Automation: Scrapers, Filters, and Bid Dashboards
At small scale you can manually scan DIBBS and type quotes. At serious scale you need automation: scrapers to pull data, filters to rank it, and dashboards to show where your attention is most valuable today.
Start simple: export RFQs to CSV, load into Excel or a small database, and add columns for your internal flags (capability fit, supplier known, packaging complexity, etc.). Even this step already makes you smarter than most competitors.
Next, script the boring parts: importing daily RFQ dumps, joining against your internal NSN notes, pulling price history, and highlighting RFQs that cross your thresholds. Python, Google Sheets scripts, or low-code tools are all fair game.
Finally, build a cockpit: one HTML dashboard where you see today's hot RFQs, open quotes, days until award, active POs, and cash-inbound forecasts. That is your War Room.
Mermaid Block — Business Workflow
Mermaid Block — Interaction Sequence
Action List
- Write down one concrete experiment you will run related to this chapter.
- Identify which RFQs, suppliers, or tools you need to test the idea.
- Define a small success metric: a quote submitted, a new supplier found, a script written.
- Schedule a review to capture lessons learned and update your playbook.