Instant Quoting Software for Manufacturing Businesses
by bista-admin- Sep 18, 2018
- 0
- Category: Manufacturing Industry, Odoo Manufacturing
Generate Quotations in Real-time for Your Manufacturing Company
Generating quotations in the manufacturing industry can be a long and meticulous process, often involving significant man-hours, back-and-forth communication, and complex calculations. Delays here can result in lost business for your company. Given this, quoting software for manufacturing is extremely valuable.
Bista offers a quotation solution that allows your customers to get a precise quote within seconds after filling out a form online and submitting a CAD file. That way, you reduce labor, reduce errors, and most importantly, increase sales coming to your business. Let’s go into more detail:
Problem #1: Employee-Client Extended Interaction
One of the main reasons quote creation in manufacturing takes so long is because it involves multiple interactions between your salespeople and their clients. This process usually starts with an email or phone call. If all the information is not collected in the first go, it often results in a string of back-and-forth calls/emails until all the requirements are finally gathered.
This drawn-out process delays the quote response, and also takes away valuable time that salespeople could use to generate more clients.
Problem #2: Multiple Manufacturing Software
As a manufacturer, it’s likely that multiple software is involved in the creation of your products. For example, you may use CAD files for your designs, as well as to help generate your manufacturing bill of materials (BOM).
Additionally, you may be using nesting software. Nesting software such as NestFab, SigmaNEST, and others, optimize the use of raw materials in your manufacturing processes. By inputting CAD files for various products that need to be produced, you can find the optimum way to use the area on sheets of metal or other materials, to manufacture those items.
Because of this, the generation of quotes often requires multiple data points, all of which cannot be found on any one system. It requires information from CAD files regarding the BOM as well as the design itself. It also requires the cost of each material, likely found in your ERP system. Finally, if you use nesting software, it requires parameters from there detailing how best to optimize the area on the material.
If this software is not integrated, your employees likely have to maneuver through each different software, gather the relevant information from there, plug it into an excel chart and do the calculation. Additionally, your salespeople may not even have direct access to the software involved, so they may have to make requests to other departments, which can take even longer.
However, with instant quoting software for manufacturing that integrates these different parts, you can produce quotes automatically, instantly, and without any employee intervention.
The Solution: A Look at a Current Case Study
In one of its current projects, Bista Solutions has created a manufacturing estimating software solution for a waterjet manufacturer. The company receives requests from other businesses to manufacture items, and the quote process, as outlined further above, could be very lengthy and drawn out. Bista provided a three-way integration between CAD files, NestFab, and Odoo ERP to provide instantaneous quotes.
The instant quote process takes place as follows:
- The customer fills out their requirements (e.g., type of material, type of finish, thickness, quantity, etc.) on a web portal, and submits with a CAD file.
- The CAD file is sent via the nesting integration to the nesting software.
- The nesting software returns back parameters such as surface area, cut distance, and entry points.
- Using the nesting parameters, the BOM created from the CAD file, and its own material cost information, the ERP system runs the calculation and provides the quote to the customer.
In such a manner, Bista has turned a difficult and laborious process into an automated, instantaneous solution.
Benefits
What are the benefits of using this instant quoting software for manufacturing? They include:
- Reduced labor
- Reduced errors
- Faster quote response
- Larger sales volume
In business, whether you’re in manufacturing or in any other industry, spending too long on giving a quote is a surefire way to lose customers. Customers will lose interest, assume you’re unqualified, and/or find a competitor who can provide a quote more quickly.
In business, whether you’re in manufacturing or in any other industry, spending too long on giving a quote is a surefire way to lose customers
Therefore, automating this system for immediate quotes allows you to increase sales volume coming in. As the fastest in your industry, you will take customers from your competitors, rather than the other way around.
Manufacturing Automation
With Instant quoting software for manufacturing in place, Bista Solutions can then automate the company’s manufacturing process. After the quote is sent to the customer, the customer then accepts or rejects the quote. If he accepts, then the quotation can automatically generate the relevant work order, with routings, BOM, etc. built in and manufacturing can begin.
In fact, if the current inventory is not enough, the system can even initiate procurement. Because every part of the production process is tied together within the ERP system, the entire order -> manufacturing -> shipping cycle can be automated as a result of a confirmed quotation.
The process takes place as follows:
- The client sends CAD files and requirements.
- ERP sends CAD files via nesting integration to nesting software.
- Nesting software returns parameters.
- ERP system calculates and sends quotes.
- The client accepts the quote and makes payment.
- The ERP system checks inventory.
- If an inventory is available, the ERP system generates a work order.
- If the inventory is not available, the ERP system generates a purchase order and the needed inventory is procured. This then generates a work order.
- Manufacturing begins.
Thus, the instant quoting solution not only provides a quote in real-time to the customer but can also automate the inventory procurement and manufacturing for the product afterward.
If you want to generate more sales faster, give us a call. Bista can provide nesting/CAD software integration, or other software integrations clients need in order to generate the full quote instantly and automate the manufacturing process. Contact us today!
Todd Sellers and Christina Barea discuss instant quoting software for manufacturing with Solution Architect Kedar Joshi. Watch below:
