Quotes in hours.
Not in days.
Dometrics automates quote creation in manufacturing and B2B: incoming inquiries are read, matched against the item master and previous quotes and presented as a costing proposal for approval. Sales makes the decision, AI does the groundwork.
- Bracket HX-40, 1.4301 250 pcs €9,875
- Mounting plate 8 mm 250 pcs €4,250
- Pickling and passivation flat rate €1,180
- Freight to Linz 1 open
Price basis: 6 similar orders 2025/26, October material surcharge included
Why quotes take too long.
In many manufacturing and B2B companies, the path from inquiry to quote involves more copying than costing. Yet the order often goes to the fastest credible quote.
Inquiries arrive in every format
Email with a PDF, Excel bill of materials, technical drawing, web form, phone note. Before any costing can start, line items, quantities and requirements have to be pulled out by hand.
Costing lives in people's heads
Experienced staff know what similar orders cost. That knowledge cannot be retrieved in a structured way and becomes a bottleneck as soon as someone is ill or on holiday.
Slow means lost
If an inquiry sits in the inbox for three days, the prospect often already has another quote. In B2B, speed is an underrated sales argument.
Nobody knows which quotes win
Won and lost quotes are rarely analysed. The prices, lead times and arguments that actually convince remain unknown.
From inquiry to approved quote.
AI handles reading, matching and preparation. Costing and price are always approved by a human.
- 01 · Capture
Read the inquiry
Line items, quantities, materials, deadlines and contacts are extracted from email, PDF or bill of materials.
- 02 · Match
Link to master data
Mapping to items, services and previous quotes from the ERP and the quote archive.
- 03 · Proposal
Prepare the costing
Price proposal based on costing rules and similar orders, with open points flagged.
- 04 · Approval
A human decides
Sales reviews, completes and approves. Every change flows back as a learning signal.
- 05 · Follow-up
Track the quote
Dispatch, follow-up reminder in the CRM and analysis of which quotes win.
Manual versus AI-assisted.
| Criterion | Manual quote creation | AI-assisted with Dometrics |
|---|---|---|
| Capture | Retyping from PDF and email | Read automatically, prepared for review |
| Knowledge | In people's heads and old files | Previous quotes and prices retrievable via search |
| Turnaround | Depends on workload and holidays | Proposal is ready when sales opens it |
| Follow-up | When someone remembers | Automatic reminder in the CRM |
| Analysis | None | Win rate by product, customer and price level |
How AI shortens the path from inquiry to quote.
In many manufacturing and B2B companies, quote creation is the hidden bottleneck in sales. Not because costing is so difficult, but because every costing is preceded by work nobody enjoys: pulling line items out of PDFs, assigning item numbers, searching through old quotes. AI can now handle exactly this groundwork reliably.
Where the time actually goes
Anyone who measures the path of an inquiry usually finds the same picture. The actual pricing decision takes minutes. Before it come hours of capturing, follow-up questions, searching and matching, spread over several days because the inquiry sits in the inbox in between. Automation therefore does not start with the costing, but with everything that happens before it.
| Step | Without automation | With AI support |
|---|---|---|
| Read and capture the inquiry | Retype line items, follow-up questions by email | Line items extracted, gaps flagged |
| Assign items | Search for numbers in the ERP | Proposal from the item master |
| Find comparable orders | Folders and memory | Similar quotes via search |
| Costing | Experience and spreadsheets | Rule-based proposal, a human decides |
| Follow-up | When time allows | Reminder in the CRM |
Humans stay accountable
Prices are a matter of negotiation, and costings contain experience and strategy. That is why the AI never approves a quote on its own. It prepares, shows its basis and flags where it is uncertain. Every correction by sales is stored and improves the next proposals. Step by step, the know-how of experienced staff becomes available in structured form, without anyone having to document it.
Good to know: The analysis of won and lost quotes is a by-product that is often worth more than the time saved. It shows for which products, customers and price levels quotes actually win, and where time flows into inquiries that rarely become orders.
Data and trade secrets
Costings are among a company’s most sensitive data. Processing therefore runs via providers with EU data centres and a data processing agreement, or on the company’s own infrastructure with open-weight models. Conversation and document data is not used to train third-party models.
Key takeaway: In B2B, the winning quote is often not the cheapest but the first complete one. Companies that respond faster without getting sloppier change their win rate.
Which inquiries should be handled first is answered by AI lead scoring. The industry perspective is covered in Industry & Manufacturing, and further processes are shown in AI automation.
What the project includes.
- Analysis of inquiry channels and typical inquiry formats
- Extraction of line items, quantities and requirements from email, PDF and Excel
- Connection to item master, ERP and quote archive
- Search for similar previous quotes and orders
- Costing proposal based on the company's own rules
- Approval interface for sales with open points flagged
- Quote generation in the existing layout and handover to the CRM
- Analysis of turnaround time and win rate
How the project runs
Analysis
Review of 50 to 100 real inquiries: formats, line items, costing logic and time spent per step.
Pilot
Automatic reading and matching for the most common inquiry type, with full review by sales.
Expansion
Costing proposal, further inquiry types, connection to the CRM and the quote template.
Operation
Monitoring of recognition quality, maintenance of rules and analysis of the win rate.
Frequently asked questions
Can AI read technical drawings and bills of materials?
Structured bills of materials in Excel or PDF can be read reliably. On technical drawings, current models recognize text, dimensions and tables well in many cases, but quality depends heavily on the format. That is why every project starts with an analysis of real inquiries and an honest statement of what can and cannot be recognized automatically.
Who decides on the price?
Always a human. The AI prepares a proposal and shows which previous orders and rules it is based on. Approval, adjustment and responsibility remain with sales.
Which ERP and CRM systems can be connected?
Systems with an API can be connected directly, older systems via regular exports or database access. Common systems among mid-sized companies include SAP Business One, Microsoft Dynamics, BMD and industry-specific solutions. Feasibility is checked in the first step.
Does costing data stay within the company?
Yes. Costings and prices are trade secrets. Processing runs via EU endpoints under a data processing agreement or on the company's own infrastructure, and the data is not used to train third-party models.
How much time does automated quote creation save?
That depends on inquiry volume and complexity and is measured in the analysis using real inquiries. The biggest effect usually comes from capturing and matching, the work that happens before the actual costing.
Is such a project eligible for funding?
Process digitalization with ERP and CRM integration is a good fit for digitalization grants. As of October 2026, the Wirtschaftsagentur Wien funds 50 percent in Vienna, and digi4Wirtschaft funds 20 percent of eligible costs in Lower Austria.
