Buyer Question Bank

The same questions arrive on approved-supplier forms, in tender pre-qualification questionnaires, on the first telephone call and, more and more, typed into an AI tool before anyone has spoken to you. It is easy to answer them one at a time, from memory, in whatever order the buyer asks. This bank puts them in one place so the answers can be written once and reused wherever a buyer or an AI tool looks.

The example figures, standards and certification bodies in each entry are illustrative; you replace them with your own.

What is in each document

Sector	Covers	Questions
Precision machining	Subcontract turning, milling, grinding and EDM	32
Sheet metal and fabrication	Cutting, forming, welding and structural fabrication	31
Electronics and PCB assembly	Contract electronics manufacturing, box build and test	32
Automation and control	Integrators, panel builders and special-purpose machinery	31
Industrial equipment and components	Drives, pumps, valves, conveyors, hydraulics and spares	31

The questions are grouped in the order a buyer works through them, starting with capability, then quality and approvals, materials and process, commercial terms, lead time, logistics and compliance, and finally what happens after the order.

Six sample questions from the precision machining bank

1. What machines do you have, and what are their working envelopes?

   The buyer wants to know whether the part physically fits your machines before reading anything else, and an AI tool answers capacity questions from this list. A good answer gives make, model and axis count for each machine, the maximum diameter and length for turning and table size and Z travel for milling, and any live tooling, sub-spindle, bar feed and pallet options.

   Turning: two Doosan Puma 2600SY lathes, 340 mm chuck, 760 mm between centres, Y axis and sub-spindle, 65 mm bar feed. Milling: three DMG Mori DMU 50 five-axis, 500 x 450 x 400 mm.

2. What tolerances do you hold in production, as opposed to on a good day?

   Quality managers distinguish between capability and what is repeatable across a batch, and the answer decides whether they trust your quotes. A good answer states the dimensional tolerance held routinely by process, the surface finish achievable, and Cpk figures where you have them. "In production" means the figure you would put on a first article report and hold across a batch, not the best result on a new machine; if you do not run Cpk studies, say which tolerance you quote to without a surcharge.

   Turning and milling: ±0.01 mm held in production on features up to 100 mm; grinding to ±0.003 mm. Surface finish 0.4 Ra turned, 0.2 Ra ground.

3. Which quality standards are you certified to, and who is the certification body?

   State the standard and its scope, the certificate number and expiry, and the certification body.

   ISO 9001:2015, certificate 12345, LRQA, valid to March 2027. AS9100 Rev D, certificate 67890, valid to March 2027. Certificates available for download.

4. Which materials do you machine regularly?

   Difficult materials need the right tooling and experience; a buyer with an Inconel or titanium part wants evidence you do it often. A good answer lists the alloy families and grades you run every week, the materials you can machine but do not stock, and the materials you decline.

   Regularly: aluminium 6082 and 7075, stainless 303, 304, 316 and 17-4PH, EN8, EN24T, titanium 6Al-4V, Inconel 718, PEEK and Delrin. We do not machine magnesium.

5. What are your standard lead times?

   Give the quotation turnaround, the first-off and production lead times, and any express service with its conditions.

   Quotes within two working days. Production batches in three to four weeks from order; first-offs in five working days; an express service is available for parts under 100 mm.

6. How will you keep us informed of progress?

   Buyers who have been let down before want a named contact and a routine for updates. A good answer names the contact, describes the order acknowledgement and progress updates, and says how delays are communicated.

   Acknowledgement with a delivery date within one working day. Progress comes from the production manager on a direct line, not the general inbox. If a date is at risk you hear the day we know it, with the new date.

How firms use it

• Write the answers once and put them on the website under headings that repeat the question, so a buyer scanning the page and an AI tool answering a query both find them.
• Copy the same answers into the approved-supplier pack, so the questionnaire is answered before it arrives.
• Give the sales and estimating team the bank as the standard for what a good answer looks like on the telephone.
• Review it once a year, or when a certificate, machine or policy changes.

The free Capability Page Checklist covers what the page itself needs; this bank covers what to say on it.

Sources: approved-supplier questionnaires and tender pre-qualification documents in common use in UK engineering; the standards named in each document; Axi Growth client work, 2026. Example figures are illustrative and no real company is described.