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Industrial supplies and MRO

Industrial supplies distributor quote automation: from MRO enquiry to reviewed quote

Industrial supplies distributor quote automation turns a maintenance or purchasing enquiry (bearings, belts, valves, gloves and fasteners, often listed under the plant’s own material numbers) into a draft quote from your catalogue and customer pricing. ERP Agent identifies the right product for each line and scores every match from 0 to 100. A rep approves the draft before it lands in your ERP, CRM or other system.

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What does an industrial MRO enquiry look like?

Industrial distributors, engineering supplies houses and bearing and power transmission specialists sell maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) items to plants, workshops and contractors. Enquiries come from maintenance planners and stores buyers: an Excel list for next week’s shutdown, a PDF purchase order with the plant’s own material numbers, or a phone photo of a worn part’s label with “need two of these”.

One list mixes bearings, V-belts, seals, pneumatic fittings, gloves and fasteners, and almost every line has near-identical variants: 2RS or 2Z, C3 clearance or normal, SPB or XPB, NBR or FKM. Each line still has to become one right article at the customer’s own price.

According to our case study, a sales rep spends on average 4–7 minutes per line when creating quotes and orders by hand. A 60-line shutdown list is 4 to 7 hours of work, while the plant waits for your price and a competitor may answer first. Work out your own cost per quote.

MRO shorthand, and what the agent does with it

MRO shorthand, and what the agent does with it
The customer writesHow ERP Agent handles it
“6205-2RS C3”, “SPZ 1250 belt”The numbers tell size variants apart; a 6206 bearing or SPZ 1180 belt drops down the list.
“Solenoid valve G1/2 24V DC”Stated voltages and ratings such as IP54 or PN16 are checked against every candidate; a 230 V AC valve is pushed down.
“Shaft seal 40x62x7 NBR”Dimensions and material are read from the line and the article text; the FKM seal stays as an alternative.
A manufacturer’s part numberMatched against the manufacturer numbers stored beside your own codes, so the customer’s number leads straight to your article.
Another brand’s part numberMapped to your equivalent product family through your company’s cross-reference list, so the customer is offered the equivalent you stand behind.
The plant’s own material numberLearned from the quote history you provide and the lines your team sends; kept on the line.
One code for a service kitOnce the kit is defined for that customer, a customer-code set expands it into fixed catalogue lines.
A request in one language, your catalogue in anotherMatched across languages, with no translating first.

How ERP Agent handles an industrial supplies enquiry

Lines appear in the review table as soon as the agent has matched them.

  1. The enquiry arrives

    A rep forwards the email to your company’s own agent mailbox or drops the files into the web app. PDF (scanned too), Excel, CSV, Word, images and forwarded emails are read as they are. See email to ERP.

  2. Customer and site

    The agent identifies the customer from the request, finds them in your ERP’s customer register and flags it straight away if no customer matches. A delivery address that differs from the one on file, such as another plant in the group, is flagged too.

  3. Lines to products

    Wording your team confirmed before gets the same product again. Other lines are searched by code, numbers and description; with sales history, what this customer actually buys comes forward.

  4. Checks

    Stated sizes, voltages and ratings are checked against each candidate. You can also switch on a second check that sends wrong matches back for another search and, with accessory rules set up for your company, reminds the rep of a taper bush for a pulley. The agent never guesses: a special it cannot place goes on your placeholder code, with the customer’s original line kept beside it.

  5. Pricing and approval

    Customer pricing comes from the data and rules configured for your company; once your ERP is connected, from its own price logic, customer discounts included. Once the rep approves, the quote or sales order is written to your ERP, CRM or other system.

Example: a maintenance shutdown list, line by line

Prices are left out; in a real draft they come from the pricing configured for your company.

