Free tool
How many hours a month go into turning inquiries into quotes?
The quoting time calculator is a free tool by Przemysław Zalewski, an independent engineer, that shows what manual quoting costs and when RFQ automation pays back.
Inquiries arrive as emails with PDFs, spreadsheets and scans. Someone reads them, splits the items, asks suppliers for prices, waits, and types the quote. Count what that costs, and when an agent that drafts the quote for a person to approve would pay for itself.
Start from an example (then change to your numbers):
See price and start date for the quoting agent → Or try it free on one of your inquiries →
What the agent does
It reads the inquiry and its attachments, splits the items by product type, sends price requests to the right suppliers, collects the answers and assembles a draft quote. A person approves every quote before it goes out. It works inside the mailbox and the system you already use.
How the numbers work
Hours a month are inquiries a week times minutes per inquiry, times 52 weeks over 12 months. The share an agent takes over defaults to 60%: my rule of thumb for reading, splitting and chasing prices, not data. Set your own. The build cost is weeks times 40 hours times my rate, as in the configurator.
Before anything is built
We measure on 30 to 50 of your real inquiries how often the agent reads items correctly. You see that number before you decide.
Questions
Can AI read scanned inquiries and odd spreadsheets?
Usually yes, and that is exactly what the test set measures: the share of items read correctly on your own documents, before anything goes live. Try it on one of your own inquiries in Quote Desk, free for 30 a month.
Does the agent send quotes to customers on its own?
No. It prepares a draft; a person approves it. Suppliers can be asked automatically if you want.
We use an ERP. Does it fit?
Prices and stock are read from where they live: the ERP, a spreadsheet or the supplier’s reply. The draft quote can be created where you create quotes today.
How long does it take?
Typically 4 to 8 weeks including the test set. The configurator shows the price and the start date.
Want quotes drafted while your team checks them?
I build an agent that reads inquiries, asks suppliers and drafts quotes for approval, measure how often it reads items correctly, and keep it working as your products change.
