Automated Quote Generation
The configuration validates. Someone still rebuilds the quote in Word. Generate the document from the same BOM, price, and options the buyer selected.
Automated quote · generate
Validated config → quote object · no retyping
Validated configuration
MX-440
- · Stainless frame
- · 400V
- · IP65 enclosure
- · Heavy-duty package
Quote
What changes
On complete
Quote created when configuration validates
Same data
BOM, price, and options from the configuration
Before send
Document ready before approval
The challenge
The configuration is valid. The quote is still being rebuilt in Word.
Inside sales finishes a sectional door and dock leveler package in the configurator. Pricing, options, and lead time are correct. Then they open last month's Word template, retype line items, fix formatting, and hope the total matches what CPQ showed. Procurement spots a missing option on page two and asks for a revised quote.
Engineering updates a constraint on Friday. Monday quotes still carry last week's BOM because document production sits outside the configurator. Dealers on the portal complete a valid configuration and email inside sales to "send the quote PDF" as a separate step.
PDF quote generation covers branded output. Quote templates standardise layout. Proposal generation adds narrative sections. Quote management tracks pipeline status. Automated quote generation is different: when configuration completes, Mercura creates the quote record and document from the validated selection, without a manual copy step.
Inquiry to config to price to approval to order should not require a second document-building pass every time someone closes the configurator.
How it works
How Mercura generates quotes from configuration
Sales ops connect approved configurators to quote generation in Mercura. When a rep, dealer, or buyer completes a valid configuration, Mercura creates a quote with line structure, pricing, and options pulled from the same session. Templates and PDF settings control how the document looks; this capability is the trigger that produces the quote without re-entry. Quote-management pages cover status and pipeline; versioning pages cover revisions after the first document exists. Someone must maintain which configurators auto-generate quotes and which fields map to quote lines.
One quote object · four aspects
Q-10482 · Nordic Process Systems · MX-440
Created from
MX-440 configuration
Layout
Approved template
Status · owner
Pending approval · Anna
Document
Proposal
This page · Created from the validated configuration · illustrative record
Data path
From validated configuration to quote record
Illustrative data path · select a step
Config
Validated selections: MX-440, stainless frame, IP65 enclosure, heavy-duty package.
Process
Manual rebuild vs automated creation
Illustrative sequence · qualitative comparison, no timings
- 01
Configuration validates
- 02
Quote record created from the same session
- 03
Lines, options, and price already on the quote
- 04
Document ready before approval or send
Traceability
Where each quote line comes from
Illustrative · lines trace back to configuration selections
| Quote line | Origin | Traced to |
|---|---|---|
| MX-440 Base | Configuration | Product selected in the configurator |
| Stainless Frame | Selected option | · |
| IP65 Package | Selected option | · |
| Commissioning | Bundle | · |
| Line prices | Pricing rules | · |
What's included
What automated quote generation covers
Source
- Quote created when configuration passes validation rules
- Line items, options, and pricing from the configuration session
Generate
- No manual retyping from configurator to quote document
- Quote record ready before PDF export or approval routing
Reach
- Same flow for inside sales, dealers, and self-service portals
Stay in sync
- Updates when configuration or price rules change on republish
- Traceability from quote lines back to configuration selections
Connect
- Works with templates, PDF generation, pricing, and approvals
The difference
Quote creation before and after automation
Configurator plus Word rebuild
- 01 Reps retype BOM and price into a static template
- 02 Totals drift from what the configurator calculated
- 03 Dealers wait for inside sales to produce the document
- 04 Engineering rule changes do not reach quotes until someone notices
- 05 Revision cycles start from a blank document each time
With Mercura
- 01 Valid configuration creates the quote automatically
- 02 Lines and totals match the session the buyer completed
- 03 Dealers and reps generate quotes from the same config flow
- 04 Republished rules flow into the next generated quote
- 05 Revisions start from the existing quote record
Real-world example
Example workflow: door and dock packages
A manufacturer of sectional doors, dock levelers, and control packages sold through regional dealers. Reps validated configurations in Mercura but rebuilt every customer quote in Word. After enabling automated quote generation on the door-and-dock configurator, a completed package creates the quote with lines and pricing from the session, dealers receive the document from the portal without a separate email request, and revision requests start from the existing quote instead of a fresh template.
Business impact
Why automated generation is config-to-quote, not a prettier template
Automated quote generation removes the transcription gap between configuration and customer-facing documents. It complements quote templates, PDF output, proposal sections, pipeline management, versioning, and comparison views. Mercura does not replace your ERP order entry or legal contract review. Someone must define which configurators trigger quotes and what happens when validation fails. If the pain is "we configure correctly but rebuild the document every time", linking quote creation to configuration completion aligns inquiry, configuration, price, approval, and order with one data path.
Business impact
No retyping from config
Validated BOM, options, and price become the quote record in one path.
Same data the buyer selected
Line items stay aligned with the configuration session.
Ready before send
Quote object exists before PDF export or approval routing.
Compare
Automated quote vs proposal
| Automated Quote Generation | Proposal Generation | |
|---|---|---|
| Answers | Is there a quote record from this configuration? | Does the customer get scope and context, not only numbers? |
| Output | Quote record with lines, options, and pricing | Structured proposal with scope, specs, and terms |
| Depth | Line structure and price | Narrative sections plus configured specs |
| Typical reader | Sales and approvers | Evaluators and procurement |
Both start from the same validated configuration.
Compare
Quote management vs generation
| Quote Management | Automated Quote Generation | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Tracking the quote after it exists | Creating the quote from configuration |
| Moment | As the deal moves to close | When configuration completes |
| Data | Status, owner, and stage | Lines, options, and pricing |
| Question | Where does this quote sit? | Where did these lines come from? |
Generation creates the record; management keeps it current.
Quoting map
How building the offer, creating, controlling, formatting, and presenting a quote connect
Configuration valid · quote record created
See a quote appear when configuration completes
Book a demo and finish a valid configuration until the quote record and document are created without opening Word.
Let’s build together.
We empower manufacturers to master product modeling, streamline quoting process, reduce errors, and ultimately deliver the tailored solutions that customers demand.