Agentic AI for distribution
AI agents for wholesale distribution
AI agents for wholesale distribution do a defined piece of desk work end to end and hand it back for approval. They read an enquiry or order, identify the right products in your catalogue, bring in customer pricing and prepare a quote or sales order. A person reviews the draft before it lands in your ERP, CRM or other system. Quotes, orders and supplier documents are the clearest uses today.
What agentic AI for distribution means in practice
A chatbot answers questions. An agent completes a task: it takes a request, works through the steps a trained person would, using your systems and data, and hands back a result for approval. In distribution, that is the desk work between an email arriving and a document existing in the ERP.
Rules alone can’t do that work, because customers don’t write in your product codes. They write “spiro 250”, “M12 nuts to match” or a competitor’s code. An experienced rep knows what they mean. An agent works it out from your catalogue, your cross-reference data and the quotes your team has sent.
The first agentic AI layer for wholesale distribution ERP systems. That is how we describe ERP Agent: agents that work on top of the ERP you already run and hand every draft to your team.
How is AI being used in wholesale distribution?
Mostly in four places: demand planning, pricing and sales analytics, product content, and agents that do desk work in sales and purchasing. ERP Agent is built for the one with the most hours behind it: the quotes, orders and supplier documents your team still keys in by hand.
| Use | What it does | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Demand planning | Forecasts demand and suggests replenishment | Sales history and purchasing data |
| Pricing and sales analytics | Finds margin leaks and customers buying less | Invoice lines, costs and price lists |
| Product content | Writes product descriptions for webshops | Supplier data and product attributes |
| Agents for sales and purchasing desk work | Read enquiries, orders and supplier documents; prepare the quote, sales order or check | Catalogue, customer register, prices and past quotes |
How do you use AI in a distribution company?
Start from the work, not the technology. This is the order distributors follow when they roll out ERP Agent. Why they pick a dedicated quote and order agent shows in the LVI-WaBeK case study; the pilot checklist shows how to plan the first weeks.
Pick one flow that repeats every day
Email quote requests and incoming orders usually come first: high volume, keyed by hand line by line. Long Excel or PDF RFQs (RFQ automation) and supplier confirmations come next.
Measure it in lines, not documents
According to our case study, a sales rep spends on average 4–7 minutes per line when creating quotes and orders by hand. The quote cost calculator turns your monthly line volume into hours and cost.
Check the data the agent will work from
A catalogue with usable descriptions, the customer register, price rules and, ideally, past quotes and email history.
Decide where the result lands
Your ERP, CRM or other system. ERP Agent integrates with Business Central, SAP, NetSuite, Visma, IFS, Sage and any other ERP or CRM. We set up the connection for your company during onboarding, and you can start with a catalogue file the same week.
Keep a person on approval
Agents prepare; people decide. ERP Agent gives every line a match score and visible reasoning, and a person approves before anything reaches a customer or your systems.
Test on your own requests, then keep measuring
Run recent real enquiries through the agent and compare the drafts with what your reps sent (AI quote agent pilot checklist). After go-live, track time to send, offers sent without edits and lines kept as generated; ERP Agent’s dashboard shows all three.
Where AI agents for distributors help today
What ERP Agent handles today.
| Work | What the agent does | What your team does |
|---|---|---|
| Quotes from enquiries and RFQs | Reads the enquiry, identifies the right products, brings in customer pricing, prepares the quote | Checks marked lines and special requirements, approves |
| Sales orders from customer POs | Turns the customer’s purchase order into a sales order draft with your product codes | Reviews before it goes to your ERP, CRM or other system |
| Email to ERP | Gives each company its own agent mailbox; a forwarded request becomes a draft | Forwards the email or pastes it into the web app |
| Customer and competitor part numbers | Maps customer codes, abbreviations and, with cross-reference data, competitor families to your products | Confirms new pairs when asked |
| Supplier order confirmations | Compares the supplier’s confirmation with your purchase order line by line and flags differences and missing rows | Approves; the confirmed values are written to the PO in your ERP |
| Material certificates | Splits multi-certificate PDFs, extracts the data, cross-checks heat numbers | Handles exceptions |
| Your own systems and AI agents | A REST API and remote MCP server to submit requests, search products and create quotes | Decides what to connect |
Built to fit the way distributors already work
ERP Agent is an agentic AI layer, not another system to migrate to. That is what makes it quick to adopt:
- No ERP replacement project. Looking at new wholesale distribution ERP software because quotes and order entry take too long? ERP Agent takes that work off your team on top of the ERP, CRM or other system you already run, with no migration.
- Alongside EDI. Orders that arrive by EDI keep flowing as they do today. ERP Agent takes the emails, PDFs, Excel lists and Word files that EDI never covered.
- Your catalogue, identified from the customer’s words. A CPQ tool configures products from option rules; a distributor’s daily job is working out which of thousands of catalogue items the customer means, at that customer’s price. That is the job ERP Agent does (CPQ vs AI quote automation).
- Your team stays in control. The agent prepares; a person approves. Nothing reaches a customer without your team.
