Cloudnc Launches Quote Agent to Help Machine Shops Win More Work

CloudNC, the manufacturing technology company, launched Quote Agent, an AI-powered solution that helps manufacturers assess new jobs and prepare customer quotes in minutes instead of hours.

Quote Agent cuts quoting from hours to minutes and identifies manufacturing risks before a price is agreed, helping shops respond faster, protect margins and win work suited to their capabilities, while freeing experienced estimators from routine preparation.

Quote Agent saves multiple hours per quote on average, allowing the same team to assess more opportunities.

Quote Agent makes the quoting tools that machine shops typically pay for available for free. Its complete manual workflow lets users assess jobs, build estimates and produce customer quotes, with no subscription fees or limits on users or usage. 

Manufacturers can also try the AI agent free on their own jobs, testing its estimates and time savings before paying for further use.

“Every quote is a decision about which work a shop should take on and whether it can make money doing it,” said COO Jason Bowes. “If that decision takes hours, customers can place the order elsewhere before the shop has even responded.

“Quote Agent gives estimators the manufacturing assessment and cost estimate to review in minutes. The response from users is already very positive — people recognize that this is a task that AI can and should help with, as it means machine shops can turn around quotes much more quickly than previously possible, at a fraction of the effort.”

Quote Agent users forward a customer’s request for quote (RFQ) by email or upload 2D drawings and/or 3D models. The AI agent assesses the part for manufacturing risks and prepares a proposed manufacturing plan, routing times, material and post-processing cost estimates, and inspection requirements.

The estimator decides whether to quote, reviews and adjusts the plan and costs, sets the price and sends a PDF to the customer. If information is missing or unclear, the agent asks questions so the user can resolve it. The estimator retains responsibility for reviewing and approving the final quote.

Quote Agent combines CloudNC’s proprietary physics models with large language models to analyze how parts can be manufactured and carry out the quoting tasks. It draws on a decade of AI development, combined with practical experience of quoting and manufacturing components in CloudNC’s own factory.

Users can add their equipment, capabilities, costs, stocked materials and preferences in Myshop. The agent uses this information, and learns from their interactions, to tailor its estimates to the shop. Users can also replace its cost estimates with their own suppliers’ prices.

The product also generates design for manufacture (DFM) reports, ballooned drawings with numbered inspection callouts, and first article inspection reports. These can be exported as PDFs, with first article inspection reports also available in Excel format.

Quote Agent is a standalone product and does not require CAM Assist. The manual version is free, with unlimited users and usage, and will remain free forever. The AI agent is free to try, with paid usage priced at $2.50 per part, with bulk discounts available. 

For more information, visit www.cloudnc.com/quote-agent.