Estimating and quoting software for manufacturers
Turn weeks into days, days into hours, hours into minutes.
And quote more accurately than you ever have.
A fast quote only helps if the price holds. Each one is built on your shop rates and checked against a second estimate from the model, so a missed setup or a tight tolerance turns up before the buyer sees a number.
For CNC machining, sheet metal, fabrication and assemblies·SaaS, with an on-premises option
- Receive. An RFQ lands in the quoting inbox. As one ZIP or as loose files: PDF drawings, STEP, IGES and SolidWorks models, DWG and DXF, the BOM in Excel and the email itself. The ZIP is opened and each file is sorted by type and virus-scanned.
- Read. Drawings, models and documents are read for you. Part numbers, revisions, material, holes, tolerances and finish notes come off the drawings, the BOM comes off its spreadsheet, and your estimator checks each value.
- Measure. The model is measured. Size, volume, surface area and holes come straight from the model, each marked exact or estimated.
- Route. A draft routing comes from the model. The pockets, the counterbored bore and the bolt circle call for milling, and the slot underneath needs a second setup. The anodize note is routed as outside processing.
- Price. Priced at your shop's rates. Setup and run are priced at the labor and machine rates on your rate card, material at your rate plus scrap, and the anodize at the vendor's price. Every line shows the rate behind it.
- Send. The buyer gets a page to act on. It opens without a sign-in. The buyer picks a quantity break, drops a line they don't need and sends it back with a PO number.
- Approve. Electronic approval, with instant notification. The buyer approves with their name, title and PO number, and the price, quantity and terms lock as accepted. With order confirmations on, the accepted quote lands in their inbox at once, with a copy in yours.
- Hand off. Your team marks it won and books the order. It goes into your ERP as the order, job or project it expects, with the buyer's PO.
Quotes out sooner, at margins you can see
You also see which work you're winning and why, and quoting keeps moving in the weeks your senior estimator is out.
01
Quotes back to the buyer sooner
Most of a quote's hours go into the routing and the material and outside-processing prices, and your estimator starts each RFQ from a draft routing instead of a blank sheet. Each quote is timed from received to first draft, draft to sent, and sent to order, each RFQ carries its due date, and the overdue list shows which ones are slipping before the buyer has to chase you.
02
You see the margin before the job runs
Each price breaks down into material, labor, outside processing, overhead and other. Set a house margin, change it on any quote or line, and a discount that drops a price below cost is flagged before it goes out.
03
See which work you're winning, and why
Your team marks a quote won when the order is real, and each win and loss carries its reason. Win rate by customer, process and estimator shows which work you're getting and which you're only pricing.
04
Your best estimator's know-how stays with the shop
Rates, templates and time tables live in VenturusEQ, not in one person's spreadsheet. When your senior estimator is out, whoever picks up a repeat part sees each earlier quote of it, with the price, the margin, whether you won it and the notes left on it.
What changes when the next package lands
A real RFQ is a ZIP of drawings, models for only some of the parts and a parts list that doesn't match the drawings. Follow one from the quoting inbox to the buyer's PO, with an example customer and example rates.
01 Big packages, sorted before your estimator sits down
Drawings, models, the parts list and the email itself are filed as they come in, and ZIPs are unpacked. A drawing you've already seen on another RFQ is flagged.
02 The callouts that drive cost, read off the drawing
Part number, material, threads, tolerances, finish and heat treat are read from the views and notes as well as the title block, each linked to where it sits on the drawing. A tolerance or GD&T callout tighter than your shop's bands, or a note that matches one of your review rules, is flagged on the quote for your estimator, who checks each value with the drawing open alongside.
03 The model measured while you work the next line
Part size, volume, material removed and holes come straight from the model, with a starting setup count your estimator adjusts for the machine it will run on. DFM checks flag a deep hole or a sharp inside corner before it's priced.
04 The buyer's parts list, already on your quote
Lines come from the drawings, the model and the customer's spreadsheet, with the quantities carried across. When the file name and the title block disagree on a part number, your estimator picks the right one. For a part that came in without a drawing, VenturusEQ drafts the email asking the customer for it.
05 A second estimate to check your hours against
Price it the way you always have, in your rates, and VenturusEQ works out a second estimate from the measured model using your time tables, naming the table row behind each time. When the two disagree, your estimator sees the gap before the price goes out and decides which hours to stand behind.