Customer requestIllustrative example
Maintenance planner’s email, Excel attached: “Please quote for the line 3 shutdown.”
  1. 6205-2RS C3 bearing x 10
  2. Solenoid valve G1/2 24V DC NC x 2
  3. Nitrile gloves size 9, box of 100 x 20
  4. Our mat. no. 40012877 x 6
  5. Kit PM-P101 x 1
  6. Machined shaft sleeve to drawing 7731 x 2
Proposed lines · Illustrative example
Request lineProposed productScoreWhy
6205-2RS C3 bearing210-6205 Ball bearing 6205-2RS C397Full designation matches
Solenoid valve G1/2 24V DC NC520-1224 Solenoid valve G1/2 NC 24 V DC91230 V AC version kept as an alternative
Nitrile gloves size 9, box of 100810-0909 Nitrile gloves size 9, 100/box88The glove this customer buys
Our mat. no. 40012877640-0814 Push-in fitting 8 mm, G1/498Plant’s own number, learned earlier
Kit PM-P101Pump P-101 service kit (4 lines)98Customer-code set
Machined shaft sleeve to drawing 7731Placeholder code, customer’s line kept0Made to the customer’s drawing; marked for the rep to quote

Illustrative example: the request, article numbers and scores show how each kind of line is handled.

What the rep sees before anything is sent

  • The customer’s line beside the proposed product, so the rep checks instead of searching.
  • A match score from 0 to 100; lines under 80 are marked (how the match score works).
  • Reasoning and alternatives: read why a product was chosen, or take a runner-up such as the FKM seal.
  • Quote chat: add or remove rows and change quantities and prices, each edit approved or rejected line by line.
  • A person approves. The agent never sends anything to a customer on its own, and product codes are checked against the ERP first, so only codes that exist there are saved.
ERP Agent quote review interface with sample data
Quote review screen (sample data). Open full size

Brand-specified lines and “or equivalent”

MRO lists often name the brand fitted in the machine, or copy the number off the worn part. ERP Agent maps that brand’s product family to your equivalent family through the cross-reference list set up for your company, and picks the size from the line. The customer is offered the equivalent you choose to sell, and the rep makes the final call. See part number cross-reference.

How does AI help an industrial MRO distributor?

Most of an MRO quote is finding the right item among near-identical ones and pricing it. ERP Agent takes on that work and learns from the lines your team sends: the next time a customer writes the same thing, it picks the same product. Breakdown enquiries get a price sooner, and the first answer often wins the order. Inside sales gets time back for technical advice, new reps work from what colleagues confirmed, and the knowledge of what each plant means stays in the company when experienced people retire.

ERP Agent is live with steel, HVAC and fastener distributors, and fasteners are a core MRO range (AI for fastener distributors). See how it works for building services wholesaler LVI-WaBeK, then run it on your own slowest enquiries with the AI quote agent pilot checklist.

Which ERP systems does it work with?

ERP Agent integrates with Business Central, SAP, NetSuite, Visma, IFS, Sage and any other ERP or CRM, and approved quotes and orders land in your ERP, CRM or other system. We set up the connection for your company during onboarding, and you can start with a catalogue file the same week. See how each connection works.

Integrations and what ERP Agent reads and writes in each
SystemTypeReadsWrites
Dynamics 365 Business CentralERP integrationItems, customers, customer pricesSales quotes and sales orders
SAP S/4HANAERP integrationProducts, business partners, customer pricesSales quotations and sales orders
SAP Business OneERP integrationItems, business partners, price listsSales quotations and sales orders
NetSuiteERP integrationItems, customers, customer pricesEstimates (quotes) and sales orders
Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply ChainERP integrationReleased products, customers, trade agreement pricesSales quotations and sales orders
VismaERP integrationItems, customers, customer pricesQuotes and sales orders
IFSERP integrationSales parts, customers, customer pricesSales quotations and customer orders
Monitor ERPERP integrationParts, customers, customer pricesQuotes and customer orders
Infor M3ERP integrationItems, customers, customer pricesQuotations and customer orders
ExactERP integrationItems, customers, sales pricesQuotations and sales orders
AFAS ProfitERP integrationItems, debtors, price agreementsQuotes and sales orders
OdooERP integrationProducts, customers, pricelistsQuotations and sales orders
SageERP integrationItems, customers, customer pricesSales quotes and sales orders
JeevesERP integrationItems, customers, customer pricesQuotes and sales orders; confirmed values on purchase orders
LemonsoftERP integrationItems, customers, customer pricesQuotes
Microsoft 365 / OutlookEmail integrationCustomer requests in the agent mailbox; email history for trainingNothing is sent to customers without your team
Catalogue file / SFTPFileProduct catalogue from a file, from the first weekThe reviewed quote or order as a file, ready to import into your system
Any other ERP or CRMERP or CRM integrationProducts, customers and prices, through the connection we set up for your company during onboardingQuotes 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
0–100
match score on every line; under 80 is marked for review

