Jobs-quoting software developer Paperless Parts introduced a new feature it explained will streamline workflows for larger contract manufacturers that coordinate projects involving multiple suppliers. The new Custom Workflow function will perform “synchronized coordination across an entire estimating team and accelerates the process by enabling work on discrete tasks in a parallel rather than linear fashion.”
Paperless Parts software integrates with CRM and ERP systems so job shops, contract manufacturers, and finishing companies can combine their existing workflows with a configurable geometric pricing engine, to make the quoting process faster and more consistent.
As detailed by the developer, manual quoting processes typically do not give manufacturing managers or sales team members the visibility they often require into the preparation process for quotes they solicit. This may keep them from seeing quote status or where bottlenecks may exist.
“A manual estimating and quoting process creates fragmented communication and unnecessary risk. This is especially true in large contract manufacturers. With buyers demanding faster quotes, this problem requires a modern software solution,” according to Paperless Parts cofounder and CEO Jason Ray. “Our new Workflow feature makes sure every step in a quote is visible to all stakeholders working on it. This also enables managers to identify bottlenecks and prioritize. Together this moves quotes along faster to meet changing buyer expectations.”
The new Workflow function allows manufacturing shop owners, sales leaders and managers to :
- See how close quotes are to being complete, how fast their estimating team is working, or if a quote is on hold;
- Receive outstanding task warnings to prevent mistakes before large quotes get sent;
- Send notifications to all stakeholders with direction on what they’re responsible for;
- View the entire quoting process holistically and see where quotes are stuck.
“We can use these tools to coordinate the efforts of Estimating, Quality, Purchasing and Sales across the entire quote board, which allows us to respond quicker to our customers’ expectations for faster RFQ response time," according to Eric Borman, the owner of Progressive Metal Manufacturing.
Paperless Parts will highlight use cases for Paperless Workflows and demonstrate the new Custom Workflows in a webinar on May 6.
