Streamlining Estimating and Quoting for Metal Finishers

Jason Ray is the CEO and co-founder of Paperless Parts. Visit paperlessparts.com.

Q: How can modern software help streamline estimating and quoting for metal finishers?

The quoting process is the lifeblood of any manufacturing business. The quotes you send to secure business enable your customers to be successful. The challenge is that most metal finishing companies today are not equipped with the right tools to send fast, consistent, and accurate quotes in a secure fashion. Many platers, anodizers, painters, and powder coaters are estimating and quoting with an antiquated process that includes Excel spreadsheets, pen and paper, and sending quotes via email. Finishers typically don’t have CAD systems. They operate on prints and most always receive PDFs that have been redacted in some way. They are also the critical last mile of the supply chain and often forced to carry the weight of upstream inefficiency.

Without the proper tools in place, finishers are challenged with:

Receiving insufficient product data which reduces win rates and can result in a misquote or RMA.
Quoting from spreadsheets & tribal knowledge which silos information and is error-prone, causing unnecessary risk.

Duplicating quoting efforts because you have no way to know if you are quoting the same part more than once, which results in inefficiency and lost opportunities.
Receiving parts on their doorstep without advanced notice, making it hard to schedule work.
Lacking organization to catch changes from the time they quote the part to when the part shows up for plating, which can lead to mistakes.

At the same time, there is an increasing demand for speed in both quoting and part turnaround as product development cycles shorten. Customers depend on finishers for fast quotes so they can inform their customers quickly and accurately. Finishers are a critical piece of the machine shop’s ability to win work.

At the center of all of these challenges is one common theme: a lack of modern software to enable the estimating and quoting process.

The Benefits of Implementing Modern Software

Increase quote speed. With modern software built for security, finishers can request complete technical data, including 3D models, so they can leverage automation in the quoting process. By centralizing the quoting process, all technical data is located in one searchable location, enabling finishers to get the data they need when they need it to reduce duplicate efforts in quoting the same part multiple times to different customers.

More Accurate and Consistent Quotes. More accurate quotes ensure that your customers will be accurate in their pricing efforts. Modern quoting software that analyzes part geometry can provide finishers with the ability to view 2D and 3D CAD files to extract information like surface area, part volume, overall dimensions, and weight to help drive pricing formulas.

Secure Communication With Your Customers. Modern software enables streamlined and secure communication with your customers, meaning you can capture the information you need to ensure mistakes are avoided. Communicate expectations and provide pricing options to ensure you get paid for the work you are doing and keep shops from showing up and demanding faster lead times.

Optimized Organization To Reduce Duplicate Efforts and Mistakes. Use modern software to centralize your quoting process and gather all technical data in one searchable location. With access to the right data when you need it, avoid making mistakes and needing to redo or scrap a part. With this information at your fingertips, know if you are quoting the same part more than once.