Quoting in the cloud

In the sheet metal industry, preparing the quotation for an order is complex, not only because the customer wants the quotation as soon as possible, but also because it involves several variables that, like a puzzle, must fit together perfectly to maximize the use of the material and adjust the offer to the customer profile with an adequate margin.

The tendency in today’s world is to manage in an increasingly intelligent way and, unsurprisingly, this affects the industrial environment, the plants and industrial facilities in which the real-time planning and optimization of productive processes is fundamental for a business’ competitiveness. In practice, this is made possible through the incorporation of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) systems that streamline business processes and significantly improve productivity. The "all connected" and "in time" production trend is now a reality, but this race towards innovation has its advantages and its disadvantages.

The raison d’être in industry is the transformation of raw materials into suitable products that satisfy people’s requirements and, by extension, those of the market. The quantity of processes performed and the parties that have to intervene to make this transformation possible vary depending on the sector or the purpose of the product. Coordinating all of the above is complicated as it generates data which is both ample and extremely diverse and to which other variables are added, such as the market, external factors, the competition... the information keeps on growing! Knowing how to process it to find out which type of data we have and which can truly add value, streamlining processes, identifying trends, reducing uncertainty, making forecasts and being able to react in time is critical for any sector’s industry.