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Plumbing and heating wholesale

Plumbing supply quote automation for merchants and PVF distributors

Plumbing supply quote automation turns a plumber’s or contractor’s enquiry (an emailed material list, a bathroom schedule, a pipework take-off full of valves and fittings) into a draft quote built from your own catalogue. ERP Agent identifies the right products from trade shorthand, sizes and part numbers, brings in that customer’s pricing and scores every line from 0 to 100. Your team checks the draft and sends it.

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What does a plumbing and heating enquiry look like?

At a plumbers’ merchant (a plumbing supply house in the US), enquiries arrive as a heating engineer’s list for a boiler swap, a developer’s bathroom schedule per plot or an M&E contractor’s pipework take-off as a PDF. A PVF distributor gets take-offs with pipe schedules and valve classes.

Every line has to become one of your codes, among near-identical variants: the same tee in 15, 22 and 28 mm, end feed, compression or press, copper or multilayer. According to our case study, a sales rep spends on average 4–7 minutes per line when creating quotes and orders by hand. At that rate a 120-line list is 8 to 14 hours of desk work, and the plumber has often sent the same list to other merchants. The merchant that answers first with a checked price has the better chance of the job.

Why plumbers’ merchants and PVF distributors choose ERP Agent

  • It reads plumbing and PVF shorthand. “15mm EF elbow”, “22 comp tee”, “DN50 PN16 gate valve” and the installer’s own item codes become the right product in your catalogue, with 15, 22 and 28 mm kept apart.
  • Priced, scored and explained. Customer pricing comes from the data and rules configured for your company, and every line carries a 0–100 match score, the agent’s reasoning and alternatives.
  • Your range comes first. With your cross-reference data set up, a specified manufacturer’s product family points to your equivalent family, so you quote the range you want to sell.
  • It learns your customers’ words. Every line your team sends teaches the agent: the next time a plumber writes the same thing, it picks the same product.
  • Any ERP system. ERP Agent integrates with Business Central, SAP, NetSuite, 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.

Plumbing and PVF shorthand the agent reads

Plumbing and PVF shorthand the agent reads
The customer writesHow ERP Agent handles it
“15mm EF elbow”, “22 comp tee”Reads the abbreviations; the stated size keeps 15, 22 and 28 mm apart.
“1/2" BSP lever ball valve”The numbers in the line tell ½", ¾" and 1" apart.
“DN50 PN16 gate valve”The stated DN size and PN class are checked; products that contradict them drop down.
“2in sch 40 CS 90 LR BW”Read as one description; the size and schedule numbers separate the variants.
The installer’s own item codeLearned from your past quotes and from the lines your team sends.
One code for a fixed pack, such as a bathroom set per plotSet up once as a customer-code set, the code expands into its catalogue lines.

PVF distributor quote automation: pipe, valves and fittings

A PVF take-off or RFQ can run to several hundred lines, each combining size, schedule or pressure class, material and end connection (“4in 150# RF WN flange A105”), and neighbouring lines often differ by one number. ERP Agent reads each line as a whole and uses its numbers to keep variants apart; large lists run in parallel batches. For valve and fitting ranges, see valves and fittings wholesalers.

How does ERP Agent handle a plumbing enquiry?

  1. The enquiry comes in

    A rep forwards the email to your agent mailbox or pastes it into the web app. The agent reads the body and attachments: PDF (scanned too), Excel, CSV, Word, images. See email to ERP.

  2. Customer and site

    It identifies the customer in your customer register, warns the rep when no customer matches and flags a site delivery address that differs from the ERP record.

  3. Lines to products

    Wording your team has confirmed before goes straight to the same product. Other lines are searched by code, numbers and description, across languages; with sales history, this customer’s usual products come forward.

  4. Checks

    Stated sizes and PN classes are checked against every candidate, and a second check you can switch on sends wrong matches back for another search. A line that needs the customer’s answer goes on your placeholder code instead of a guess.

  5. Prices and approval

    Prices come from the data and rules configured for your company. A person approves, and the quote or sales order lands in your ERP, CRM or other system.

Example: a plumber’s list, line by line

Customer requestIllustrative example
Email: “Can you price this up for the Elm Road job?”
  1. 15mm end feed elbow x 40
  2. 22mm compression tee x 6
  3. 15mm TRV x 6
  4. 110mm soil pipe 3m solvent weld x 2
  5. Our code HE-220 x 2
  6. Filling loop to suit existing boiler x 1
Proposed lines · Illustrative example
Request lineProposed productScoreWhy
15mm end feed elbow220415 End feed elbow 90° 15 mm95Solder ring kept as an alternative
22mm compression tee230722 Compression equal tee 22 mm94Size agrees; 15 and 28 mm pushed down
15mm TRV240615 Thermostatic radiator valve 15 mm, angled74Straight version kept as an alternative; marked
110mm soil pipe 3m solvent weld260110 Solvent weld soil pipe 110 mm x 3 m, grey88Colour not stated; this customer buys grey
Our code HE-220270220 Magnetic system filter 22 mm98Customer’s own code, learned earlier
Filling loop to suit existing boilerPlaceholder code0Boiler model not given; the rep asks instead of guessing

Illustrative example: the request, article numbers and scores are invented; prices are left out.

