Requests for Quotation

These standard formats are available for requests for quotation: Workist XML (default), SAP IDoc with message type REQOTE and openTRANS 2.1. Workist builds other formats on request, see Custom formats on request.

All examples on this page were generated with the Workist serializers from the same sample data. General rules on file names, date and number formats are in the overview.

Workist XML

File extension: .xml
File name: <ID>.xml

The default format for requests for quotation. It is structured like the Workist XML for orders: General holds the header data, Invoicing and Shipping the addresses and delivery dates, followed by one Line element per line item.

Which elements appear depends on your channel's header and line item fields. Workist omits empty fields. Workist writes a Line element for every line item, even if it stays empty because no line item fields are configured.

Full example

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Rfq>
  <General>
    <Sell_to_Customer>
      <Customer_Number>CUST-12345</Customer_Number>
      <Name>Acme Corporation</Name>
      <Contact_Number>CP-001</Contact_Number>
      <Contact>Max Mustermann</Contact>
      <Contact_Email>max@acme.de</Contact_Email>
      <Contact_Phone>+49 89 12345678</Contact_Phone>
      <Country>DE</Country>
      <Country_Subdivision>BY</Country_Subdivision>
      <Customer_Type>regular</Customer_Type>
    </Sell_to_Customer>
    <Request_Date>2025-03-15</Request_Date>
    <Quote_Deadline>2025-03-31</Quote_Deadline>
    <Customer_Request_number>RFQ-2025-0010</Customer_Request_number>
    <Project_Number>PRJ-500</Project_Number>
    <Info_Text>Requesting quote for Q2 2025 order.</Info_Text>
    <Commission_Number>COM-999</Commission_Number>
    <External_Document_Link>9f8c2b7e-4d1a-4c3e-9b6f-2a7d5e1c0b34.pdf</External_Document_Link>
    <Workist_URL>https://wb.workist.com/rfqs/3f2b8c1e-5a7d-4e19-8c2f-6b0d9a4e7c15</Workist_URL>
    <Received_By>max@acme.de</Received_By>
  </General>
  <Invoicing>
    <Bill_to_Customer>
      <Code>BILL-001</Code>
      <Name>Accounts Payable</Name>
      <Additional_Name_Info>Acme Corporation GmbH</Additional_Name_Info>
      <Address>Billing Strasse 10</Address>
      <Additional_Address_Info>Building C, 3rd Floor</Additional_Address_Info>
      <City>Munich</City>
      <Post_Code>80331</Post_Code>
      <Country>DE</Country>
      <Country_Subdivision>BY</Country_Subdivision>
      <Phone>+49 89 11111111</Phone>
      <Email>billing@acme.de</Email>
    </Bill_to_Customer>
  </Invoicing>
  <Shipping>
    <Ship_to_Customer>
      <Code>SHIP-002</Code>
      <Name>Warehouse Team</Name>
      <Additional_Name_Info>Acme Corporation GmbH</Additional_Name_Info>
      <Address>Lager Strasse 5</Address>
      <Additional_Address_Info>Gate 3</Additional_Address_Info>
      <City>Hamburg</City>
      <Post_Code>20095</Post_Code>
      <Country>DE</Country>
      <Country_Subdivision>HH</Country_Subdivision>
      <Phone>+49 40 22222222</Phone>
      <Email>warehouse@acme.de</Email>
    </Ship_to_Customer>
    <Expected_Delivery_Date>2025-05-01</Expected_Delivery_Date>
    <Expected_Delivery_End_Date>2025-05-15</Expected_Delivery_End_Date>
    <Delivery_Unload_Method>forklift</Delivery_Unload_Method>
  </Shipping>
  <Line>
    <Description>Industrial Sensor Module Type A</Description>
    <Unit_of_Measure>PCE</Unit_of_Measure>
    <Quantity>500</Quantity>
    <Converted_Unit_of_Measure>box</Converted_Unit_of_Measure>
    <Converted_Quantity>50</Converted_Quantity>
    <Common_Item_Number>ART-001-A</Common_Item_Number>
    <Common_Item_Number_2>ART-001-A-ALT</Common_Item_Number_2>
    <Common_Item_Number_3>4006381333931</Common_Item_Number_3>
    <Customer_Item_Number>CUST-ART-555</Customer_Item_Number>
    <Item_Number_Confidence>0,92</Item_Number_Confidence>
    <Expected_Delivery_Date>2025-05-01</Expected_Delivery_Date>
    <Commission_Number>COM-LINE-01</Commission_Number>
    <Pos>10</Pos>
  </Line>
</Rfq>

General fields (`General`)