- Start with a catalogue file. Forward real requests the same week and connect your ERP when you are ready.
- It learns your customers’ language. Past quotes and email history teach the agent what your customers mean, and every line your team sends adds to it. The knowledge stays in the company.
How an agent turns a customer request into a quote or order
The request arrives
Forwarded to the agent mailbox, pasted into the web app or submitted through the API. The agent reads email bodies and attachments: PDF (including scanned PDFs), Excel, CSV, Word, images and forwarded emails.
The customer is identified
From your customer register, with a warning when none matches. A delivery address that differs from the ERP is flagged.
Each line is matched to your catalogue
From abbreviations, dimensions, materials, descriptions, part numbers and customer codes. Stated attributes such as DN50, 24 V or EI60 push down candidates that contradict them, and a request in one language still matches a catalogue in another.
Doubtful matches are caught
A second check, which you can switch on for your company, sends wrong matches back for another search. The agent never guesses: a line with no plausible match goes on your placeholder code.
Customer pricing is brought in
From the data and rules configured for your company. Reps can edit prices before sending.
The draft is ready
Lines fill the table as they are matched, each with a match score. The rep reviews the quote or sales order and sends it.
A typical request takes 3–8 minutes; a request of several hundred lines about half an hour. Fast mode handles requests of up to about 50 lines in 1–3 minutes. Large requests are split into batches that run in parallel, and a user approves the run first.
Example: a mixed enquiry to a building services wholesaler
A contractor writes in their own shorthand; the rep opens a draft like this.
Contractor’s email: “Quote please, delivery to site next week”
- 40 pcs hex bolt M12x60 8.8 zinc
- 40 nuts M12 same
- 12 m threaded rod M10
- 6 x spiro 250, 3 m
- 2 fire dampers 250 EI60 24V
- 4 ball valves DN50 PN16
| Request line | Proposed product | Qty | Score | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| hex bolt M12x60 8.8 zinc | Hex bolt ISO 4014 M12×60, 8.8, zinc plated | 40 pcs | 94 | Thread type not stated; fully threaded ISO 4017 set screw offered as alternative |
| nuts M12 same | Hex nut ISO 4032 M12, class 8, zinc plated | 40 pcs | 91 | “Same” read as the line above |
| threaded rod M10 | Threaded rod M10 × 1 m, zinc plated | 12 pcs | 90 | 12 m converted to 1 m lengths |
| spiro 250, 3 m | Spiral duct Ø250, 3 m | 6 pcs | 96 | |
| fire dampers 250 EI60 24V | Fire damper Ø250 EI60, 24 V actuator | 2 pcs | 88 | 230 V variant pushed down |
| ball valves DN50 PN16 | Ball valve DN50 PN16, flanged | 4 pcs | 72 | Under 80, marked: connection type not stated |
Illustrative example with sample data: it shows how the review screen explains each line.
What your team sees before anything is sent
Every line carries a match score from 0 to 100; lines under 80 are marked for review. Open a line to read the agent’s reasoning or take an alternative product. The original request sits next to each match.
Quote chat handles changes: add or remove rows, or change quantities, prices or other details. Every proposed edit is approved or rejected line by line. A person reviews by default before anything is written to the ERP, CRM or other system.
When the rep sends, the agent learns from the lines: the next time a customer writes the same thing, it picks the same product.
Where quotes and orders land
Quotes and orders land in your ERP, CRM or other system. ERP Agent integrates with Business Central, SAP, NetSuite, Visma, IFS, Sage and any other ERP or CRM. We set up the connection for your company during onboarding, and you can start with a catalogue file the same week. Requests come in through your agent mailbox (Microsoft 365 / Outlook). See all integrations.
| System | Type | Reads | Writes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dynamics 365 Business Central | ERP integration | Items, customers, customer prices | Sales quotes and sales orders |
| SAP S/4HANA | ERP integration | Products, business partners, customer prices | Sales quotations and sales orders |
| SAP Business One | ERP integration | Items, business partners, price lists | Sales quotations and sales orders |
| NetSuite | ERP integration | Items, customers, customer prices | Estimates (quotes) and sales orders |
| Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain | ERP integration | Released products, customers, trade agreement prices | Sales quotations and sales orders |
| Visma | ERP integration | Items, customers, customer prices | Quotes and sales orders |
| IFS | ERP integration | Sales parts, customers, customer prices | Sales quotations and customer orders |
| Monitor ERP | ERP integration | Parts, customers, customer prices | Quotes and customer orders |
| Infor M3 | ERP integration | Items, customers, customer prices | Quotations and customer orders |
| Exact | ERP integration | Items, customers, sales prices | Quotations and sales orders |
| AFAS Profit | ERP integration | Items, debtors, price agreements | Quotes and sales orders |
| Odoo | ERP integration | Products, customers, pricelists | Quotations and sales orders |
| Sage | ERP integration | Items, customers, customer prices | Sales quotes and sales orders |
| Jeeves | ERP integration | Items, customers, customer prices | Quotes and sales orders; confirmed values on purchase orders |
| Lemonsoft | ERP integration | Items, customers, customer prices | Quotes |
| Microsoft 365 / Outlook | Email integration | Customer requests in the agent mailbox; email history for training | Nothing is sent to customers without your team |
| Catalogue file / SFTP | File | Product catalogue from a file, from the first week | The reviewed quote or order as a file, ready to import into your system |
| Any other ERP or CRM | ERP or CRM integration | Products, customers and prices, through the connection we set up for your company during onboarding | Quotes and sales orders |
ERP Agent in numbers
- 4–7 min
- per line when a sales rep creates quotes and orders by hand, according to our case study
- 95%
- average automation across our customers
- Over 95%
- accuracy in quote-line automation at LVI-WaBeK
What changes for the sales team
The outcomes that matter are commercial: faster replies, reps who sell instead of keying lines, and new reps productive sooner because the agent already knows what customers mean. Knowledge that sat in one senior rep’s head stays in the company.