What your team sees before anything goes out

  • The customer’s wording next to each proposed product, so the rep checks rather than searches.
  • A match score from 0 to 100; lines under 80 are marked. See how the match score works.
  • Reasoning and alternatives: why a product was chosen, and runners-up such as the straight TRV, one click away.
  • Quote chat: add or remove rows and change quantities or prices; each edit is accepted or rejected line by line.
  • A person approves. Nothing reaches the plumber without your team, and with a connected ERP, product codes are checked against it first.
ERP Agent quote review interface with sample data
Quote review screen (sample data). Open full size

Specified brands and “or equivalent”

Specifications often name one manufacturer’s valves, controls or sanitaryware when you would rather quote your own range. If your catalogue carries the manufacturer’s part number, the agent finds it directly. With cross-reference data set up for your company, the specified product family points to your equivalent family, so your range comes forward and the rep confirms the choice. Every pair your team confirms is learned. See part number cross-reference.

What changes when a plumbers’ merchant uses AI for quoting?

Staff stop keying lines and spend their time on marked lines, customer questions and winning the job. Plumbers get priced lists back sooner, and when they send one list to several merchants, the first good reply has the advantage. The agent learns from the lines your team sends, so new starters inherit what colleagues confirmed and that knowledge stays in the business.

ERP Agent is live with steel, HVAC and fastener distributors. Our published case, LVI-WaBeK, is a building services wholesaler (LVI means heating, plumbing and ventilation in Finnish). At LVI-WaBeK, ERP Agent automates quote lines with over 95% accuracy. See it on your own slowest lists in a pilot: the AI quote agent pilot checklist shows how, and the quote cost calculator shows what a manual line costs you today.

Where the quote lands

ERP Agent integrates with Business Central, SAP, NetSuite, 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. Approved quotes and orders land in your ERP, CRM or other system.

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
Over 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

Getting started, without an IT project

  • Works on top of your ERP. No replacement project: the quote or sales order lands in the merchant system, CRM or other system you already run.
  • Start with a catalogue file. Load your catalogue and past quotes, and branch staff forward real enquiries to your agent mailbox while the ERP connection is built.
  • Your team stays in control. Nothing reaches a plumber or contractor without a person’s approval.
  • Alongside EDI and your webshop. Those orders keep flowing as today, and ERP Agent takes the emailed lists, PDFs and spreadsheets that arrive around them.

The same agent serves HVAC and ventilation wholesalers, electrical wholesalers and builders’ merchants; see also AI quote automation for distributors, RFQ automation and order entry automation.

Frequently asked questions

What is plumbing supply quote automation?

Software that turns a customer’s enquiry into a draft quote from your catalogue and that customer’s prices, for a person to check. With ERP Agent, the approved quote or sales order lands in your ERP, CRM or other system.

How can plumbing and heating merchants use AI for quoting?

Start with the emailed lists that take longest to key in: job lists, bathroom and heating schedules, take-offs. The agent drafts the lines and prices; staff check the marked ones and send.

Does it work for PVF distributors?

Yes. Pipe, valve, fitting and flange lines are matched one by one, with stated DN sizes and PN classes checked against every candidate and neighbouring sizes kept apart. Take-offs of several hundred lines run in parallel batches.

Is ERP Agent quoting software for plumbers or for merchants?

It is built for the plumbers’ merchant or PVF distributor that receives the enquiries. Your counter and inside sales answer plumbers and contractors faster, and the plumber gets a priced, checked list back sooner.

Can it suggest the fittings a plumber forgot?

Yes. With the second check switched on and accessory rules set up for your company, the agent reminds the rep of a likely accessory, such as a thermostatic head for a radiator valve body, and the rep adds it to the quote. Fixed packs ordered under one customer code can be set up as customer-code sets.

Does it work with our merchant ERP and trade pricing?

Yes. ERP Agent integrates with Business Central, SAP, NetSuite, Visma, IFS, Sage and any other ERP or CRM. Once your ERP is connected, prices come from its own price logic, customer discounts included. 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.

How long does a large schedule take?

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.

Let’s look at your quote workflow

Bring a real material list

Book a 30-minute call and bring an enquiry your branch found slow to price.

  • 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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