Automated quote generation from bill of materials

Purpose

1.1. Automate generating quotes automatically from received bill of materials (BOM) documents for architectural and engineering model maker firms.
1.2. Automates extracting item details, quantity, and specifications; calculates total costs, adds markup, applies discounting rules, generates custom PDF quotes, sends them to clients.
1.3. Enables rapid, error-free quoting, reduces manual work, accelerates sales cycle, and standardizes pricing.

Trigger Conditions

2.1. BOM file uploaded via email, online portal, or file-sharing platform.
2.2. New entry in a project management tool with attached BOM.
2.3. Client request received via web form submission or dedicated app.

Platform Variants

3.1. Microsoft Power Automate
• Feature/Setting: Use “When a file is created (OneDrive/SharePoint)” trigger to automate pulling BOM files and call Word or Excel actions to extract data.
3.2. Zapier
• Feature/Setting: “New Attachment in Gmail” or “New File in Google Drive” automated trigger, followed by Webhooks and Formatter steps for itemized quote creation.
3.3. Integromat (Make)
• Feature/Setting: “Watch Files” for Dropbox/Google Drive, automates BOM parsing and PDF quote generation module.
3.4. Google Apps Script
• Feature/Setting: Use onFormSubmit for Google Forms to automate price calculation script and generate quote from BOM data.
3.5. Salesforce
• Feature/Setting: Flow Builder automation with Email-to-Case for ingesting BOM, automating a new quote record creation.
3.6. HubSpot
• Feature/Setting: Workflow automation to extract BOM details from emails, generate deals, and produce quotes.
3.7. Docparser
• Feature/Setting: PDF BOM upload automates parsing fields, exports structured data to accounting/quote tools.
3.8. PandaDoc
• Feature/Setting: API call to auto-generate, populate, and send quotes from parsed BOMs.
3.9. QuickBooks Online
• Feature/Setting: API to automate quote (estimate) creation based on extracted BOM item lines.
3.10. Xero
• Feature/Setting: Automation using “Create Quotes” API upon BOM data push.
3.11. Smartsheet
• Feature/Setting: Automate row creation from parsed BOM; uses Document Builder for quote output.
3.12. Airtable
• Feature/Setting: “Automations” to ingest BOM, calculate totals, automate PDF quote link.
3.13. Monday.com
• Feature/Setting: Automated import of BOM via integration, template-driven quoting, status update.
3.14. DocuSign
• Feature/Setting: Create envelope automation for sending generated quotes for digital approval.
3.15. FreshBooks
• Feature/Setting: API-driven quote creation as line items from parsed BOM.
3.16. Notion
• Feature/Setting: Database automation to parse BOM, automate quote summary page.
3.17. SFTP file drops
• Feature/Setting: Monitors for BOM files; triggers scripts to automate quote calculation, email quote.
3.18. Slack
• Feature/Setting: Automates direct message to sales team on quote completion with PDF attachment.
3.19. Trello
• Feature/Setting: Card creation automation per new BOM file, automates checklist of quoting steps.
3.20. Odoo
• Feature/Setting: BOM import automates quotation module for instant pricing and send-out.
3.21. Google Cloud Vision + Google Sheets
• Feature/Setting: OCR automatedly extracts text from scanned BOMs, parsed directly to Google Sheet for automation.
3.22. AWS Lambda
• Feature/Setting: Code automation to take BOM input, run pricing logic, auto-generate PDF and send to S3/email.

Benefits

4.1. Automated quoting ensures consistency, eliminates manual errors, automates pricing logic, and speeds up client response.
4.2. Automation reduces operational costs by removing repetitive data entry.
4.3. Automating quote delivery impresses clients with speed, boosting win rate.
4.4. Centralizes quote records for automated follow-ups and analytics.
4.5. Allows staff to focus on higher-level negotiations by automating routine paperwork.