start with the five that hurt most when they are late.

AI is about to design hardware faster than ever. Sourcing, quoting, ordering and tracking it across a supply chain is still unsolved, and Indax is built to solve it.