Manufacturing AI Agents for Quoting and ERP Automation.

A manufacturing AI agent is software that connects to your ERP, your email inbox and your document files and does a defined job from start to finish. It reads an incoming RFQ email, pulls the line items and specs off the drawing or PDF, checks them against your inventory and price rules, and drafts a quote or a PO reconciliation. A person approves the draft before anything is sent or posted. The pricing maths runs in ordinary code, so the model never guesses a number.

It depends on your RFQ volume and how much quoting and PO work moves to the agent, so we measure it with you and do not promise a date. Before the pilot we record how many RFQs you handle, how long each takes and how often a quote needs correcting. After it, we compare the same numbers. The gains come from three places: faster RFQ turnaround, less time chasing open POs and fewer keying errors in the ERP.

As a market reference, development firm ProductCrafters puts 2026 custom AI agent builds at about $5,000 to more than $180,000. For a manufacturer, the price depends mostly on how many systems the agent reads and writes to, how many drawing formats it must handle and how many exceptions your quoting rules have. FactoryJet quotes a fixed price in writing after a short scoping call. A pilot on one workflow is the cheapest way to learn what a full build needs.

No, not on anything that commits money. The agent reads the inputs, works out the pricing and stages a full draft in your ERP. Your estimator or purchasing manager reviews it and approves. Read-only lookups can run unattended. The approval step is enforced in the software and in the connector's permissions, so the model cannot skip it.

Yes, when your BOM data has clear part numbers and parent-child links. The agent reads a multi-level bill of materials and gives each sub-assembly, purchased part and outside process such as anodizing or heat treating its own costed line. Your estimator can see what drives the total and change one line without re-quoting the whole assembly. Missing components and unclear revisions go to the estimator before the quote is approved.

Yes. Where each plant runs its own NetSuite or SAP instance, or a mix of systems after an acquisition, we build one agent layer on top. It routes each RFQ and PO reconciliation to the right plant by customer, part number or ship-from location. We scope each ERP separately and start with one plant. If the agent cannot tell which plant a request belongs to, it asks a person and never writes to a default instance.

Yes, if you mean the office work around the factory, such as RFQs, drawings, quotes, purchase orders and ERP entry. We build AI agents for that work. Factory automation more often means machines on the shop floor, such as PLCs (machine controllers) and robots. We do not program those. For that, hire a control system integrator. The Control System Integrators Association, founded in 1994, lists them in its Find an Integrator directory. Our ERP AI agents page covers Odoo, NetSuite, SAP Business One and ERPNext, and our manufacturing architecture guide shows how RFQ quoting and ERP sync are built.

Yes, for the paperwork around production. We start with one workflow, such as RFQ to quote or supplier order confirmation to ERP. We record how many you handle and how long each takes, then check your ERP edition, API access and permissions in a sandbox. Our AI consulting page covers the readiness assessment and roadmap. Our NetSuite AI agents and Odoo AI agents pages list what each ERP's built-in AI already does. For plant-wide advice, NIST says its Manufacturing Extension Partnership has nearly 1,400 advisors at more than 450 service locations for small and medium-sized manufacturers.

We build connectors for NetSuite, SAP, Epicor, Infor, Odoo and Microsoft Dynamics 365, and for other ERPs that expose an API. Before we quote, we check your edition, API access, licences and permissions in a sandbox. If your system has no API, or is heavily customised, we look at file exports or a read-only database link and agree that route with your IT team first.

When a supplier emails an order confirmation or a PDF acknowledgement, the agent reads it and pulls out the PO number, line prices, quantities and promised ship date. It compares those with the open PO in your ERP and flags any difference in price, quantity or date. Your purchasing rules decide which changes it may stage and which need a buyer to review. Duplicate emails and partial shipments are tested before any update is switched on.

Yes. For SQL Server, Oracle or AS400 systems behind your firewall, the agent connects through a gateway or VPN that your IT team approves. It starts with narrow, read-only access, and every record it retrieves is logged. Your internal database is never exposed directly to the public internet.

The agent pulls the customer's contract discount, freight terms, minimum order quantity and any customer-specific markup from your ERP before it drafts a quote. It does this on every quote, so a contract updated mid-year is used on the next one. Fixed rules apply the terms, and the quote records which version it used. A missing discount, or two terms that disagree, goes to a person as a question.

