Challenge
Material prices are copied from an old quote.
Agnotic approach
Material is repriced from a dated source on every quote.
RFQ and Quote Automation
RFQ automation and quote generation software for manufacturers and job shops
RFQs arrive as emails with drawings attached, and estimators rebuild every price from old quotes and a spreadsheet. Agnotic Technologies builds RFQ automation that reads each request, prices it from your past jobs and current material costs, and puts a checked quote in front of your estimator.
RFQ inboxPast job matchingCurrent material costsQuote rules and history
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What is RFQ automation for manufacturers?
RFQ automation for manufacturers is software that takes each request for quotation from email, a customer portal or EDI, reads the line items and drawing, prices the job from your own cost rules and produces a quote for an estimator to check and send. Agnotic Technologies builds quote generation software for job shops and contract manufacturers around the way they already estimate: routings, machine rates, setup times, material prices, outside processing and margins. The software finds similar past jobs, pulls current material costs, flags anything outside your rules and keeps every revision, so estimators spend their time on judgment instead of retyping and recalculating.
This page covers the work before an order exists. Once the customer sends a purchase order, our sales order automation covers turning it into an order in your ERP.
RFQ to quote
How do we turn RFQs into quotes faster without pricing mistakes?
Put every RFQ into one queue, let software do the reading, lookups and arithmetic, and keep the estimator on the decisions that need judgment. Each step below removes a place where time is lost or a price goes wrong.
Capture
RFQs from the quoting inbox, customer portals, EDI 840 and spreadsheets land in one queue with their due dates.
Read
Line items, quantities, materials, finishes and notes are read from the RFQ and drawing for the estimator to confirm.
Match
Each part is compared with past jobs by part number, material, size and process, and the closest matches are shown.
Price
Material, machine time, setup, outside processing and margin are calculated from your current rates, not typed by hand.
Check
Rules flag missing data, unusual margins, quantity breaks out of line and dates your schedule cannot meet.
Send and track
The approved quote goes out as a PDF or an EDI 843, and every revision, win and loss is kept.
Past jobs and material costs
Can software build a quote from our past jobs and current material costs?
Yes. Quote generation software can start each new quote from the most similar jobs you have already run, using their routings and actual hours, and then reprice the material at today's cost from your ERP, supplier price lists or a metals price feed you subscribe to. Agnotic Technologies builds it so the estimator sees where every number came from and can change any of them.
Past jobs only help if their actual times and costs were recorded. Where they were not, the first release prices from your standard rates, and the history gets better as each job closes.
Cost build-up
Where does each number in a quote come from?
A quote is only as good as the source behind each line. This is the cost build-up we agree with your estimators, with the check that runs on every part before a quote leaves the building.
| Quote element | Where the number comes from | Check before the quote goes out |
|---|---|---|
| Material | Current cost from the ERP, a supplier price list or a price feed, with stock size and yield | Price older than the age you set, or yield outside its usual range |
| Machine time | Routing and cycle times from similar past jobs, or your time standards | Run time far from the closest past job |
| Setup | Setup hours per operation, spread across the order quantity | An operation with no setup time |
| Outside processing | Supplier quotes for plating, heat treatment, coating or testing | Supplier quote missing or expired |
| Tooling and fixtures | One-time charges listed on their own line | The same charge repeated across revisions |
| Margin | Your margin rules by customer, part family and quantity | Below your floor, so it needs approval |
| Delivery date | Current load from your schedule plus material and outside process lead times | A date your schedule cannot meet |
Rates, rules and limits are yours and change in settings, not in code. Every override records who made it and why.
Failure points
Where do quoting mistakes come from?
The errors we see most in spreadsheet quoting, and what the software changes.
Challenge
Quantity breaks are guessed.
Agnotic approach
Breaks are calculated from setup and run time at each quantity.
Challenge
Two estimators price the same part differently.
Agnotic approach
Shared rates and rules, with earlier quotes for the same part shown first.
Challenge
The drawing revision changed but the quote did not.
Agnotic approach
Each quote is tied to the drawing revision it priced.
Challenge
Nobody knows which quotes are waiting, won or lost.
Agnotic approach
Every RFQ has a status, a due date and a win or loss reason.
What do we build into quoting software?
Modules from the first RFQ email to the won order.
RFQ inbox
Email, portal, EDI 840 and spreadsheet RFQs in one queue with due dates.
