Every quotation needs another email.
Missing measurements, uncertain part numbers and incompatible options leave sales teams chasing details before they can price an order.
Manufacturing software development
Make complex products easier to choose and order.
When every order has different dimensions, options or quantities, a simple shopping cart is rarely enough. We build customer portals and ordering software that help buyers provide the right details and give your team a clearer order to work from.
For manufacturers, product suppliers and teams selling through distributors.
Discuss your manufacturing software projectSee our Insulation Snakes work
The everyday friction
Where work gets harder than it needs to be.
Product knowledge sits with a few people.
Experienced staff know which combinations work. Customers and new team members need a way to make the same decisions without memorizing the catalogue.
The order changes between teams.
Copying a request into different documents makes it harder to tell which specification was approved and what the customer is expecting.
Relevant experience
Real work. A useful starting point.
Essential Designs project
Insulation Snakes
We built a customer portal for a manufacturer of reusable insulation products. Customers can specify piping components, sizes and quantities to assemble a bill of materials. The application then suggests product options that match those selections.
- Product selection using component details
- A bill of materials assembled by the customer
- Recommended product options for each request
What we can build together
Software shaped around your team's work.
Choose the parts that matter to your business. We will work through the details, existing systems and practical limits with you.
Talk through your priorities ↗Guided product selection
Ask for dimensions, materials, quantities and other details in a useful order. Apply your product rules to narrow the choices and flag requests that need a specialist.
Customer and distributor portals
Give buyers a place to prepare requests, find product information and review their orders. Define which prices, products and records each account should be able to see.
Quotations and order review
Keep item details, prices, revisions and approval steps together. Give your team a chance to check unusual requests before an order moves forward.
Information for fulfilment
Organize the item list and specifications your operations team needs. Assess exports or system connections against the actual inventory, accounting and production software you use.
A practical first step
Start with what your team needs most.
- 1
Start with a real quotation
Bring a typical order, an awkward one and your current product list. We will work through the choices, missing information and checks that sales handles today.
- 2
Make the product rules explicit
Agree on valid combinations, units, pricing responsibility and the requests that need human review. Test the rules against examples your team already understands.
- 3
Pilot a manageable product range
Choose one product family or buyer group for the first release. Check the customer journey and the information arriving with your team before expanding the catalogue.
A free tool to try
Put a manufacturing quotation on paper
Open a fictional quotation in our free Document Builder. Change the items and terms, then download a PDF to explore what a useful customer document could include.
No account required. Your tool entries stay in your browser.
Useful reading
Come to the conversation prepared.
Before you get started
A few questions you may have.
Can customers configure products with different sizes and options?
Yes, we can build guided selection around your product rules. We first need to understand valid combinations, units, exceptions and how your team checks an order. Complex or unusual requests can be routed for review.
Can you connect a portal to our ERP or inventory system?
We can review that as part of the scope. The plan depends on the vendor’s supported access, the records involved, update frequency and how failures should be handled. An export may be a sensible first step where a direct connection is not available.
Does the first release need online payments?
No. A quotation request, purchase-order workflow or account-based ordering process may fit your customers better. We will map how you sell and approve orders before deciding whether payments belong in the first release.
How do we know whether the product rules are correct?
Your product specialists help define the rules and supply examples, including edge cases. We turn those examples into review and testing scenarios so the team can check the results before customers use the system.
Let's talk about your project
Turn a complicated order into a clear next step.
Show us how customers choose and order your products today. We can help identify where a portal or guided ordering process would make the biggest difference.
Prefer a conversation? (888) 559-4825 ↗