Manufacturing
Quote requests reach your estimator already drafted.
Each request for quotation (RFQ) is read, costed from your past jobs and drafted as a quote, by an AI system we build and run.
- Who decides
- An engineer decides whether to bid, and your estimator approves every price and lead time before a quote is sent.
- Where it runs
- Built and run in your cloud, working from the records your ERP and inboxes already hold. Every draft is logged with the pricing rule, past job or record it relied on.
- Drawings
- Where each part of the system runs, and which outside services can see your data, are agreed with you and written into the data agreement before work starts. That lets it follow your customers' NDA and export terms.
- What we measure
- Hours from RFQ received to quote sent, and every figure your estimator changed.
Where hours go before a quote
Declined RFQs. Buyers often send the same RFQ to several suppliers, with their own deadline. When estimating is busy, a short-deadline RFQ is declined or priced in a hurry.
Hours per quote. Before a price exists, your estimator works out setups and cycle times from the drawing, adds outside processes such as heat treatment or anodising, and checks material prices. Most of those figures already sit in quotes for jobs you have made before.
RFQ to quote sent
One RFQ, email to quote sent
One RFQ, from the buyer's email to the quote sent, today and with the system. Your engineer decides whether to bid, and your estimator decides the price.
| Step | Today | With the system |
|---|---|---|
| The RFQ arrives | An estimator opens the email and reads the drawing and spec for parts, quantities, materials and tolerances, then checks them against what the shop can make. | The system lists the parts, quantities, materials and tolerances, and flags anything outside the machines and processes you list. An engineer decides whether to bid. |
| Costing | The estimator works out setups and cycle times from the drawing, adds outside processes such as heat treatment, and pulls material prices from a spreadsheet or the ERP screen one person knows well. | The system proposes setups and cycle times from comparable past jobs, applies your rates, and shows every figure it used. |
| Past jobs | The estimator searches old quotes for a similar job to check the number. | The system finds comparable past quotes and puts them beside the draft. |
| Quote sent | The estimator assembles the quote in your format and checks it against the buyer's deadline. | Your estimator corrects or approves the price and lead time, then sends the quote. |
Illustration. Not a client system.
- Every week
- Your operations lead sees hours from RFQ received to quote sent, and every quote your estimator changed before it went out, with what changed.
Start with RFQs you turn down.
The first fix takes 2–3 weeks of build, after the data agreement is signed. If the problem is not clear yet, discovery comes first.