Manufacturing RFQ automation that has the drawing read before your estimator opens it
For job shops and contract manufacturers losing bids because RFQ packages sit in a shared inbox for days. Each package is opened, the PDF drawings, STEP files and specs are summarized, past jobs on the same part are pulled from your ERP and a quote worksheet is pre-filled. Estimators still set every price.
- Revision, material, finish and quantity breaks extracted
- Tight tolerances and inspection demands called out
- Open quotes followed up before the buyer awards
What slows a quote down
The callout that changes the price is on sheet 6
A true position of .0005, a note requiring passivation to ASTM A967 or a requirement for an AS9102 first article report is buried deep in the drawing set. Miss it and the job loses money; find it late and the quote goes out late.
Repeat parts get quoted from scratch
You ran this part 18 months ago at a different quantity, but finding the old routing, cycle times and outside processing cost in the ERP takes longer than starting over.
Quotes go out and nobody follows up
Buyers compare three shops and award within days. Without a nudge, your quote sits in their inbox while a competitor calls.
What the RFQ automation prepares
Everything an estimator needs to start pricing, laid out in your quote worksheet or ERP quote record. It reads and organizes; your people decide price and lead time.
RFQ inbox intake
RFQ emails and portal downloads are logged with customer, due date and attachments, so nothing sits unopened in a shared mailbox.
Drawing and spec summary
Part number, revision, material and temper, finish and coating specs, heat treat, quantity breaks, certs required and general tolerance block, pulled into one summary.
Critical feature flags
Tight GD&T callouts, thin walls, deep holes, special threads and inspection demands like CMM reports, PPAP levels or AS9102 first article are highlighted.
Past job lookup
Earlier quotes and jobs on the same or similar parts are pulled from your ERP with routing, run times, outside processing cost and margin.
Pre-filled quote worksheet
Material, quantities, operations and outside services drop into your spreadsheet or ERP quote, leaving price and lead time blank for the estimator.
Quote follow-up drafts
Sent quotes get a follow-up draft on a schedule you set, and won or lost status is recorded for later analysis.
Works with the systems your estimators use
Epicor Kinetic, Acumatica and NetSuite
Quote and estimate records read and drafted through each system's official API.
JobBOSS², E2 Shop, ProShop and Global Shop Solutions
Past jobs and quotes read through APIs where available, or through scheduled exports where they aren't.
Spreadsheet quote sheets
Your existing Excel or Google Sheets template filled in field by field.
Outlook, Gmail and customer portals
RFQ emails read through Microsoft Graph or the Gmail API, with portal files dropped into a watched folder.
Won quotes become orders
The quote record becomes the baseline for checking the customer PO.
A drawing intake agent
Reads the package and writes the estimator a part summary.
Why estimators trust the summary
ITAR drawings stay where they belong
RFQs carrying ITAR or export-control markings are detected and kept out of any model or system your empowered official hasn't approved, and routed to a person instead.
Revision letters are never assumed
If the title block, revision table and email disagree on the rev, the summary says so instead of picking one, in line with ISO 9001 and AS9100 document control.
Price stays a human decision
The worksheet is pre-filled with facts. Price, lead time and any no-quote decision belong to your estimator.
Learns your customers' formats
Each customer's drawing style and spec habits become rules over time, and we update them in monthly reviews in code your company owns.
“He got me 9 sales in my first 7 days of launching our campaign, which exceeded my expectations!”
Common questions
What is manufacturing RFQ automation?
Software that opens RFQ emails and drawing packages, extracts part number, revision, material, finish, quantities and critical tolerances, finds past jobs on the same part, and pre-fills a quote worksheet for your estimator.
Can it read scanned or hand-marked drawings?
Clean scans, yes, with lower confidence on faint or hand-written notes. Low-confidence fields are marked so the estimator checks them rather than trusting them.
Does it get geometry from the STEP file?
It can pull bounding size and basic part data to help with stock sizing. Tolerances and notes still come from the drawing, since a STEP file usually doesn't carry them.
Will it set prices or send quotes on its own?
No. It leaves price and lead time blank. Your estimator fills them in and decides what is sent.
What about RFQs for defense programs?
Packages marked ITAR, EAR-controlled or CUI are routed away from AI processing unless your export and security leads have approved the environment. Your team handles them by hand or in an approved setup.
Can it flag jobs that need PPAP or a first article?
Yes. Requirements like PPAP submission level, AS9102 first article inspection, material certs and certificates of conformance are called out on the summary so the cost isn't missed.
Get quotes out while the buyer is still deciding
Take the 2-minute AI audit to see where RFQs are stalling in your shop.
- Gather 50 recent RFQ packages, won and lost
We study what your customers send, which features drove price and which bids went out late, so the extraction targets what your estimators care about.
- Mirror your estimator's worksheet
The output follows the fields and order your estimators already use, whether that's a spreadsheet or the quote screen in your ERP.
- Score new RFQs side by side
For a few weeks the summary sits next to the estimator's own read. Anything it missed or misread becomes a rule or a test case.
- Add history lookups and follow-ups, then review monthly
Once extraction is trusted, past job lookup and quote follow-up are switched on. Each month we review misses and new customer formats.