Power transmission is full of parts that are hard to identify. A bearing with the markings worn off. A gearbox off a machine built decades ago, with a faded nameplate. A sheave with an odd bushing. A motor in a frame size that is no longer common. The customer does not know what to search for, so he calls, and one of your experts spends an hour measuring, cross-referencing and chasing a price.
The app gives customers and your team faster routes to a quote.
AI Quick Quote: say it, get a price
With AI Quick Quote, a customer says or types what they need in plain words, like "four 1-15/16 inch two-bolt pillow block bearings with set-screw lock" or "a matched set of three B-section belts, 68 inches," and gets a priced quote back. A planner can paste a shutdown list in his own words. Lines that need checking are checked again against the full description and update on screen.
That handles a lot of everyday quoting without tying up your inside team.
Get this for me: when it is not in the catalog
For parts you do not list, Get this for me lets a customer ask for anything they do not see. They can take a photo, ideally of the nameplate, the bearing markings or the manufacturer's box, and send it in. It goes to your purchasing team and comes back as a quote. The customer, the rep and your team all get a copy.
Photos are especially useful in PT. A clear picture of a reducer nameplate gives ratio, frame and mounting details. A photo of a bearing next to a ruler helps confirm sizes. Reps can do the same in the field: a rep can buy what a customer asks for, or send it to purchasing.
The email quote desk
Many requests still come by email: a list from a plant engineer planning an upgrade, a bill of materials from an OEM, a request for a replacement drive. The email quote desk prices requests that arrive by email and answers them. AI decisions records every decision the agents made, so your team can check them.
Here is how the quote tools fit together:
- AI Quick Quote for catalog items, described in plain words.
- Get this for me for anything outside the catalog, with a photo.
- Email quote desk for requests that arrive in the inbox.
- Quotes in the app, where the customer accepts the price when ready.
Why the hard parts are good business
The obsolete reducer and the odd bearing are where PT distributors earn their reputation. A plant that sees you identify and source a part nobody else could will call you first next time, for everything. Hard-to-find parts are rarely shopped on price, and replacing an obsolete drive often leads to a modern drive package, which is a bigger sale.
When a hard part is found, add it to the customer's part numbers or My Catalog. Old machines tend to fail the same way twice, and the second order should be one tap. If you stock it for them, a dedicated custom inventory agreement keeps the risk shared.
The quote tools do not replace your application experts. They take the easy quotes off their desks and organize the hard ones, so your best people spend their time on drive sizing, failure analysis and the strange requests that build loyalty.
Want to see it with your own bearings, belts and plant accounts? See how it works.