Customer Story: How Sanmina Scales Mass Part Quoting Globally

How does a global EMS organisation manage quarterly part quoting at extreme scale? In this customer story, Oscar Gutierrez explains how Sanmina uses CalcuQuote for mass part quoting across more than 40 plants in roughly 30 countries. The discussion covers price list agreements, weekly API refreshes, supplier onboarding, regional line-card logic, and the process controls needed when projects can reach up to 150,000 parts.

Oscar Gutierrez - Sr. Manager, Operations Analysis, Sanmina
Oscar Gutierrez
Sr. Manager, Operations Analysis, Sanmina

Oscar shares how Sanmina manages large-scale part quoting across a global manufacturing network. The session explores API-driven workflows, supplier governance, and the operational processes required to support hundreds of thousands of quoted parts every quarter.

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Key Takeaways

Sanmina runs quoting at global scale

Oscar Gutierrez describes a division supporting more than 40 plants across roughly 30 countries, with part-list quoting rather than traditional BOM-based RFQs.

  • Quarterly volumes reach 350,000 to 400,000 parts
  • Some projects can reach up to 150,000 parts
  • The process creates large data, validation, and decision-management demands 

 

PLA quoting is different from standard RFQ quoting

The session distinguishes price list agreements from traditional RFQs, because these large part-list projects do not include labor or PCBA work. 

  • Useful for annual demand views 
  • Relevant beyond very large Sanmina-scale programs 
  • Helps centralize quoting around part demand 

APIs keep high-volume projects current

Sanmina uses APIs to push weekly ERP changes into CalcuQuote projects, avoiding manual refresh work at a scale where manual updates would not be practical. 

  • Demand changes every week 
  • Refreshes happen in minutes 
  • The team is interested in BOM history or rollback options for safer refreshes 

Adoption required a clear go-live strategy

Oscar explains that management direction and decisive go-live planning helped users and suppliers move to the new process.

  • No broad parallel run with the legacy system 
  • Initial go-live focused on selected suppliers and portfolios 
  • Suppliers understood the new system was required to keep doing business 

Supplier onboarding depends on ownership

Sanmina created training materials, work instructions, videos, and Q&As, then assigned supplier-contact maintenance to the responsible portfolio teams. 

  • Teams know their own suppliers best 
  • Each team manages its own supply base 
  • A bid round can involve 400 to 500 suppliers 

Regional line-card groups solve global complexity

Because supplier relationships vary by region, Sanmina uses line-card groups to connect line-card name, manufacturer, supplier, and region. 

  • Region matters for franchise relationships 
  • Line-card groups automate supplier assignment 
  • Large projects can assign suppliers in minutes rather than manually