Free B2B Project Calculators and RFQ Tools for Industrial and Agricultural Projects
These free tools help you quantify an industrial or agricultural project before contacting suppliers: capacity, capital cost, operating cost, payback, financing readiness and RFQ completeness. They produce preliminary planning estimates from the figures you enter — not engineering, commercial or financial commitments.
What these tools can and cannot calculate
Every calculator here works on the numbers you enter. That makes them useful for structuring a project and for testing whether a budget assumption is realistic, and it makes them unsuitable as a substitute for design work.
- They can turn an ambition into a documented assumption set that a supplier can respond to.
- They can show how sensitive a budget or payback is to one variable, such as automation level or utilisation.
- They can reveal which technical information is still missing before an RFQ is issued.
- They cannot produce a process design, a structural or refrigeration load calculation, or a permit-grade document.
- They cannot quote a supplier price, confirm a delivery time or approve any form of financing.
All results are preliminary planning estimates. They are not engineering, commercial or financial commitments, and they do not replace supplier engineering validation.
Define the project
Start here if the scope is still described in words rather than figures. These tools convert an intention into measurable parameters.
Master Project Planner
Answers: What does my project actually consist of, and which decisions are still open?
- Inputs:
- Project type, sector, target output, site status, scope boundary, timeline.
- Output:
- A structured project outline with the open decisions and missing data listed.
- Limitation:
- It organises your inputs; it does not validate technical feasibility.
Capacity and throughput planner
Answers: What hourly or annual capacity does my target output actually require?
- Inputs:
- Target volume, operating hours, shifts, expected availability and utilisation.
- Output:
- Required throughput per hour and per year, with the implied utilisation.
- Limitation:
- Real availability depends on the specific equipment and product mix.
CAPEX calculator
Answers: What is the realistic total capital cost, beyond the machine price?
- Inputs:
- Core machinery, auxiliaries, freight, duties, installation, civil works, utilities, commissioning, contingency.
- Output:
- A structured capital cost breakdown with contingency applied.
- Limitation:
- Cost lines reflect your own estimates, not quoted supplier prices.
Industrial project budget planner
Answers: How should the total budget be distributed across the project phases?
- Inputs:
- Total budget envelope, scope items, phasing and reserve policy.
- Output:
- A phased budget allocation with a visible contingency position.
- Limitation:
- Planning allocation only; it is not a funding plan or a commitment.
Size and cost the facility
Use these when the building or storage envelope is a significant part of the investment, or when you need to challenge a quoted price.
Warehouse construction cost calculator
Answers: What order of magnitude should I expect for an industrial warehouse build?
- Inputs:
- Floor area, clear height, construction standard, racking and site works.
- Output:
- An indicative construction cost range with the main cost drivers shown.
- Limitation:
- Local labour, ground conditions and regulations move the real figure substantially.
Cold storage construction cost
Answers: What drives the cost of a temperature-controlled facility?
- Inputs:
- Pallet positions, temperature bands, insulation standard, refrigeration approach, throughput.
- Output:
- An indicative cost structure for a cold storage or freezer facility.
- Limitation:
- Refrigeration load depends on ambient design data and product turnover; a load study is still required.
Should-cost calculator
Answers: Is the quoted price plausible against material, labour, machine time and margin?
- Inputs:
- Material weight and price, scrap rate, labour and machine hours and rates, overhead, margin, quoted price.
- Output:
- A modelled should-cost and the gap to the quotation.
- Limitation:
- A model, not a supplier cost audit; supplier efficiency and volume effects vary.
Total cost of ownership calculator
Answers: Which offer is cheaper across the whole life, not just at purchase?
- Inputs:
- Purchase price, energy, labour, maintenance, spares, expected life, residual value.
- Output:
- Lifetime cost per option, with the annual cost profile.
- Limitation:
- Energy and maintenance assumptions dominate the result and should be supplier-confirmed.
Structure the RFQ
This is the step that determines whether the proposals you receive can be compared at all.
