AI · Email to Quote

Let suppliers quote the way they prefer.

Suppliers send offers by email — PDF, Excel, Word, CSV or plain text — and PINPOOLS AI extracts the data and uploads it into the right request. No login. No onboarding. Fully comparable across suppliers.

AI OCR + NLP
RFQ 23023 · Auto-filled 98% CONF
ProductAcetone 99.9%
Price€0.64 / kg
DeliveryDDP Hamburg
Quantity500 MT
Validity30.11.2026
.xlsx .pdf .docx .csv plain email text
The old way

Half your suppliers never log in.

Smaller suppliers stay outside the tender
Less-digital vendors won't create yet another portal account for one quote. You lose their pricing before the event even opens.
Buyer re-keys every PDF and email
Excel from one, PDF from another, prose in the email body from a third — everything typed by hand into the RFQ to make it comparable.
Ad-hoc RFQs stall on onboarding
For a one-off request or low-volume category, portal onboarding costs more than the sourcing event is worth. The RFQ waits — or never runs.
The PINPOOLS way

An AI function that lets suppliers skip the login.

Buyers switch on "Ability to make offers via email using AI" in Advanced Settings — General tab of the RFQ or Series Request. Suppliers reply by email in whatever format they use today. The AI extracts price, quantity, delivery and validity from PDF, Excel, Word, CSV or the email body itself, and drops it structured into the right request.
90%
AI extraction accuracy
Zero
supplier onboarding
2 h
buyer effort saved / request
10×
faster response cycle
Benefits

What procurement teams get out of it.

Every supplier participates — regardless of how digital they are — and every offer lands in the RFQ structured and comparable.

Save 2 hours per request

No manual re-keying of PDFs, Excel tables or email prose into the RFQ.

Comparable across suppliers

Email-submitted offers sit in the same structured RFQ table as portal offers.

10× faster response cycle

Especially effective for ad-hoc requests and low-volume categories.

Any format, no rework

Excel, PDF, Word, CSV or plain email text — all extracted the same way.

Key capabilities

Zero-onboarding supplier reach.

One inbox, five file types, and a validation layer that keeps every extracted offer routable to the correct request.

Dedicated quote inbox

One address for all suppliers — they reply as they always have, no portal account required.

Acetone 99.9%€0.64 / kg
DDP Hamburg500 MT
Validity30.11.2026
98% confidence

OCR & NLP extraction

Handles scanned tables, text PDFs and plain email prose — pulls price, unit, delivery, quantity and validity out of every message.

.xlsx PREF.pdf.docx.csvplain text

Multi-format support

Excel, PDF, Word, CSV or the email body itself — .xlsx is preferred, everything else works too.

RFQ 23023Filled
Series Q4Filled
Routed by Event ID

Auto-fill into RFQs & Series

Data lands in the exact request the email refers to — matched by Event ID in the subject.

Sender domain matches invited supplier
Event ID found in subject
One email = one request

Validation rules

Domain check, subject-line parsing and single-request scope keep every extracted offer safe to route.

· product name· price (final)· currency· unit· delivery cond.· delivery place· quantity· packaging· validity (DD.MM.YYYY)

Structured offer schema

Nine fields extracted per line — one row per offer, separate rows for different plants or conditions.

How it works

Four steps from switch-on to comparable offers.

One toggle for the buyer, one email from the supplier — the AI does the rest.

1

Buyer flips the switch

In Advanced Settings on the General tab of an RFQ or Series Request, enable Ability to make offers via email using AI. Nothing changes in the invitation flow.

Advanced settings · General
Ability to make offers via email using AI
Require SDS attachment
2

Supplier sends one email

From their invited company domain to [email protected], with the Event ID in the subject. One email = one request.

Subject: RFQ 23023 — Monthly Prices Update
Acetone 99.9% · €0.64/kg
DDP Hamburg · 500 MT
Valid: 30.11.2026
offer.xlsx · 24 KB
3

AI extracts and validates

OCR + NLP read the attachment or email body, pull the nine offer fields, and validate sender domain and Event ID before writing anything.

Extracted fields98% CONF
ProductAcetone 99.9%
Price€0.64 / kg
DeliveryDDP Hamburg
Quantity500 MT
Validity30.11.2026
4

Offer lands in the RFQ, comparable

Data appears in the same structured table as portal offers — comparable across suppliers, ready for awarding.

RFQ 23023 · 3 offersCOMPARABLE
ChemTrade AG EMAIL€0.64 / kg
Portal supplier B€0.68 / kg
Portal supplier C€0.71 / kg
Business case

Involve smaller, less-digital suppliers without slowing anyone down.

Suppliers send offers via email as they always have — Excel, PDF or plain text — and PINPOOLS automatically extracts and matches the data to the corresponding request.

Especially effective for ad-hoc requests and low-volume categories where supplier onboarding would otherwise slow down the process.

AI accuracy
90%
on structured extraction
Saved / request
2 h
of buyer effort
Onboarding
Zero
for email-only suppliers
Turnaround
10×
faster response cycle

“Suppliers send offers the way they always have — Excel, PDF, plain text — and it lands in the request already comparable. We save hours of manual entry per event, and no quote gets left out because a small supplier didn't want to onboard.”

Head of Sourcing, industrial coatings · multi-plant European buyer
Trusted by industry leaders

Procurement teams in chemicals, pharma, and coatings
build with PINPOOLS.

Frequently asked

Email to Quote questions, answered.

Do suppliers need to register on PINPOOLS?

No — they can participate entirely via email once invited to the event.

What if a supplier uses PDFs and I need comparable data?

The AI extracts data from text-based PDFs and pushes it into the request in a structured way, comparable across suppliers.

Can Email to Quote be used with Series Requests?

Yes. It's enabled the same way — in Advanced Settings of the Series Request.

Which file formats work best?

.xlsx is preferred — one visible table starting at row 1 or 2, clear column headers, one final commercial price per line. .pdf (selectable text, one main table), .docx, .csv and plain email text all work too. Avoid multiple tabs, merged headers, monthly matrices or side calculations.

What happens if the email doesn't follow the format rules?

Following the rules (one row = one offer, Event ID in the subject, correct sender domain, not inside a long email chain) ensures reliable extraction. Emails that break the rules may not be parsed correctly.

Zero onboarding. Every supplier in.

See Email to Quote parse a real supplier email on your own RFQ.

Excel · PDF · Word · CSV · plain text · all supported