The smallest mistakes can trigger the biggest consequences in the sales quoting process. A single misplaced decimal or misunderstood requirement can severely impact a company’s bottom line while harming its reputation with customers. This is especially true in the steel and metals sector, where profit margins are slim and strong customer relationships are everything.
If you’re making these mistakes regularly, however, it’s not the quote that needs to change; it’s your entire approach.
We’re living in a data-driven world where accuracy and automation are key. Your customers expect precise quotes and likely won’t tolerate mistakes. The days of relying on hastily scribbled paper invoices, messy spreadsheets, and ill-equipped programs are long gone. Fortunately, there are simpler, all-encompassing solutions that can be trusted to accurately prepare quotes to meet every customer’s specific needs.
Swap Your Calculator for Modern Quoting Software
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) has changed the game for manufacturers. It combines multiple independent processes into a single source of truth—turning the complex and complicated into the simple and coherent.
Rather than using traditional quoting methods and then trying to communicate those quotes with the warehouse and production team, ERPs put everything in one software suite and ensure all departments are reading from the same hymn sheet.
You can manage quotes, process financial transactions, check inventory levels, and remove bottlenecks along the chain of production.
Benefits of RealSTEEL™ for Sales Quoting
For companies in the steel fabrication center, any old ERP software won’t suffice. You want something tailored, something that meets the unique challenges faced by framers, fabricators, and steel service centers.
That’s where RealSTEEL™ comes in.
Our cloud-based solutions focus on this industry’s specific needs, with customizable and scalable options that mean you never pay for what you don’t need and won’t use, and can grow your business as and when production demands it.
RealSTEEL™ gives you complete confidence in your quoting process, with features such as:
Cost Calculators
Built-in cost calculators will quickly and accurately calculate the costs, accounting for all components, including labor costs, material costs, overheads, and processing costs. You’ll get an instant and complete reading, which you can then use to create accurate quotes.
Automated Sales Processing
We designed RealSTEEL™ in coordination with leaders in the steel fabrication industry, ensuring every requirement was met. Automation is at the heart of our software, and by reducing manual working hours and leaving menial tasks for advanced machine learning algorithms, there will be fewer costly mistakes.
Our automated sales processing, for instance, accounts for multiple manufacturing steps, turning complex data and multi-step processes into a simple, manageable step.
Customer Specifications
Enter basic customer information, and our software will do the rest, instantly drawing from existing defaults. This time-saving process spans an array of specifications, including metal size and grade.
Margin Management
RealSTEEL™ applies unique costing methods tailored to the metals industry. In an industry known for its tight margins, this software gives companies full visibility on all of their expenses and profits and highlights potential money and time-saving optimizations.
Order Promising
RealSTEEL™ leverages order-promising tools to provide enhanced functionality, greater insights, and streamlined processing for sales teams.
Comment Management
It’s common to have many comments on the sales and order line, and these can be difficult to implement and track across varied departments. With RealSTEEL™, you can effectively manage all comments and send alerts to relevant departments. It saves time for the sales team, and it also ensures accuracy and promotes customer satisfaction.
Cut-to-Length Software Processing
Our cut-to-length calculators assess the cost and process time using labor rates, giving you immediate insights into the total timeframe of each process, which you can then share with customers.
Document Management
Drowning in documents? Whether it’s blueprints, specifications, drawings, or labels, customers want things done a certain way and may flood your inbox with various document types.
With RealSTEEL™, you can effortlessly add these to the order, keeping all of that information in one place, where it’s accessible across all departments. You don’t need to worry about juggling various specifications, and the customer gets exactly what they need.
Other Benefits of Using RealSTEEL™
RealSTEEL™ is an all-in-one solution designed for the metals industry and customized to your business requirements. In addition to comprehensive sales quoting, it also spans:
- Inventory Management: Keep track of your inventory as it enters and leaves your warehouses, with detailed specifications outlining everything from the size to the quality of your stock.
- Production Software: Why run various software programs when you can manage everything in one system? Whether it’s metals nesting software, sheeting and leveling software, plate processor software, or multi-line processor software, RealSTEEL™ consolidates everything into a single source.
- Warehouse Management: RealSTEEL™ supports day-to-day warehouse management, helping you control inventory levels, delegate labor, and assign production tasks, while also identifying and removing bottlenecks.
Contact us today to request a demo to see what RealSTEEL™ can do for your business.