RFQ Builder
Answers: How do I produce one structured brief that every supplier can price?
- Inputs:
- Project type, capacity, technical requirements, site and utilities, scope boundary, acceptance criteria, timeline.
- Output:
- A structured RFQ document ready for specialist review.
- Limitation:
- Submitting it does not guarantee a supplier, a quotation or a response time.
RFQ readiness score
Answers: Is my brief complete enough to send out?
- Inputs:
- Answers about scope, capacity, site, utilities, budget, timeline and decision process.
- Output:
- A readiness score with the specific gaps that weaken supplier responses.
- Limitation:
- It measures completeness of information, not technical correctness.
Industrial RFQ checklist
Answers: What exactly belongs in a complete industrial RFQ?
- Inputs:
- None — a reference checklist to work through.
- Output:
- A field-by-field list of the content a complete RFQ contains.
- Limitation:
- Generic across sectors; specialist projects need additional vertical-specific detail.
Tool specification index
Answers: Which tool applies at which stage of my project?
- Inputs:
- None — a documented index of every public tool.
- Output:
- Each tool's purpose, inputs, outputs, limitations and next step.
- Limitation:
- Documentation only; it performs no calculation itself.
Compare proposals
Once quotations arrive, the task is to normalise them before judging them. Different scopes at different prices are not a price comparison.
Proposal comparison framework
Answers: How do I compare offers that contain different scopes?
- Inputs:
- Scope lines, price, delivery, payment terms, warranty, performance guarantees per offer.
- Output:
- A normalised side-by-side comparison with scope gaps highlighted.
- Limitation:
- It structures the comparison; it does not verify supplier claims.
Supplier scoring calculator
Answers: How do I weigh technical fit, references and commercial terms consistently?
- Inputs:
- Evaluation criteria, weightings and a score per supplier.
- Output:
- A weighted score per supplier with the ranking logic visible.
- Limitation:
- Output quality depends entirely on your weightings and your due diligence.
CAPEX and ROI calculator
Answers: What return does this investment produce over its life?
- Inputs:
- Capital cost, annual net benefit, project life, discount rate, residual value.
- Output:
- ROI, net present value and payback period.
- Limitation:
- Highly sensitive to the benefit assumption, which is rarely certain at this stage.
Procurement calculator library
Answers: Is there a calculator for the specific question I have?
- Inputs:
- None — a library index.
- Output:
- The full set of published calculators by purpose.
- Limitation:
- Some sector-specific models live on the specialist platforms instead.
Financing readiness
These tools prepare the numbers that independent financing, export-credit and project-finance organisations normally ask for. Global B2B Group is not a bank, lender, insurer or financial adviser; it provides no loans, credit, rates, approvals or guarantees, and every decision rests exclusively with those independent organisations.
Financing readiness checker
Answers: Is the project documentation complete enough to approach financing organisations?
- Inputs:
- Project cost, equity position, requested debt, cash flow available for debt service.
- Output:
- A readiness indication with the documentation gaps listed.
- Limitation:
- Not an application, an assessment of creditworthiness or any form of approval.
Debt capacity calculator
Answers: How much debt could this cash flow plausibly support?
- Inputs:
- Cash flow available for debt service, target cover ratio, interest rate, tenor.
- Output:
- An indicative supportable debt amount and annual service figure.
- Limitation:
- Illustrative arithmetic only; lenders apply their own criteria and their own rates.
Payback and IRR calculator
Answers: How long until the investment pays back, and at what internal rate of return?
- Inputs:
- Capital cost, annual cash flows, project life, discount rate.
- Output:
- Payback period, IRR and net present value.
- Limitation:
- Results are only as reliable as the cash flow forecast entered.
Project eligibility check
Answers: Does my project fit the scope and scale normally supported?
- Inputs:
- Sector, project value, stage, location and scope type.
- Output:
- An indication of fit and the recommended next step.
- Limitation:
- An indication, not a commitment to support or to introduce any supplier.