At LVI-WaBeK, a building services wholesaler, the agent matches the catalogue items, brings in pricing and prepares the offer; the salesperson checks the proposal, handles the customer’s requirements and completes the quote. The result: more time for customer relationships.
AI for wholesale distributors by sector
ERP Agent is live with steel, HVAC and fastener distributors. Each sector writes its requests differently:
- Steel stockholders and service centres: lengths converted to kg, metres or pieces, plus cutting lines.
- HVAC wholesalers: duct sizes, fire ratings and actuator voltages.
- Fastener distributors: DIN and ISO codes, sizes and property classes.
- Electrical wholesalers: voltages and IP ratings.
- Plumbers’ merchants: DN sizes and PN ratings on valves and fittings.
- Cutting tool distributors: brand and competitor part numbers, where cross-reference data is set up.
- Industrial MRO suppliers: customer codes that expand into a set of catalogue lines.
- All sectors: industries we cover.
Frequently asked questions
Can AI do order entry?
Yes, for orders that arrive as emails, PDFs, spreadsheets or Word files. The agent reads the customer’s purchase order, identifies the right products and prepares a sales order draft for review. Once your ERP is connected, the approved order is created directly as a sales order there; we set up the connection for your company during onboarding, and you can start with a catalogue file the same week. See AI order entry automation and purchase order to sales order.
What is agentic AI for distribution?
AI that completes a task rather than only answering questions: with your data and systems it prepares a quote, a sales order or a supplier-document check and returns it for approval. Software that does this on top of the ERP is an agentic AI layer.
Will AI agents replace our ERP?
No, and it does not need to. ERP Agent works on top of the ERP you already run: it uses the ERP’s products, customers and prices and writes approved quotes and orders back through the connection. What changes is how much keying your team does there.
Do we need an ERP integration before we start?
No. Start with a catalogue file the same week: reps forward real requests to the agent mailbox, review the drafts in the app and export them as a file. ERP Agent integrates with Business Central, SAP, NetSuite, Visma, IFS, Sage and any other ERP or CRM. We set up the connection for your company during onboarding, and from then on approved drafts are written straight into your system.
How accurate are AI agents for distributors?
Our customers average 95% automation, and at LVI-WaBeK, ERP Agent automates quote lines with over 95% accuracy. Every line your team sends teaches the agent your customers’ shorthand: the next time a customer writes the same thing, it picks the same product. A pilot on your own requests shows what it does with your catalogue.
Can ChatGPT or Copilot make our quotes?
A general-purpose assistant such as ChatGPT can read an email and draft a reply, but it does not know your catalogue, customer prices or ERP unless you connect them. ERP Agent is built for distributor quotes and orders: it identifies the right products from the customer’s own words, brings in customer pricing, scores every line and keeps a person on approval. Running Business Central? ERP Agent integrates with Business Central too; we set up the connection for your company during onboarding. Your own AI assistant can also call ERP Agent through our MCP server.
Is our data safe with an AI agent?
ERP Agent is GDPR-compliant, and models run with zero data retention. Before setup, we agree which data the agent needs and which systems it can access. API keys are scoped to one organisation, stored only as a hash and shown once. More on the security page.
What does an AI agent for wholesale distribution cost?
Pricing consists of a setup fee and a monthly subscription. The setup scope depends on integrations, product data and your business requirements, and you receive an itemised quote before getting started. See pricing.
Related
- AI quote automation for distributors and wholesalers
- Order entry automation for distributors: customer POs to sales orders
- RFQ automation for distributors and industrial suppliers
- Email to ERP: customer requests to approved quotes and orders
- Customer part number cross-reference: match every code on an enquiry to the right product in your catalogue
- Supplier order confirmation automation, line by line against the PO
Let’s look at your quote workflow
Talk to us about your quote and order flow
Book a 30-minute call to go through your requests, your catalogue and your ERP.
- Your requests and product catalogue
- Your pricing and review process
- A clear scope for the next step
Lauri Pelkonen
Founder & CEO
Book a 30-minute call Request a demo by emailOr use the address directly