We build a system that shows you the true cost at quotation stage: raw material, scrap, labour, energy, tooling, packaging, freight, customs and payment-term costs gathered per product; currency and payment-term scenarios; a price band set against your target margin; and the win rate of past quotations.
In an exporting manufacturer, quotations mostly come from experience. The foreman or the sales manager remembers a similar job, adds a margin on top, and the price goes out. The method works for years, because experience genuinely is valuable data. But it breaks in two situations: when input costs change quickly, and when a product never made before is requested. Neither has been an exception in recent years.
The international name for this area is CPQ: Configure, Price, Quote. In companies selling complex or highly variable products, each of the three steps produces its own errors. At the configure step nobody knows whether the combination the customer asked for can actually be manufactured; at the price step the cost data is out of date; at the quote step every salesperson uses their own spreadsheet. CPQ logic ties the three into one chain: valid combinations are defined as rules, price is calculated from current cost and exchange rates, and the quote comes out of a single template. We do not resell a packaged CPQ product — we build this chain around your own product rules.
The real risk is not knowing in which direction a wrong price is wrong. If the price was too high, the job is lost — and that is visible; if it was too low, the job is won and the loss is noticed months later, buried inside aggregate figures. The second is more dangerous because the feedback is delayed. A business's least profitable products can often be its best sellers, and only product-level costing shows it.
The system we build makes the calculation behind the quote explicit. Raw material and scrap, labour, energy, tooling and depreciation share, packaging, inland and international freight, insurance, customs and payment-term cost are gathered per product and variant. Currency and payment-term scenarios are calculated separately: the same quote is seen side by side as cash and at ninety days, under different exchange-rate assumptions. A price band emerges from the targeted profit margin; that band lets you negotiate knowing how far down you can go.
The second half of the system looks backwards. Quotations issued are recorded together with whether they were won. Over time it becomes visible in which customer group, which product and at which price level you win. This is not a prediction model but a discipline of record-keeping; yet in most businesses it is exactly what puts pricing policy on data for the first time. Recording the reason for lost quotations is just as valuable — and it is usually never done.
Businesses whose quotations must be calculated together with variables such as exchange rates, freight and payment terms. Calculating these items after the fact rather than at quotation time is the most common way margins quietly erode.
Carpet, textile and packaging manufacturers selling the same product in different sizes, colours, grades and packaging options. The cost difference between variants is rarely reflected accurately in the price.
Machinery, metal and tooling businesses where every job is different. In these setups every quotation is a small costing exercise, and done without a system it either takes far too long or stays far too rough.
Businesses whose buyers constantly demand discounts. Negotiating without knowing how far down you can go ends either in losing the job or in taking it at a loss.
Raw material and scrap are gathered via the recipe, along with labour, energy, tooling share and packaging cost. Differences between variants are calculated separately. The source of each cost item is visible; manually entered and system-fed items are flagged apart.
Inland transport, port, freight, insurance and customs charges are included according to the delivery term. The same product's price can be seen side by side under different delivery terms — one of the most useful views in a conversation with a buyer.
The quote's outcome is calculated under different exchange-rate assumptions and payment-term options. The financing cost of the term is explicit; the difference between cash and deferred prices rests on a number.
Minimum, target and ceiling prices are derived from the profit target you set. The salesperson sees where in the band they stand during negotiation; if going below the floor becomes necessary, it is flagged as an exception requiring approval.
Quotations issued are recorded together with their outcomes; the win rate is reported by customer, product and price level. For lost quotations, recording the reason is required; over time that record becomes the most valuable input to pricing policy.
The approved price turns into the quotation document that goes to the customer; language, currency, delivery term and validity period are managed. The same calculation produces both the internal cost breakdown and the clean document that goes to the customer.
Together we map how quotations are prepared today, which items enter the calculation and which are set by experience. This step usually reveals two different people pricing the same product by different methods.
Which items enter the cost, and how they are calculated, is defined. Contentious items such as energy and overhead allocation are written down explicitly; hiding an assumption makes the result untrustworthy.
Recipe, stock cost, labour and energy data are connected from your existing systems. For items that cannot be connected, an update owner and cycle are set; a costing system running on stale prices leads to false confidence.
The system is run over quotations issued in the past and the results are compared. Divergent items are examined; this exercise usually shows, clearly and for the first time, which products carry thin margins.
The price band, discount authorities and approval flow go live. The sales team is trained; who updates the cost parameters, and how often, is put in writing.
No — it writes it down. The system makes the calculation done in someone's head today visible and repeatable; the intuition experience brings is still valuable when deciding where to stand within the price band. In practice the healthiest result comes where the system does the calculation and the person makes the decision. It also keeps that experience inside the company.
That is the most common obstacle, and it is addressed at the first stage. Which item is updated from where, and how often, is defined; update responsibility is given to a person. A costing system running on old prices is more dangerous than no system at all, because it gives false confidence. That is why we put a freshness indicator on the screen.
If so, feeding from it is the right approach, and we will not recommend building a new costing system. In practice, what is usually missing are these three: scenario comparison at quotation time, inclusion of logistics costs by delivery term, and recording quotation outcomes. The layer can fill just that gap.
No. The system shows the cost, the scenarios and the band against the target margin; the sales team sets the price. When going below the floor becomes necessary, it is flagged as an exception and routed for approval. The aim is not to automate the decision but to make visible the ground it stands on.
Competitor price data cannot be collected reliably, and we do not claim to collect it. The system uses your own costs and your own win history. Win-rate analysis gives the healthiest indirect signal of where the market sits, because it rests on your own real outcomes.
Product- and variant-level costing; logistics and customs costs by delivery term; currency and payment-term scenarios; a price band against the target margin with an approval flow; the quotation document that goes to the customer; and quotation history with win-rate reports. Everything, including source code and cost rule definitions, is yours.
In a 30-minute discovery call we listen to what you need and tell you honestly whether custom development or an off-the-shelf product is the better answer.
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