From hours to minutes: AI-assisted quote generation
A mid-sized manufacturer cut quoting time by around 80% with AI — and captured its pricing know-how in a system for the first time.
By Oliver Bührer | March 2025
€150–250k
estimated annual savings
~80%
faster quoting
Per quote
2–4h
Before
<30 min
After
Pricing know-how, now sitting inside the system
A mid-sized manufacturer with over 100 employees was fighting a bottleneck familiar to many production companies: quoting depended on a handful of experienced people, took far too long, and was still often inaccurate.
Through the AI Compass, SimplifieD Solutions analysed the process, identified the biggest lever and, in just six weeks, delivered an AI-assisted quoting system as an MVP — from strategy to a production-ready solution.
Four problems holding growth back
Too slow
Several hours per quote — clients didn’t wait that long. Orders were lost.
Too dependent
Only 1–2 specialists could do the pricing. A classic knowledge bottleneck.
Too inaccurate
No unified system. Some quotes too high, others too low — essentially a lottery.
Too risky
The pricing know-how was about to disappear entirely with the retirement wave.
How the quoting system works
Automatically finds the best-matching reference projects
The system searches the database of past projects and finds the most similar parts — weighted by surface area, depth, complexity and material.
Calculates the full quoted price
Tool, material, manufacturing and CNC costs — the complete cost build-up through to the final quoted price, including margin.
Warns about risks before the quote goes out
The AI analyses historical project notes and flags potential issues — e.g. material cracking or tolerance issues under specific conditions.
Produces the finished quote text at the push of a button
A professional, editable quote is generated automatically — with specs, costs and delivery terms.
Learns from every quote
After a project closes, plan-versus-actual gaps are analysed. Pricing accuracy improves continuously.
Before vs. after
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Time per quote | 2–4 hours | Under 30 minutes |
| Team members able to quote | 1–2 specialists | Anyone in sales |
| Pricing method | Excel + gut feel | Standardised & data-based |
| Risk assessment | None | Automatic AI risk warning |
| Post-project calculation | Occasional, if at all | Systematic for every project |
| Pricing know-how | Lives in a few heads | Captured digitally, grows over time |
6 weeks
From start to production-ready MVP
€150–250k
estimated annual savings
“For years we’d been trying to capture our most experienced people’s pricing know-how somehow. Now it sits inside the system — and everyone in sales can work with it.”
— Managing Director, Manufacturing
Similar outcomes for your business?
In a free 30-minute call we’ll find out where your biggest levers are.
“I’ll take the time personally.”
Oliver Bührer
Managing Director