06 Buyers pick their quantity, rush and add-ons on one page
The quote email links to a page with each quantity break, rush option and optional charge. The buyer chooses what fits, drops a line they don't need and sends it back with their PO number, and you book against what they chose.
07 Know which open quotes are worth a phone call
Each open quote carries the odds your team gives it, and the forecast weights the pipeline by them. A short list shows which buyers opened a quote, asked for a requote or let one lapse, and a buyer who opens an expired quote can ask for an updated one right there.
Big packages, sorted before your estimator sits down
Drawings, models, the parts list and the email itself are filed as they come in, and ZIPs are unpacked. A drawing you've already seen on another RFQ is flagged.
| File | Role | SHA-256 | Scan |
|---|---|---|---|
| BR-2210-C.pdf | Drawing | 7d01…44af | Clean |
| BR-2210-C.step | Model | 41b7…88d0 | Clean |
| parts-list.xlsx | Parts list | b0e4…19cd | Clean |
| HPW-drawings.zip | Archive | 9f3a…c1e2 | Clean |
| ↳ SH-0417-B.pdf | Drawing | 2c9e…0b71 | Pending |
| ↳ PL-0088-A.pdf | Drawing | 5a12…e9c4 | Clean |
| RE quote request.msg | Source email | e77a…5f02 | Clean |
1 archive unpacked · 1 scan pending · 1 duplicate kept once · package classification: uncontrolled
The callouts that drive cost, read off the drawing
Part number, material, threads, tolerances, finish and heat treat are read from the views and notes as well as the title block, each linked to where it sits on the drawing. A tolerance or GD&T callout tighter than your shop's bands, or a note that matches one of your review rules, is flagged on the quote for your estimator, who checks each value with the drawing open alongside.
- Part number
- BR-2210 rev C
- Material
- 6061-T6 aluminum
- Holes
- 4 × Ø8.5 thru · 1 × M10-6H tapped
- Tolerance
- 40.00 ±0.05 from datum A
- Finish
- Anodize clear, mask threads
- Sheets
- 1 of 1 read
The model measured while you work the next line
Part size, volume, material removed and holes come straight from the model, with a starting setup count your estimator adjusts for the machine it will run on. DFM checks flag a deep hole or a sharp inside corner before it's priced.
- Part size
- 160 × 100 × 25 mm exact
- Volume
- 213.4 cm³ exact
- Removed
- 186.6 cm³ exact
- Holes
- 5 estimated
- Setups
- 2 estimated
- Deep holes
- none flagged · 35 DFM checks
The buyer's parts list, already on your quote
Lines come from the drawings, the model and the customer's spreadsheet, with the quantities carried across. When the file name and the title block disagree on a part number, your estimator picks the right one. For a part that came in without a drawing, VenturusEQ drafts the email asking the customer for it.
| Selected | Part | From | Qty | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ☑ | BR-2210 rev C | drawing + model | 25 | part # → BR-2210-C? Relabel or keep |
| ☑ | SH-0417 rev B | drawing | 25 | |
| ☑ | PL-0088 rev A | parts list row 3 | 50 | qty from sheet |
| ☑ | CV-3300 rev D | parts list row 4 | 25 | no drawing or model |
The checked lines are created together, in one step.
A second estimate to check your hours against
Price it the way you always have, in your rates, and VenturusEQ works out a second estimate from the measured model using your time tables, naming the table row behind each time. When the two disagree, your estimator sees the gap before the price goes out and decides which hours to stand behind.
Your worksheet
- Setup
- 1.00 h @ $140
- Run
- 0.05 h/pc @ $110
- Material · anodize
- $42.00 +3% · $6.50
- Cost per piece @25
- $60.86
Your hours and your rates, keyed the way your spreadsheet has them.
From the confirmed geometry
- Removal
- 186.6 cm³ ÷ 62 cm³/min
- Holes
- 5 × 0.9 min
- Setups
- 2 × 18 min
- Cost per piece @25
- $66.89
Material and anodize as your worksheet. Each time names its table row.
Buyers pick their quantity, rush and add-ons on one page
The quote email links to a page with each quantity break, rush option and optional charge. The buyer chooses what fits, drops a line they don't need and sends it back with their PO number, and you book against what they chose.
| Line | Qty | Unit | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| BR-2210 C | 25 | $93.63 | Decline |
| SH-0417 B | 25 | $65.57 | Decline |
| PL-0088 A | 50 | $17.38 | Declined |
| CV-3300 D | No quote no pattern for this casting at this quantity | ||
On accept, the quote is locked as accepted: lines, prices, terms, who accepted and when.
