Anyone working in sheet metal fabrication knows the struggle: there’s often a long and bumpy road between a customer request and a finalized quote. Quoting sheet metal parts is complex, error-prone, and often dependent on individual experience. In this article, we take a closer look at the typical challenges that sheet metal fabricators face regularly — and why the need for a modern solution is long overdue.

1. Different People = Different Prices

Two people, two quotes. Depending on who creates the quote, the price can vary significantly. That’s because many processes aren’t standardized. Experience, gut feeling, and personal judgment all play a major role — which leads to inconsistent quotes and, ultimately, uncertainty on the customer’s end.

2. Guesswork Instead of Facts

In many companies, quoting is still based on rough estimates — for bending times, material consumption, or machine run-times, for example. While this may save time in the short term, it creates serious financial risk in the long run: either the quote is too expensive and the job is lost, or it’s priced too low and ends up being a loss-maker.

3. Slow Response Times

Too much time often passes between the first customer inquiry and the sent quote. Why? Because data has to be entered manually, transferred between tools, and double-checked multiple times. In a market where speed can win or lose a job, this is a major competitive disadvantage.

4. The “Tool Jungle”

Email, CAD software, Excel, ERP systems — quoting often involves a collection of separate, non-integrated tools. This results in duplicated data entry, disconnected workflows, and unnecessary effort. Errors are almost inevitable in such a setup.

5. Oversights and Human Error

Manual quoting always carries the risk of missing important details: small radii, complex bends, special materials, or manual finishing steps. These seemingly minor oversights can cost real money — or even cost you the job altogether.

6. High Effort — Even if There’s No Sale

Every quote takes time and resources — regardless of whether the job comes through or not. The more manual and complex the process, the more “lost” time you accumulate when quotes aren’t accepted — and the more it hurts financially.

7. Quoting Requires Experience — and That’s Exactly What’s Missing

Many quoting processes are so individual and complex that only experienced estimators or technical staff can carry them out accurately. But with the ongoing shortage of skilled labor, those professionals are exactly what’s in short supply. This makes companies dependent on a handful of key people and severely limits scalability.

Our Conclusion: There Has to Be a Better Way

The classic challenges in sheet metal quoting aren’t a law of nature — they’re the result of outdated processes and disconnected systems. Modern, automated solutions like steel it help create standards, reduce the potential for error, and generate quotes far faster and more reliably. The goal isn’t to replace quoting pros with software — it’s to relieve them of as much manual effort as possible, so they can create significantly more quotes in the same amount of time.