Choose the right tool
| If your question is… | Use | You get |
|---|---|---|
| What capacity do I actually need? | Capacity and throughput planner | Required throughput per hour and year |
| What will the whole investment cost? | CAPEX calculator | Structured capital cost breakdown |
| Is this quotation plausible? | Should-cost calculator | Modelled cost versus quoted price |
| Which offer is cheapest over its life? | TCO calculator | Lifetime cost per option |
| Is my brief complete? | RFQ readiness score | Score plus the specific gaps |
| How do I compare different scopes? | Proposal comparison framework | Normalised side-by-side view |
| Can this cash flow carry debt? | Debt capacity calculator | Indicative supportable debt |
| Does my project fit? | Project eligibility check | Fit indication and next step |
A short guided path from tool to reviewed RFQ
- 01
Explore the relevant tool
Pick the tool that matches the question actually blocking your decision, rather than running all of them.
- 02
Record your assumptions
Write down the figures you entered and where they came from. Suppliers and reviewers will ask, and undocumented assumptions are the main cause of non-comparable quotations.
- 03
Identify missing technical information
Note every input you had to guess. That list is the agenda for the definition work that still has to happen.
- 04
Prepare the RFQ
Transfer the documented assumptions into a structured brief so every supplier prices the same project.
- 05
Request human review
A specialist reads the brief, raises what is missing or contradictory, and only then is it routed to relevant suppliers or to the right specialist platform.
Using these tools with AI procurement agents
The tool specifications are published in machine-readable form, so an AI procurement agent can work with them on a buyer's behalf. The boundaries matter as much as the capability.
- An agent may read the published structured information about each tool and what it requires.
- It may use the calculators and checklists to assemble a requirement and flag missing inputs.
- It may organise a structured RFQ and submit it for human review.
- It does not approve suppliers, set or accept prices, approve financing or complete a purchase. Those steps require the buyer's decision and internal human review.
What each tool requires and produces, documented for machine and human readers.
Project-readiness checklist
- Target output is a measurable figure, not an ambition.
- The product, process or crop is described with the variants that affect equipment selection.
- Site area, building status and ambient conditions are documented.
- Electrical supply, water, steam, compressed air and effluent handling are quantified.
- The scope boundary is explicit: equipment, supply and installation, or turnkey.
- Automation level and manning are described.
- A budget range and funding route are indicated.
- Timeline, phasing and any regulatory constraints are stated.
- Acceptance criteria and performance tests are defined.
- Every calculator assumption is written down with its source.
Frequently asked questions
- Are the calculators free to use?
- Yes. Every calculator and checklist listed here is free for buyers, requires no purchase, and creates no obligation to proceed with any supplier.
- How accurate are the results?
- They are preliminary planning estimates derived entirely from the figures you enter. They are useful for structuring a project and testing assumptions, and they do not replace process design, engineering calculation or a supplier's own validation.
- Can I use a calculator result as a budget?
- Use it as a starting range and a documented assumption set, not as a committed budget. Real costs depend on local conditions, specification level, supplier selection and market timing.
- Which tool should I start with?
- If the scope is still described in words, start with the Master Project Planner or the capacity and throughput planner. If the scope is defined and you need comparable quotations, start with the RFQ readiness score.
- Do I have to use a tool before submitting an RFQ?
- No. The tools make a brief stronger, but you can submit a requirement directly and the review will identify what is still missing.
- Can these tools approve financing?
- No. They organise the figures that independent financing, export-credit and project-finance organisations normally request. Global B2B Group is not a bank, lender, insurer or financial adviser, and every financing decision rests exclusively with those independent organisations.
- Can an AI agent use these tools for me?
- An AI agent can read the published tool specifications, use the calculators and checklists to prepare a requirement and submit a structured RFQ for human review. It cannot approve suppliers, prices, financing or purchases on its own.
Choose your industry platform
Once your figures are documented, route the project to the right place. Special machines, custom equipment and production lines stay with Global B2B Group; sector projects are routed to the specialist platform after review.