Yes. The agent walks the parent-child BOM tree in your ERP and breaks an assembly into sub-assemblies, weldments, cut stock, catalog hardware and outside processes, each as its own costed line. It keeps going until it reaches a purchased part. It needs reliable part numbers, units and revisions to do that, so we check your BOM data in discovery. Both the line items and the rolled-up total are validated before go-live.

For older on-premise systems such as JobBOSS, Global Shop Solutions or early SAP and Epicor versions, we use a route your ERP vendor supports: a read-only ODBC or JDBC gateway, or a SQL staging table, behind your firewall. The gateway exposes only the fields a workflow needs, such as part numbers and open PO lines. We confirm licences with your ERP administrator first and never write directly to undocumented ERP tables.

Yes, for the paperwork. AS9100 and IATF 16949 are quality standards for aerospace and automotive suppliers. The agent can attach the documents your quality team specifies, such as material certifications, first-article inspection reports and lot traceability records, to each quote or PO record, and flag a missing certificate before the quote goes out. It handles documents. It does not certify your plant or replace your quality system.

The agent reads PDF prints and scanned drawings and pulls out the title block, part number, material callouts such as 6061-T6 aluminum, tolerances and finish notes. Each value keeps a link to where it sits on the drawing, so your estimator can check it without re-reading the whole print. Accuracy depends on drawing quality, so we test on your own prints first. Critical dimensions and tolerances are always confirmed by a person.

The agent never guesses a critical dimension. If a callout is unreadable or two values conflict, it leaves that field unresolved, blocks the affected calculation and sends the estimator the exact spot on the drawing with its question. The estimator confirms or corrects it, and the quote moves on. We test this on your hardest drawings before go-live.

Yes, from your own numbers. The agent uses your feeds-and-speeds tables, machine hourly rates and setup times to estimate cycle time, and your approved material prices to cost the stock. If you subscribe to a metals price feed, it can use that on a schedule you set. Every quote records which rate table and price date it used, and the line costs are checked against estimator-approved examples before go-live.

Yes for shared inboxes such as rfq@yourcompany.com, where a new email starts the work at once. Customer portals vary. Where a portal has an API, the agent uses it. Where it only has a login, we set up a scheduled check if the portal's terms allow automated access, and a manual handoff if they do not. You choose the check interval, and the agent alerts you when a check fails.

Sometimes, and we check before we promise it. PDF and scanned prints are the standard route. Native SolidWorks, Inventor or NX files depend on the exact format, software version and licence, so we test extraction on a sample of your assemblies during discovery. If native parsing is not reliable for your files, we agree an export step, such as STEP or PDF, or a manual review path.

We agree that with you in writing before any file is connected. Together we document which CAD and customer data leaves your environment, which model provider sees it, how long it is kept and who can access it. We confirm the provider's no-training and retention terms for your account before sensitive files are sent. If your drawings must not leave your network, tell us at the start so the design is built around that.

Yes. You own everything we build for you: the code in your own Git repository, the connectors, the prompts, the test sets and the documentation. There is no per-seat or per-agent license fee from us. You pay model providers and your ERP and CAD vendors directly, and those costs continue after handover. You can keep us on for support, bring the work in-house or hand it to another team.

Your compliance and security owners set the boundary, and we build inside it. They decide which data is export-controlled, which people may access it and which cloud services are allowed. Until they approve a deployment, restricted technical data stays out of the workflow. A cloud region does not make a system ITAR compliant, and an AI agent does not earn a plant its CMMC level.

A pilot on one focused workflow, such as RFQ email extraction or PO date reconciliation, usually takes two to four weeks. A production build with permissions, logging, approvals and monitoring usually takes six to twelve weeks. ERP access is the biggest variable. A plant that hands over sandbox and API credentials in week one moves fastest. Native CAD files, restricted data and several ERP instances add time.

You keep everything. The code, connectors, prompts and documentation are already in your Git repository, and your ERP and infrastructure stay under your control throughout. Ending the engagement means we stop billing, hand over any remaining documentation and transfer any hosting or credentials we were managing for you. Third-party accounts such as your ERP, CAD and model provider stay yours.