Element	Type	Description
`Sell_to_Customer`	Block	The requesting customer, filled from your customer master data
`Sell_to_Customer/Customer_Number`	Text	Customer number
`Sell_to_Customer/Name`	Text	Customer name
`Sell_to_Customer/Contact_Number`	Text	Number of the customer's contact person
`Sell_to_Customer/Contact`	Text	Name of the contact person
`Sell_to_Customer/Contact_Email`	Text	Contact person's email address
`Sell_to_Customer/Contact_Phone`	Text	Contact person's phone number
`Sell_to_Customer/Country`	Text	Country code of the customer address (e.g. `DE`)
`Sell_to_Customer/Country_Subdivision`	Text	State or region code of the customer address (e.g. `BY`)
`Sell_to_Customer/Customer_Type`	Text	Customer type from your master data
`Request_Date`	Date	Request date
`Quote_Deadline`	Date	Deadline for submitting the quote
`Customer_Request_number`	Text	Customer's request number
`Project_Number`	Text	Project number
`Info_Text`	Text	Free text. Workist splits it into chunks of 70 characters, one element per chunk, at most 5 elements; anything beyond is dropped
`Commission_Number`	Text	Commission number
`External_Document_Link`	Text	File name of the original document Workist delivers next to the XML file (`<ID>.pdf`). Not a link
`Workist_URL`	Text	Link to the document in the Workbench
`Received_By`	Text	Sender address (From) of the email in which the document reached Workist

You switch on External_Document_Link, Workist_URL and Received_By in the output file configuration, see Options.

Invoice address, delivery address and delivery dates

Element	Type	Description
`Invoicing/Bill_to_Customer`	Block	Invoice address; fields as for orders
`Shipping/Ship_to_Customer`	Block	Delivery address; fields as for orders
`Shipping/Expected_Delivery_Date`	Date	Requested delivery date
`Shipping/Expected_Delivery_End_Date`	Date	End of the delivery period
`Shipping/Delivery_Unload_Method`	Text	Unloading method at the delivery location

Line item fields (`Line`)

Element	Type	Description
`Description`	Text	Article description
`Unit_of_Measure`	Text	Unit of measure
`Quantity`	Decimal	Requested quantity
`Converted_Unit_of_Measure`	Text	Converted unit (e.g. `box`)
`Converted_Quantity`	Decimal	Quantity in the converted unit
`Common_Item_Number`	Text	Your article number (`article_id1` from your article master data)
`Common_Item_Number_2`	Text	Second article number (`article_id2`)
`Common_Item_Number_3`	Text	Third article number (`article_id3`, e.g. EAN)
`Customer_Item_Number`	Text	The customer's article number
`Item_Number_Confidence`	Decimal	Confidence of the automatic article match between 0 and 1, always with a decimal comma (e.g. `0,92`)
`Expected_Delivery_Date`	Date	Delivery date of the line
`Commission_Number`	Text	Commission number of the line
`Pos`	Text	Line number

SAP IDoc (REQOTE)

File extension: .xml
File name: <IDoc number>.xml

Requests for quotation in IDoc basic type ORDERS05 with message type REQOTE. Structure, segments and field lengths match the SAP IDoc ORDERS05 for orders. These points differ:

Element	Order	Request for quotation
`EDI_DC40/MESTYP`, `EDI_DC40/STDMES`	`ORDERS`	`REQOTE`
`E1EDK01/BELNR`, `E1EDK02/BELNR`	Order number	Request number
`E1EDK03` (`IDDAT` = `012`), `E1EDK02/DATUM`	Order date	Request date
`EDI_DC40/SNDPOR`, `SNDPRT`, `SNDPRN`	configurable	fixed `WORKIST`, `LS`, `WORKIST`

Request date and delivery date are required. If either is missing, Workist creates no file.

Workist sets these values for you during setup:

Field	Default	Max. characters
`MANDT`	`050`	–
`RCVPOR`	`XML_WKI`	10
`RCVPRT`	`LS`	2
`RCVPRN`	`SUPPLIER`	10
`RECIPNT_NO`	`SUPPLIER`	10

openTRANS 2.1

File extension: .xml
File name: <UUID>.xml

Request for quotation in openTRANS 2.1 format (RFQ). The format has a fixed structure: your channel's field selection and the options of the output file configuration do not change it. Invoice and delivery addresses are not included.

