Lantek’s Metalshop web interface, iQuote app automate quotation and ordering process

Lantek has introduced two products to help sheet metal fabricators respond automatically to quotation requests online and to help their sales teams prepare budget prices quickly.

Metalshop is a web interface that enables customers to login, submit an RFQ, and place an order online, uploading all the information about material, quantities, required delivery dates, delivery methods, and part geometry. This request then sets in motion a series of automated queries within the Lantek software through the iQuote App—for example, the cutting times, the cost of material, stock levels, and the margins to be applied. Queries to the Lantek manufacturing execution system check the levels of work already going through the workshop and schedule cutting, other operations, and outsourced operations to meet the required delivery date.

As part of the process, the app checks for anomalies in the data such as bad CAD data and zero weight of part, creating an alert for user intervention so that an engineer can resolve the problem with the customer.

This technology automates the quotation and ordering process, delivering accurate quotations to the customer in a matter of minutes and then automating order confirmation, release of the order to production, and delivery and invoicing, all through a web interface.

The app also can be used on its own as a rapid way for a manufacturer’s sales team to get prices for their customers, making it suitable for shops that deliver large volumes of quotations.