A precision shop quotes from drawings. An estimator reads each part and judges the hours and the material. It is skilled work, and it is slow.
It starts with the shop's own history
A quoting engine is only as good as the past quotes it learns from. For a shop in North America, through ACIS Consulting in Toronto, we read its registers and its past quotes.
What it does today
It reads the request email and its drawings without a person opening them. Material is priced from the shop's own registers, and labour from what past jobs took.
Every figure traces to the row it came from. A quote that took an estimator 2 to 3 hours now takes about 5 minutes.
Drawn in minutes, at the middle of the range.
It runs on the shop's own server. It has run on their production records every day since August.
What stays with the estimator
Labour hours are the hard part, since the same part can take a different time on a different day. Every line carries a confidence level, and the owner makes the final call.
What to ask before you start
Ask where your old quotes live, and in what form. Scans are fine. A system that reads your history will quote like your shop. A system that reads only a handbook will quote like everyone's.