Know which open quotes are worth a phone call
Each open quote carries the odds your team gives it, and the forecast weights the pipeline by them. A short list shows which buyers opened a quote, asked for a requote or let one lapse, and a buyer who opens an expired quote can ask for an updated one right there.
- Received → draft
- median 3.1 h
- Draft → sent
- median 1.4 d
- Sent → order
- median 6 d
- Win rate by process
- milling 48%, turning 41%, plate 37%
Example numbers. Yours come from your shop's outcomes.
The won quote becomes the order in your ERP
VenturusEQ connects to virtually any ERP, reading customers, parts and rates from its SQL database or API, or from a spreadsheet. When your team books a won quote, it goes in as the order, job or project your ERP expects, through the ERP's own API or import tools, with the parts, quantities, prices and the buyer's PO, and nobody keys it twice. The people who build the connection have spent decades inside these systems.
- JobBOSS²
- E2Shop System
Product names and logos belong to their owners. Most of these keep their records in Microsoft SQL Server; cloud systems such as NetSuite and Plex connect through their APIs.
Prices you can stand behind
Built from your shop rates, line by line
Your rates come across from your ERP or a spreadsheet, and process templates are set up once. Each quote line names the rate it used, which matters the day someone asks why last year's price was what it was.
The callout that burned you, flagged next time
Write a review rule for a note that once cost you money, such as a coating spec or a special inspection, and any drawing that carries it is flagged with the sentence quoted. It goes to the person or queue you chose, with your resolution attached.
Drill and tap time from your tables
Holes are counted from the model and thread callouts read from the drawing, and the minutes come from your table for that material. When a material has no row in the table, the line stops and says what's missing.
Tolerance and inspection time on their own lines
A tolerance tighter than your shop's bands is flagged as a cost driver, and tight tolerances and fine finishes add their minutes per piece on their own labor line. Inspection adds CMM setup per lot and probing time per piece, so the cost of holding the tolerance shows apart from the run time.
Outside processing at the vendor's price
Send the anodize or heat treat to purchasing right from the part, and the vendor's price, currency and lead time go on that line with who quoted it.
One‑time charges kept off the piece price
Programming, first article inspection, fixtures and tooling go on as one-time charges, printed under the part they belong to, and the piece price stays a piece price.
Export‑controlled drawings kept apart and logged
Export-controlled files are stored on their own volume, each opening goes into a log that shows if anyone alters it, and downloads are watermarked. Shops that need everything inside their own walls run VenturusEQ on-premises.
Each kind of work is quoted its own way
A machined part is quoted from its setups and the metal it removes, a sheet metal blank from cut length, pierces and the nest, a weldment from the pounds of weld metal it deposits, and a kit from its bill of materials. Pick the work, or the kind of shop, closest to yours.
Common questions
How is this different from the quote screen in our ERP?
Most ERP quote screens expect a price you've already worked out somewhere else, usually in a spreadsheet. VenturusEQ is where the working-out happens, from the customer's drawings and models to the cost of each operation and outside process, and the won order still goes into your ERP.
Most of our RFQs are PDF drawings with no model. Does it still help?
Yes. The drawing is read either way, from the title block to the views and notes, and your estimator builds the routing and the price from there in your rates. When a STEP, IGES or DXF file does come with it, VenturusEQ measures that too.
Who decides the final price?
Your estimating team. VenturusEQ drafts the routing and works out a second estimate from the model, and your estimator picks the hours and sets the margin. Only people you've given permission to finalize quotes can send one, and a discount that takes a line below cost warns before it goes out.
Do our customers have to change anything?
No. They keep emailing RFQs the way they do now, to your quoting inbox or forwarded there by whoever got them. The quote goes back from your shop's Microsoft 365 mailbox with a link to a page that needs no account, where the buyer can pick a quantity and send it back with their PO number, or just reply.
What happens if we change a quote after the buyer has it?
Any change, even a new date or new terms, goes out as a new revision with its own link. The old link tells the buyer the quote has been replaced and to contact you for the current one.
Will an update to VenturusEQ change our templates or a quote we have sent?
No. An update can bring new standard templates and tables, but your shop's own copies stay as you set them, and a submitted quote stays as it was sent.
Bring a part you've already quoted
We'll run it through VenturusEQ in your rates and set it beside the price you sent, and if the two differ, we'll go through why. If the drawings are under NDA, we'll use our sample package.