Quoting fabrications and weldments from deposited pounds and the print
VenturusEQ costs weldments from deposited pounds, derived from fillet geometry or typed by your estimator, multiplied through your own weld constants. Heat treat, finish and inspection call-outs read from the print become priced secondary operations once confirmed, and where each number came from is recorded on the line.
How a weldment gets quoted today
A weldment RFQ is a drawing with a cut list, a handful of weld symbols, a finish note and, if you are lucky, a STEP of the whole frame. The estimator adds up the plate and tube from the cut list, guesses the weld hours from the length of the joints and the size of the fillets, and adds a lump for grinding and fit-up.
Then the outside work. A call to the heat treater, an email to the galvaniser, a wait of a day or two, and a price that goes into the spreadsheet by hand with no note of who quoted it or when. When the drawing revs, the whole sum is done again from memory.
The judgment about fixturing and weld sequence belongs to the estimator. The arithmetic on pounds of weld, the chasing of vendor prices and the retyping of call-outs do not have to.
What VenturusEQ does with the weld, the call-outs and the outside work
Weld cost from deposited pounds
Deposited pounds are derived from fillet geometry in the model or typed by the estimator. Governed weld constants per category, from your own table, turn pounds into hours and consumables. Two weld models ship as system templates.
Welds read from the print
The AI read of the PDF returns weld symbols, material, finish, heat treat and notes as proposals with a confidence. Extracted weld figures are evidence for the method and never price by themselves.
Heat treat and finish call-outs become priced legs
Confirmed heat treat and finish call-outs become subcontract legs priced per lot, per piece or per load. Tolerance, surface finish and inspection call-outs become in-house hours. Both are re-parsed on the server.
Vendor prices on the line
Fire a sourcing request from the line, capture any vendor price with its currency, exchange rate and lead days, and select one. The chosen price lands in the subcontract bucket with its source.
Findings that add an operation or no-quote the line
Heat treat, finish and NDT needs, thin walls and tight tolerances are among 35 rules with your thresholds. A finding can add an operation that survives repricing, or no-quote the line with the reason printed.
Charges that apply once across the whole job
A charge that applies once across the whole job, such as a set-wide inspection or a fixture, is costed once rather than smeared across every line by hand.
How a weldment package becomes a sent quote
The package lands
Drawings, the STEP frame, the cut list spreadsheet and the customer email are hashed and given roles. An Excel cut list becomes component rows, with blank quantities left blank rather than guessed.
The print is read
Material, welds, finish, heat treat, tolerances and notes come back as proposals with a confidence. The estimator confirms each one, and the confirmation is written to a ledger with who, when and the evidence.
The frame is measured
A STEP assembly is read into a tree with quantities per parent. Plates and tubes carry bounding box, volume and mass. Fillet geometry yields deposited pounds where the model has it.
The method is confirmed
Cut, fit, weld and grind operations in your templates, with pounds and minutes from your tables. Unconfirmed values cannot enter a formula.
Outside work is sourced
Heat treat and finish legs from the print are priced from your table or from a vendor quote captured on the line, with lead days that flow into the quote.
The lines roll up, margin is applied and the quote is sent
Lines roll up recursively with un-costed pieces disclosed, margin or markup is applied with per-line override, and the digital quote goes out from your own mailbox where that is switched on.
Common questions
Does it read the weld symbols on the drawing?
Yes, as proposals. The AI read of the PDF returns welds along with material, finish, heat treat and notes, each with a confidence, and the estimator confirms them. A confirmed weld is evidence for the method; the deposited pounds that price it still come from fillet geometry in the model or from the estimator.
Will it catch a finish or heat treat note buried on the print?
The read returns finish, heat treat, tolerances and notes from the sheet as proposals, and a call-out for heat treat, finish or NDT also raises a finding in the review queue. Once confirmed, heat treat and finish become subcontract legs priced per lot, piece or load, and tolerance, surface finish and inspection call-outs become in-house hours.
Can I get a vendor price for the galvanising into the quote?
Yes. A sourcing request is fired from the line, any vendor's price is captured with its currency, exchange rate and lead days, and you select the one to use. The chosen price lands in the subcontract bucket with its source.
How does it handle a weldment with many pieces?
A STEP assembly is read into a tree with quantities per parent. Each piece can become a line, the roll-up adds them back together, and any piece that could not be costed is disclosed with the cause instead of rolling up as zero.
See one of your own weldments costed in VenturusEQ
Bring a frame drawing, its STEP and your weld constants. We read the print, derive the pounds and price the finish legs in your rates, live. If you would rather look first, the interactive demo is open, with no form in front of it.