Distribution and manufacturingexample use case
Quote automation: a draft quote in minutes, not days
An enquiry arrives by email — as text, a spreadsheet of items, a PDF or a drawing. A salesperson works through it, looks up items in the price list, calculates discounts and writes the quote, and in the meantime the customer buys elsewhere. AI drafts the quote in minutes; the salesperson reviews and sends it, and only steps in to decide where they are genuinely needed.
Sound familiar?
- Handling enquiries takes days: the email sits in the inbox until a salesperson gets to it between meetings and complaints.
- Every customer writes differently — their own item names, a spreadsheet from their system, a PDF, free text — and someone has to translate it into your codes.
- Preparing a quote means searching the price list, checking stock in the ERP and working out discounts that often only one person knows.
- Laborious enquiries get pushed back, even though they tend to be the biggest — and the customer orders from whoever replied first.
How it works
1. Reads the enquiry and attachments
From the email body, a spreadsheet, a PDF or a scan it extracts items, quantities, requested date, delivery location and special requirements.
2. Matches items to your catalogue and price list
Customer names and codes are mapped to your items — even when the customer writes “cable 3×2.5 black, 100 m”. Where it is ambiguous, it offers two or three candidates instead of guessing.
3. Adds prices, discounts and availability from the ERP
Via API or MCP it looks up the price for the customer’s tier, volume discounts, stock and lead time. The quote is calculated by your rules, not by the model’s estimate.
4. Drafts the quote and flags anything unclear
A draft is produced in your template. Unknown items, non-standard modifications or unusual quantities are clearly flagged — the salesperson reviews, completes and sends it.
What the system handles
- Enquiries as free text, spreadsheets of items, PDFs and scans — in Slovak, Czech and English.
- Matching against hundreds to tens of thousands of catalogue items, including variants, substitutes and customer codes from past orders.
- Price tiers, volume discounts, promotions and minimum margins — as long as they are written down, not just in a salesperson’s head.
- ERP and stock connections — typically Pohoda, Money, Helios, SAP Business One or a custom system — with output to your template, CRM or directly into the ERP.
- Drawings and made-to-order jobs: it extracts material, dimensions, quantities and finish and finds similar past jobs with their prices. The estimator sets the price.
Human oversight and safety
- A person always sends the quote. AI prepares the draft and never sends anything to the customer on its own.
- Every price has a source: you see which enquiry line produced the item, which price-list entry was used and which discount was applied.
- Approval rules stay yours — for example, quotes above a certain amount or with a discount over the limit go to a manager.
- The line is clear: catalogue items are priced by the system according to your rules; drawings, non-standard modifications and complex production costing are priced by a person.
What result is realistic
~15 min
from enquiry to draft quote for catalogue items
For a typical company with a catalogue range and dozens of enquiries a week, we plan for a draft quote within 15 minutes of the enquiry arriving, reviewed by a salesperson in a few minutes instead of 30–60 minutes of assembly. With six enquiries a day that is on the order of 70 hours a month. The bigger gain, though, is that enquiries no longer wait for days — that cannot be quantified in advance, but it can be measured from day one of the pilot. For drawing-based jobs the saving is smaller: AI prepares the groundwork and costing stays with a person.
The figures are indicative for typical volumes. We give a precise estimate for your company after analysing the process.
Indicative scope
- Analysis of enquiries, price list and discount rules
- €900 – €1,800
- Pilot on your real enquiries (2–4 weeks)
- €3,500 – €7,000
- Production rollout with ERP and catalogue integration
- €6,000 – €15,000
- Operations, monitoring and evaluations
- from €390 / month
Prices are indicative and exclude VAT. We give an exact figure only after analysing your process — not off the cuff on the first call.
Frequently asked questions
Can AI price a part from a drawing?
Not reliably, and we will not pretend otherwise. The price of a part depends on the process, machine time, material and shop-floor capacity. AI extracts the parameters from the drawing and text, finds similar past jobs and prepares a brief for the estimator. The estimator sets the price.
How is this different from CPQ quoting software?
CPQ software calculates prices for configurable products by rules, but someone still has to click the enquiry email into it by hand. AI handles exactly that input step — reading the enquiry and matching it to the catalogue. If you already have CPQ or an ERP, we send the draft there instead of to our own template.
What if our price list is spread across several spreadsheets?
That is common and solvable, but it is the first step, not a detail. During the analysis we establish which source is valid and help consolidate it. AI running on an outdated price list would only send wrong prices faster.
From how many enquiries does this make sense?
Roughly from a few multi-item enquiries a day, or fewer if one quote takes an hour or more. With a few enquiries a week, tidying up the template and price list is usually enough — and we will tell you so on the first call.
How long until it actually runs?
A pilot on your real enquiries in 2–4 weeks. Production rollout with ERP and catalogue integration usually 6–10 weeks from the start, depending on the state of the price list and catalogue.
Related service
AI agents & automation
We build this solution as part of our service „AI agents & process automation“.
An agent that processes emails, orders and invoices instead of your teamRead more
- How to automate price quotes: a quote in minutes, not daysQuote automation in practice: where time is lost when preparing a quote, when a template is enough, when CPQ software fits and when AI on enquiries pays off.
- How to automate order processing from email: rules, Make or an AI agent?Orders arrive by email as text, PDFs and spreadsheets, and someone retypes them into the ERP every day. Three ways to automate it, where each one breaks — and what you need ready before you start.
- How much does an AI solution cost — and where budgets get burnedReal price ranges for an audit, a pilot and a production rollout, monthly running costs, and five places where companies most often spend money for nothing.
More solutions
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E-commerceAI customer support automation — without the risk of AI sending nonsense
~40% · shorter first-response timeIf you can estimate how many enquiries a week wait more than a day for a quote, we have a number to start from.
You do not need to know whether you need AI, automation or a new system. Show us the process that slows you down — we will tell you what can be automated and whether it pays off.