Full example

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RFQ xmlns:bmecat="http://www.bmecat.org/bmecat/2005" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" version="2.1" xmlns="http://www.opentrans.org/XMLSchema/2.1" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.opentrans.org/XMLSchema/2.1 opentrans_2_1.xsd" type="standard">
  <RFQ_HEADER>
    <CONTROL_INFO>
      <GENERATOR_INFO>Workist</GENERATOR_INFO>
      <GENERATION_DATE>2025-03-15T14:30:25.123456</GENERATION_DATE>
    </CONTROL_INFO>
    <RFQ_INFO>
      <RFQ_ID>RFQ-2025-0010</RFQ_ID>
      <RFQ_DATE>2025-03-15</RFQ_DATE>
      <DELIVERY_DATE>
        <DELIVERY_START_DATE>2025-05-01</DELIVERY_START_DATE>
        <DELIVERY_END_DATE>2025-05-15</DELIVERY_END_DATE>
      </DELIVERY_DATE>
      <DELIVERY_UNLOAD_METHOD>forklift</DELIVERY_UNLOAD_METHOD>
      <PARTIES>
        <PARTY>
          <bmecat:PARTY_ID type="party_specific">workist</bmecat:PARTY_ID>
          <PARTY_ROLE>document_creator</PARTY_ROLE>
        </PARTY>
        <PARTY>
          <bmecat:PARTY_ID type="party_specific">supplier</bmecat:PARTY_ID>
          <PARTY_ROLE>supplier</PARTY_ROLE>
        </PARTY>
        <PARTY>
          <bmecat:PARTY_ID>CUST-12345</bmecat:PARTY_ID>
          <PARTY_ROLE>buyer</PARTY_ROLE>
          <ADDRESS>
            <bmecat:NAME>Acme Corporation</bmecat:NAME>
            <bmecat:STREET>Hauptstrasse 42</bmecat:STREET>
            <bmecat:ZIP>80331</bmecat:ZIP>
            <bmecat:CITY>Munich</bmecat:CITY>
            <bmecat:COUNTRY>DE</bmecat:COUNTRY>
          </ADDRESS>
        </PARTY>
      </PARTIES>
      <ORDER_PARTIES_REFERENCE>
        <bmecat:BUYER_IDREF>CUST-12345</bmecat:BUYER_IDREF>
        <bmecat:SUPPLIER_IDREF>supplier</bmecat:SUPPLIER_IDREF>
      </ORDER_PARTIES_REFERENCE>
      <bmecat:CURRENCY>EUR</bmecat:CURRENCY>
    </RFQ_INFO>
  </RFQ_HEADER>
  <RFQ_ITEM_LIST>
    <RFQ_ITEM>
      <LINE_ITEM_ID>10</LINE_ITEM_ID>
      <PRODUCT_ID>
        <bmecat:SUPPLIER_PID type="supplier_specific">ART-001-A</bmecat:SUPPLIER_PID>
        <bmecat:BUYER_PID>CUST-ART-555</bmecat:BUYER_PID>
        <bmecat:DESCRIPTION_LONG>Industrial Sensor Module Type A</bmecat:DESCRIPTION_LONG>
      </PRODUCT_ID>
      <QUANTITY>500.0</QUANTITY>
      <bmecat:ORDER_UNIT>PCE</bmecat:ORDER_UNIT>
      <DELIVERY_DATE>
        <DELIVERY_START_DATE>2025-05-01</DELIVERY_START_DATE>
        <DELIVERY_END_DATE>2025-05-01</DELIVERY_END_DATE>
      </DELIVERY_DATE>
    </RFQ_ITEM>
  </RFQ_ITEM_LIST>
  <RFQ_SUMMARY>
    <TOTAL_ITEM_NUM>1</TOTAL_ITEM_NUM>
  </RFQ_SUMMARY>
</RFQ>

Elements

Element	Content
`CONTROL_INFO`	`GENERATOR_INFO` = `Workist`, `GENERATION_DATE` = creation time (UTC).
`RFQ_INFO`	`RFQ_ID` = customer's request number, `RFQ_DATE` = request date, `DELIVERY_UNLOAD_METHOD` = unloading method (additional element, not part of the openTRANS standard; only if filled), `CURRENCY` = always `EUR`.
`DELIVERY_DATE`	Only with a delivery date: `DELIVERY_START_DATE` = delivery date, `DELIVERY_END_DATE` = end of the delivery period (otherwise the delivery date).
`PARTY` `document_creator`	Workist as creator: `PARTY_ID` = `workist` (`type` = `party_specific`), `PARTY_ROLE` = `document_creator`.
`PARTY` `supplier`	You as the supplier, fixed placeholder: `PARTY_ID` = `supplier` (`type` = `party_specific`), `PARTY_ROLE` = `supplier`.
`PARTY` `buyer`	Requesting customer: `PARTY_ID` = customer number, `PARTY_ROLE` = `buyer`; `NAME` = name from the customer address, `STREET`, `ZIP`, `CITY`, `COUNTRY` (country code).
`ORDER_PARTIES_REFERENCE`	`BUYER_IDREF` = customer number, `SUPPLIER_IDREF` = `supplier`.
`RFQ_ITEM`	One per line: `LINE_ITEM_ID` = line number, `QUANTITY` = quantity with a decimal point (e.g. `500.0`), `ORDER_UNIT` = unit of measure.
`PRODUCT_ID`	`SUPPLIER_PID` = your article number (`type` = `supplier_specific`), `BUYER_PID` = the customer's article number, `DESCRIPTION_LONG` = article description.
`DELIVERY_DATE` (line)	Delivery date of the line in `DELIVERY_START_DATE` and `DELIVERY_END_DATE`.
`RFQ_SUMMARY`	`TOTAL_ITEM_NUM` = number of lines.

Every line needs a quantity that can be read as a number, otherwise Workist creates no file.

Workist XML​

Full example​

General fields (General)​

Invoice address, delivery address and delivery dates​

Line item fields (Line)​

SAP IDoc (REQOTE)​

openTRANS 2.1​

Full example​

Elements​

Workist XML

Full example

General fields (`General`)

Invoice address, delivery address and delivery dates

Line item fields (`Line`)

SAP IDoc (REQOTE)

openTRANS 2.1

Full example

Elements