How H3X streamlined RFQ management and gained supplier visibility

Becoming the world's leading supplier of advanced electric motors requires significant coordination across the supply chain. H3X, a full-stack engineering and manufacturing company making integrated motor drives for aerospace, defense, and other heavy industries, is on a mission to enable electric aviation at scale, bolster national security, and decarbonize key industrial sectors. The company’s innovative engineering requires strategic sourcing, a high mix of motor components, and fast, precise iteration.

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Component sourcing becomes unwieldy with complex builds and aggressive timelines

H3X has experienced rapid growth since its inception in 2020. During this time, the company’s procurement processes have relied on a mix of tools, with manufacturing execution software at the core. The company also used spreadsheets, email, and PDF templates to help manage sourcing end-to-end. This amalgam of systems had become cumbersome and inefficient, hindering the fast-moving engineering and product development teams.

“We were keeping things on track, but unhelpful patterns in procurement kept repeating,” said Ricky Davis, senior supply chain manager at H3X. “A PO would go out by email, and we wouldn’t get confirmation. Or we’d need specialty parts and spend too much time figuring out which vendors had the right capabilities. These things started to create fire drills that we didn’t want or need.”

To keep up with the demand for H3X’s motors and the variance this created across suppliers, the company needed to orchestrate its supply chain better. Ultimately, the team wanted to free up time for more strategic sourcing and engineering work.

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Enabling procurement that aligns with H3X processes and workflows

H3X had been following Silkline’s evolution and knew the platform could solve their immediate needs, while also growing along with them and their supply base.

“I was impressed by how fast Silkline released new capabilities and features that did exactly as promised,” said Davis. It was an easy decision to adopt the platform because it could issue POs, integrate with our MES, and address our highly varied RFQ needs.”

H3X uses Silkline to solve multiple supply chain issues, and the procurement benefits have helped the business operate more efficiently when it comes to suppliers and manufacturing processes.

• Streamlined RFQs: H3X can send out a single request to multiple suppliers with identical scope. Terms, conditions, and quality codes are embedded from the start, so the quotes H3X receives are fully informed and ready for a decision.
• Real-time supplier visibility: Silkline tracks whether an RFQ has been viewed by a supplier as well as response times, and provides side-by-side quote comparisons for cost and lead time. Suppliers can send quotes in PDF, and Silkline auto-populates key fields to save time.
• Flexible communication: Suppliers can still interact with H3X via email. No logins, portals, or onboarding are needed for them. Messages come directly from H3X email addresses, preserving continuity and avoiding bounce risks.

• Supplier intelligence: With capability tagging and document tracking, the H3X team can quickly identify the right vendors for specialized jobs and stay ahead of contract or certification expirations.
• Integrations: H3X integrates Silkline with Manufacturo, keeping the company’s source of truth updated in real-time and streamlining everything from request to receipt.
  

“We’ve had fewer surprises because everyone’s looking at the same information from the start,” said Davis. “That includes the H3X team and our suppliers, who see our full requirements at the time of RFQ. This allows them to quote the full scope of work, eliminating unnecessary emailing back and forth and saving considerable time.”

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More time for strategic sourcing and engineering

The positive impact Silkline has had on H3X’s procurement processes is clear. By improving the company’s supplier experience – there’s no portal or onboarding needed – H3X has strengthened vendor relationships and gained better visibility into performance. Supplier metrics, including responsiveness and competitiveness, are automatically calculated in Silkline. Suppliers enjoy the improved experience so much that they recommend Silkline to their other customers.

Because Silkline removes manual steps in procurement, H3X has also reduced the risk of missed supplier communication and incomplete quoting.

“We’re spending less time chasing down quotes or re-sending documents, and more time doing what matters: open order management, supplier analysis, and competitive bidding,” said Davis. “This is what actually moves the business forward. Silkline makes your supplier processes sharper, faster, and easier to trust. Think about the things that slow your supply chain team down today. Silkline solves them.”