Built to fit how an MRO distributor already works

ERP Agent is the first agentic AI layer for wholesale distribution ERP systems. That design is what makes it quick to adopt:

  • No ERP replacement project. ERP Agent works on top of the ERP, CRM or other system you already run, and approved quotes and orders land there.
  • Your team stays in control. The agent prepares the draft and a rep approves it. Nothing reaches a customer without your team.
  • Start with a catalogue file. Load your catalogue, forward real maintenance lists the same week and connect your ERP when you are ready.
  • Nothing to map per customer. Template-based capture needs a template for every customer format, and a CPQ configurator needs option rules. ERP Agent identifies the products from the customer’s own words. More in CPQ vs AI quote automation.
  • EDI and email side by side. Accounts that order over EDI keep doing so; ERP Agent handles everyone else: the emails, PDFs, Excel lists and photos.
  • It gets better with every quote. Each line your team sends teaches the agent your customers’ shorthand and material numbers.

The same workflow for other trades: cutting tool distributors, valves and fittings wholesalers and electrical wholesalers. On the purchasing side, the agent also runs supplier order confirmation checks, comparing each confirmation with your purchase order line by line.

Frequently asked questions

What is an industrial MRO distributor?

A distributor of the maintenance, repair and operations items that keep plants and workshops running: bearings, power transmission, seals, pneumatics, tools, PPE, fasteners and consumables. UK buyers often say industrial or engineering supplies. It is unrelated to aviation MRO.

How should an industrial MRO distributor test AI quoting software?

Run your own enquiries, not a vendor’s demo set: a shutdown list, a PDF purchase order with plant material numbers, a line naming a brand you do not carry. Ask for a score and reasoning per line, and count the lines a rep changed before sending. ERP Agent pilots run on exactly those requests. See AI quote automation for distributors and AI agents for wholesale distribution.

Can it handle our customers’ own material numbers?

Yes. It learns a customer’s codes from the quote history you provide and the lines your team sends, and keeps the code on the line. Once a kit is defined for that customer, its code expands into fixed catalogue lines. See customer part numbers.

Will the draft carry our contract pricing?

Yes. With your ERP connected, prices come from the ERP’s own price logic, customer discounts included. Your team can review and edit every price before the quote goes out.

Does ERP Agent work with our ERP?

Yes. ERP Agent integrates with Business Central, SAP, NetSuite, Visma, IFS, Sage and any other ERP or CRM, including industry-specific packages. We set up the connection for your company during onboarding, and you can start with a catalogue file the same week. See ERP and email integrations.

Can it turn a plant’s purchase order into a sales order?

Yes. The rep chooses sales order in the web app, reviews the lines and approves, and the sales order is created in your ERP, CRM or other system through the connection we set up for your company during onboarding. See purchase order to sales order automation.

How long does a shutdown list of several hundred lines take?

About half an hour, in batches that run in parallel once a user approves the run. A typical request takes 3–8 minutes, and lines appear in the table as they are matched. Fast mode handles requests of up to about 50 lines in 1–3 minutes.

Let’s look at your quote workflow

Bring a real MRO enquiry

Book a 30-minute call and bring a maintenance list your team found slow to quote.

  • Your requests and product catalogue
  • Your pricing and review process
  • A clear scope for the next step
Lauri Pelkonen

Lauri Pelkonen

Founder & CEO

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