The Reality of Estimating
Sound Familiar?
Quotes take too long
Whoever responds first usually wins. The average job shop takes five days to turn around a quote.
You're paying for quotes that go nowhere
Statistically, shops win fewer than one in three bids — racking up labour costs with every loss.
Manual mistakes
A missed line item or wrong spec doesn't show up until the work order's in production — by then, you're eating the loss.
Your most expensive person is doing admin
Every hour your senior estimator spends on data entry and preparation is an hour you're paying trade rates for paperwork.
Built for Make-to-Order Manufacturers
If your business prices bespoke fabrication, engineering, or project work from client-supplied drawings, this is built for you.
#1 Focus
Accuracy
Estimating projects of this magnitude are an incredibly serious business. That's why we never guess.
Whether we're doing takeoff from a PDF or hand-sketched drawing, or running labour estimations, we strive for the highest level of accuracy.
Always in Control
Human in the Loop
This tool is built to support your estimator, not replace them. But while their expertise is modern, their toolkit is a decade old. Our platform handles the tedious line-by-line prep work, so your team can focus on what they do best: winning profitable bids.
Upload a drawing or build a quote manually
Extracts data and generates a draft — full bill of materials and labour requirements
Every line item gets a confidence score so your estimator knows exactly where to look twice
Your closest past jobs are matched and ranked for reference
Applies your price list and margin rules automatically
Outsourced processes and materials are flagged. AI drafts supplier RFQ emails pulling relevant specs directly from the job
Estimator reviews, adjusts, and approves before anything goes out
Reads What Comes In
Drawing Analysis
Whatever lands in your inbox, it gets read.
| # | Description | Size | Qty | Length | Wt (kg) | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tank Shell Plate | 8mm | 1 | — | 842.0 | 85% |
| 2 | Base Plate | 10mm | 1 | — | 124.5 | 85% |
| 3 | Cone Bottom Plate | 6mm | 1 | — | 98.2 | 75% |
| 4 | Support Leg - RHS | 150x150x6 | 4 | 2400mm | 86.4 | 90% |
| 5 | Cross Brace - RHS | 100x100x5 | 4 | 1850mm | 94.8 | 80% |
| 6 | Platform Frame | 75x75x5 | 1 | — | 67.3 | 70% |
| 7 | Handrail - 1 | 42mm OD | 16 | 200mm | 45.3 | 90% |
| 8 | Handrail - 2 | 42mm OD | 1 | 4800mm | 36.2 | 90% |
Reads PDF, DWG, and DXF files
Vector PDFs are the ideal input. DWG and DXF files convert to PDF on your end or ours before processing.
Handles scanned drawings and hand-marked redlines
OCR and image-based extraction cover messier inputs — more items get flagged for review, but it's still faster than a manual takeoff.
Reads your full RFQ package, not just the drawing
Spec documents, cover letters, and email threads are ingested as supporting context. The quote reflects the whole brief.
Prices within your scope — flags everything outside it
Your price book sets the boundary. Anything ambiguous gets raised as a review item with a drawing reference, so the estimator can add or exclude it with full visibility.
Handles multi-level assemblies and sub-assemblies
Layered drawings with complex BoM structures are supported.
Suggests likely materials when BoM is incomplete
If the drawing doesn't specify, the system makes a suggestion based on context — your estimator confirms before anything goes out.
Supports metric and imperial
The Strategic Advantage
Why AI Estimator Fits Your Shop
Standalone Application
AI Estimator works equally well as a standalone solution or fully integrated with your existing ERP. Whether you need a focused tool or a connected ecosystem, it adapts to your current infrastructure.
Multi-Stage Validation
We don't just pull text from a document. AI Estimator applies several stages of analysis to organize and validate data, ensuring your BOMs are built on a solid foundation.
Enterprise Quality
We don't use AI for the sake of flashy output. AI Estimator is built on proven machine learning and robust architecture. This is designed to be a stable, mission-critical system in your operations for the next decade and beyond.
Built on Shop-Floor Experience
We bring years of experience managing production times and complex material lists from our foundation as an MES provider. We're applying those hard-won insights to a new challenge: making your estimating process more reliable and consistent.
Materials & Costs
| Materials | $9,996.00 |
| Hardware | $547.20 |
| Consumables | $514.60 |
| Outsourced | $2,790.00 |
| Delivery | $480.00 |
| Subtotal | $14,327.80 |
Labour
| Process | Hrs | Rate | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design & Detailing | 8 | $110 | $880.00 |
| Admin & Documentation | 4 | $85 | $340.00 |
| Bandsaw — Material Cutting | 8 | $95 | $760.00 |
| Drilling & Punching | 4 | $95 | $380.00 |
| Fabrication & Welding | 36 | $105 | $3,780.00 |
| Trial Assembly | 6 | $95 | $570.00 |
| Surface Prep & Shot Blast | 4 | $90 | $360.00 |
| Painting — Primer & Topcoat | 8 | $90 | $720.00 |
| Labour Total | 78 hrs | $7,790.00 |
| Subtotal (ex GST) | $22,117.80 |
| GST (10%) | $2,211.78 |
| TOTAL (inc GST) | $24,329.58 |
Getting Started
3-2-1 Quote
Upload price book and set up price rules, including margin and labour rates.
Smart Shop Floor team helps calibrate the system over 3 to 5 sessions, assisting you with guided setup.
You're live — start turning around quotes faster and winning more work.
Total IP Control
Data Security
Drawing Security
Once we've extracted what we need to create a quote, your drawing files are permanently deleted. We never store them, reducing the risk of a breach.
Your Data Stays Yours
We never train our algorithms on your drawings or pricing data. What you upload stays isolated to your instance — nobody else ever sees it.
Cone of Silence
We never access your account unless you ask us to. We work with defence and other sensitive industries — confidentiality is how we operate.
Enterprise-Grade Access Controls
Role-based permissions and two-factor authentication come standard. Only estimators and stakeholders who need to see pricing and financial information can access it.
