Manufacturing is a very competitive industry; therefore, it is critical to follow up and keep track of all those quotes you have generated for both potential and current customers. This will give you a clear indication of which jobs will be in your future pipeline, which materials you need to keep in stock, who your frequent customers are and how much new business you are getting in.
The SigmaNEST Quoting Module, know as Information Manager, offers advanced functionality that allows all quotes to be generated quickly and accurately. The module helps maintain communication between all those involved in the quoting process, allowing them to view quotes as they are generated so time is saved in tracking quote progress. As soon as a quote has been placed and accepted, the information in the quote can be converted directly into a SigmaNEST work order. No more re-entering data! Once a work order is created, the parts can easily be managed in SigmaNEST and can even be combined with other work orders to increase processing efficiency.
Features:
• Manage quote history including order conversions and losses
• Mark up or discount based on your pricing policies
• Calculate and account for cut time and costs
• Adjust quotes based on customized costing models
• Account for taxes and shipping
• Track internal and consignment sheets
• Generate fully customizable quotes and reports
Advantages:
• Track quote and order information
• View a complete detailed history of all past quotes and orders
• Flexibility through mixed part quoting
• Offer customer discounts for bulk orders
• Charge for only labour and cutting costs if stock is provided
• Easily inserts company logos and adapt quotes to meet your customers’ needs
• Multiple CAD import translators make accurate quoting easy
Benefits:
• Maintains a complete record and tracks each prepared quote for easy access to customer data
• Easy to customize and adjust quotes to meet customer needs
• Provides the necessary edge to win new orders through fast, accurate quoting
• Quickly converts quotes to work orders for immediate processing
• Automatically prepares professional quotes based on custom templates
How does it work?
Step 1: Add New Company
The Info Manager Company Details tab displays company information in two separate sections. The top section displays the company information, such as the Company Name, Location, Tax Rate, and Owner. The bottom section contains tabs that you can click to display more specific information for the selected company, such as contacts, other addresses, custom notes, quotes, and orders. To apply a search filter to the list, click the blank field under a column header, then enter your search term. To turn off the filter, clear the filter check box at the bottom of the list.
You can add a new company from the Company Details tab of the Information Manager. Once you have added a company, you can add contacts or associate the company with existing contacts. You can also customize the New Company dialog box and change the name and order of the available fields.
(Work-space >> Info Manager >> Company Details >> New Company)
Step 2: Add New Contact
The Info Manager Contacts tab manages contact information, such as phone numbers, billing and shipping addresses, fax numbers, and email. To apply a search filter to the list, click the blank field under a column header, then enter your search term. To turn off the filter, clear the filter check box at the bottom of the list.
You can add a new contact from the Contacts tab of the Info Manager. For each contact you can enter their personal, company, billing, and shipping information. You can also customize the New Customer dialog box and change the name and order of the available fields.
(Work-space >> Info Manager >> Contacts >> New Contact)
Step 3: Create New Quote
The Info Manager Quotes tab lists all active, pending, received, lost, and archived quotes. The top table displays all the quotes for the selected view. When you select a quote, the bottom table displays the parts included in the quote. You can select different tabs under the parts list to view other quote information, such as customer, sales info, and notes.
Double-clicking a Quote opens the Quote’s dialog, which allows you to view more detailed information on individual parts, sheets, and cost settings. You can also perform other actions, such as converting the quote to a work order or recalculating the cost.
You can create a new quote from the Quotes tab of the Information Manager. You can create a new quote that is automatically populated with a contact’s company, billing, and shipping information. Alternatively, you can also create a new quote from the Quotes tab and populate the customer information manually.
(Work-space >> Info Manager >> Quotes >> New Quote)
Step 4: Import or Create
The next step of the SigmaNEST workflow is to add parts to the Work-space. You can do this by either importing existing geometry, or by creating your own parts in SigmaNEST.
Import Part Geometry (Work-space >> Files >> Import)
Create a Part Using CAD Tools (CAD >> Geometry >> Line, Rectangle, etc.)
Create a Part with Standard Shapes (Work-space >> Parts >> Standard Shapes)
Save Work-space (Work-space >> Files >> Save Work-space)
Step 5: Submit Quote
The Submit Quote dialog box opens when you select a quote from the Information Manager and then click Submit Quote. From the dialog box you can set up the quote and then submit it to the contact. You can automatically generate an email to send to the contact, that includes a PDF of the general quote information, a detailed list of parts, and a cover letter.
Submit Quote (Work-space >> Info Manager >> Quotes >> Active >> Quote (Double-Click) >> Submit Quote)
Step 6: Convert to Work Order
The Convert to Work Order dialog box opens when you select a quote from the Information Manager and then click Convert to Work Order. From this dialog box you can choose work order options, such as the parts to include, the work order name, and the due date.
Covert to Work Order (Work-space >> Info Manager >> Quotes >> Active >> Quote (Double-Click) >> Convert to WO)
The Info Manager Orders tab lists the orders received from a quote. When you select an order, the bottom table displays the parts included in the order.
The Info Manager Work Orders tab lists all active or archived work orders. When you select a work order, the bottom table displays the parts included in the order.
Step 7: Nest
After the quote has been converted to a work order, you can add them to a new task and then Auto Nest the work order in the task.
Create a Task (Work-space >> Nesting >> New Task)
Auto Nest (Nesting >> Nest >> Auto Nest)
Step 8: Apply Toolpath
After the parts are nested, apply toolpath to the nest layout.
Apply Toolpath (Nesting NC >> Nesting NC >> Auto NC)
Step 9: Post and Report
After applying toolpath to the nest layout, post and update the program and generate reports.
Post (Nesting NC >> Nesting NC >> Post)
Program Update (Work-space >> Work Orders >> Program Update)
Generate Reports (Nesting Detail >> Detail >> Print Nest)
Step 10: Dashboard
The Info Manager Dashboard tab allows you to access different views for the quoting and contact data. You can create filters to change the data displayed or set a time interval such as the current week or the last month.
In Summary, as you can see the work flow in SigmaNEST is clear and concise and gives you all the tools needed to improve efficiency visibility across the manufacturing process.