RFQ and drawing reading
AI reads line items, materials and notes from RFQs and drawings for the estimator to confirm.
Job history search
Past quotes and closed jobs found by part, material, size and process.
Cost model
Machine rates, setup times, material rules and margins kept in one place.
Quote rules
Checks for missing data, low margins and unrealistic dates before a quote is sent.
ERP integration
Items, customers and material costs read from your ERP, and won quotes passed back.
Quote output
PDF quotes on your letterhead, customer portal uploads or EDI 843 responses.
Quote history
Every revision, approval and win or loss reason, kept for reporting.
Related builds
Where does quoting connect?
A quote sits between the customer's request and the order, the schedule and the ERP.
Sales order automation
When the customer's purchase order arrives, it is checked against the quote and entered in the ERP.
Production planning software
Capacity and load from the schedule feed the delivery date on each quote.
Replace Excel with custom software
Most quoting starts in a workbook. This is how we move it into a web app.
Document intelligence systems
The reading engine for RFQs, drawings and supplier quotes.
Who it is for
Shops we build quoting software for
Manufacturers that quote more parts than they win, and need each price to hold.
CNC machine shops
Turned and milled parts quoted from routings and cycle times.
Sheet metal and fabrication shops
Material, cutting, bending and welding priced per part.
Contract manufacturers
Assemblies with bills of materials and purchased components.
Plastics and casting suppliers
Tooling charged once and the part price set by quantity.
Facts and sources
Which standards cover RFQs and quotes?
EDI transaction sets for quoting and the safeguarding rule for defense drawings, each linked to its primary source.
ASC X12 defines the Request for Quotation transaction set (840), which buyers can use to ask potential sellers of goods and services for price, delivery schedule and other items.
Source: X12, Transaction Sets: 840 Request for QuotationThe X12 Response to Request for Quotation (843) gives potential buyers the seller's price, delivery schedule and other terms in response to a request for that information.
Source: X12, Transaction Sets: 843 Response to Request for QuotationX12 defines a separate Specifications/Technical Information transaction set (841) for transmitting or requesting specifications or technical information between trading partners.
Source: X12, Transaction Sets: 841 Specifications/Technical InformationUnder DFARS 252.204-7012, a defense contractor must implement the security requirements of NIST SP 800-171, and must include the clause in subcontracts whose performance will involve covered defense information, including subcontracts for commercial products.
Source: 48 CFR 252.204-7012 (eCFR)
Formats
Formats and rules we build quoting around
X12 840X12 843X12 841PDF and STEPNIST SP 800-171XLSX and CSV
Scope
What decides the size of a quoting build?
We do not publish prices. These are the drivers we size on the scoping call.
RFQ channels
Email, portals, EDI and spreadsheets: which are in the first release.
Cost model
How many processes, rates and pricing rules your estimators use.
Job history
Whether actual hours and costs from past jobs are recorded and usable.
ERP and interface
Your ERP and the API it offers for items, costs, quotes and orders.
Drawing reading
Whether drawings and 3D models are read in the first release.
Quote output
PDF quotes, portal uploads, EDI 843 responses or all three.
Engagement
How does a quoting software project run?
We start from real RFQs and the spreadsheet your estimators use today.
1.
Scoping call
We review sample RFQs, your quoting spreadsheet and how won quotes reach the ERP.
Scope2.
First release for one part family
A fixed-scope first release: RFQ inbox, cost model, job history search and quote rules for your most quoted part family.
Build3.
More processes and channels
More part families, drawing reading, EDI and ERP write-back, with support after launch.
ScaleFrequently Asked Questions
Only if you choose. Most shops keep an estimator approving every quote, then let simple repeat parts that pass every rule go out on their own.
It can read title blocks, notes, materials and dimensions from PDF drawings for an estimator to confirm, and 3D models can supply sizes and volumes. The estimator still reviews tolerances and features that drive cost.
From your ERP's latest purchase prices, supplier price lists or a metals price feed you subscribe to. Each quote shows the source and date of every material price.
Yes, through the interface your ERP offers. Items, customers and costs are read from the ERP so they are not kept twice, and won quotes become sales orders or jobs.
It can. Drawings that carry covered defense information must stay inside the security boundary your contract requires, so we design storage, access and logging for that from the start and confirm the requirements with you on the scoping call.
We do not publish prices. RFQ channels, the cost model, job history, the ERP interface, drawing reading and quote output decide the size, and we agree a fixed first release on the scoping call.