Configure, Price, Quote

CPQ: Automatically generate accurate quotes based on customer choices

Configure, price, quote tools make customers partners in the sales process.

Screenshot of iLogic in Autodesk Inventor

What is CPQ software for manufacturing?

CPQ is configure, price, quote (CPQ) software, a web-enabled business system that connects your design and marketing to let you (or your customer) configure product variables, apply pricing changes automatically, and generate quotes.

CPQ software automates the generation of quotes based on the requirements of your customers. CPQ automates the connection of your design data to your customer relationship management (CRM) and engineering resource planning (ERP) systems, making the process of quoting on work faster and more seamless.

A man and woman collaborate on a laptop in an industrial office setting

CPQ solutions improve manufacturing quoting and sales

Configure, price, quote (CPQ) business systems superpower your manufacturing quoting and sales processes. Quoting is a complicated process of gathering customer requirements, but CPQ software can make it simpler and quicker for business-development staff to quote and make customer decision-making more user-friendly.

Customers can view your products in a user interface that takes data directly from your 2D or 3D model, choosing from variables (configuration) that automatically update the cost (price).

A version of your design is viewed in a web interface, allowing a choice of predefined options that come directly from the engineering logic in the original CAD model. Making changes automatically updates the user’s view of the product and provides further context about the available variations.

Users can then save a configuration in a shopping cart and request further details based on metadata in the variations or submit it to sales to request a quote or return a price in real time. The data behind the same configuration can then be routed directly to an ERP system and on to manufacturing.

It lets customers take the lead in business development when it’s convenient for them, and you can be sure your business systems are giving them every possible choice—and the prices that reflect those choices—automatically.

When customers are satisfied with their choices, producing a formal cost document (quote) is easy. The sales data can also be transposed to connected business systems such as marketing and CRM platforms.

 

Benefits of CPQ software

Beginning with the 3D design model, variables such as color or materials can be established and then reflected in your CPQ software as choices available to the customer. 

Quote faster

Before CPQ tools, a customer would call with specs; you’d ask the factory if it was possible; wait for a response; and, finally, get a quote—a process that can now be done in minutes.

 

Quote simpler

The system ensures products offer only those variables that are automatically possible, eliminating costly and time-consuming quoting errors.

Standardize choices

Complicated pricing structures are built into CPQ software as rules that apply to variables offered, so every quote you write will be feasible.

 

Expand business development

Easy access to all possible product variations could give you and the customer an even better solution than originally planned.

Promote customer confidence

When customers can view a detailed mock-up of exactly what they’re getting, they’ll have more confidence in the product and your ability to deliver.

 

Autodesk manufacturing solutions

Product Design & Manufacturing collection

Get Inventor + AutoCAD + Autodesk Fusion + more—Professional-grade tools for product development and manufacturing planning.

Product details
Inventor

Professional-grade product design and engineering tools for 3D mechanical design, simulation, visualization, and documentation.

Product details
Autodesk Platform Services (formerly Forge)

Access APIs and services that help you use your design and engineering data in the cloud

Product details

Autodesk customers using CPQ tools

Autodesk Inventor screenshot

CIDEON

Bringing disciplines together

German systems integrator and process consultant used CPQ to connect interdepartmental systems and collaborate better.

Watch video (3:11 min.)
A manufacturer's software interface shows product design choices.

Codeo

Change at the speed of input

Moving from design to product quickly is critical for a Turkish engineering firm.

 

Read story

Lixil

Automated product design at any scale

Japanese household fixture maker used CPQ to reduce drafting time by up to 30%.

Read story

CPQ resources

Tacton CPQ is a direct part of the design and marketing process workflow as a certified app in Autodesk Inventor.

 

This Autodesk University presentation explains the CPQ capabilities of iLogic, a component of Inventor that deploys customizable rules for product assembly configuration.

 

This Autodesk University presentation outlines how to extract data from Inventor and port it successfully into a configure, price, quote (CPQ) solution.

 

Frequently asked questions (FAQs) on CPQ

What does CPQ stand for?

CPQ stands for configure, price, quote—the three components of CPQ software.

What does a CPQ system do?

Configure, price, quote systems automate a process that lets a customer choose specific product variables and get accurate costs.

 

Trying different colors, materials, dimensions, or other changes is done in a few clicks, using the product taken directly from the 3D design file and deployed in a simple browser window.

 

Throughout the process, product pricing is automatically updated, and the cost of their final choice of variables is transposable into a formal quote from within a CPQ manufacturing business system.

What is the difference between CRM and CPQ?

Customer relationship management (CRM) software is a business-development tool that tracks customer contacts, organizes records of interactions, and maintains professional connections and prospects.

 

CPQ manufacturing software integrates directly with the data from your design, letting customers choose from available product variables.

 

Throughout that process, the system displays updated pricing and lets you provide an accurate quote based on their choices.

 

Although the two are different, good CPQ software will provide the means to share data with your CRM system for a more comprehensive overview of your interactions with a customer.