This is a five-step walkthrough configured for precision metal stamping — showing what a CPQ system looks like when it is built around your products, your materials, and your margins.
This is not a criticism. It is an accurate description of how most precision manufacturers quote today — and why it costs them time, margin, and orders.
An enquiry arrives. It goes to an estimator. The estimator emails engineering for material costs. Engineering replies two days later. A spreadsheet gets built and emailed to the customer. The customer replies with changes. The process restarts. Every change is a new thread.
Every estimator works from their own version of the quoting spreadsheet. Pricing logic lives in individuals' heads, not in the system. Complex configurations — material grade, press tonnage, tolerance band, volume break — require expertise to price correctly. That expertise is not transferable.
The CEO wants to know where the pipeline stands. The answer requires someone to compile data from multiple estimators, chase email threads, and estimate close probabilities from memory. By the time the picture is assembled, it is already out of date.
In precision stamping, the manufacturer who responds fastest has a measurable commercial advantage. While your team is building a spreadsheet, a competitor with a faster process is already in the customer's inbox. Manual quoting makes speed structurally impossible to achieve consistently.
CPQDash replaces the email chains, the spreadsheet versions, and the invisible pipeline — with a single configured system your estimators, operations team, and CEO see in real time.
What your estimators see. Guided configuration. Live pricing. Approval workflow. Every quote tracked from intake to close.
| Ref | Customer | Component | Value | Status | Days Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPQ-2026-0041 | Automotive Tier 1 | Stamped bracket — 1.5mm 304SS | £84,200 | Approval | 1 |
| CPQ-2026-0040 | EV Lamination OEM | Electrical steel lamination stack | £127,500 | Sent | 3 |
| CPQ-2026-0039 | Medical Device Co. | 316L micro-stamped housing | £34,800 | Won | 2 |
| CPQ-2026-0038 | Defence Contractor | Progressive tool — titanium clip | £216,000 | Sent | 5 |
The same data as the estimator view. A different lens. Real-time pipeline, win rates, and commercial performance — without opening a single spreadsheet.
A direct comparison between your current quoting process and a configured CPQDash deployment. No sales language. Just the delta.
| Area | Current State | With CPQDash | RAG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quote Turnaround | 3–7 days. Email and spreadsheet cycle, dependent on who is available. | Under 60 minutes. Guided configuration produces a complete, priced quote. | G |
| Pricing Consistency | Estimator-dependent. Rules exist in people's heads, not the system. | Pricing logic locked in the configurator. Same rules applied every time. | G |
| CEO Pipeline Visibility | Compiled manually. Always 48–72 hours behind. Requires someone's time to produce. | Real time. One screen. No chasing, no compiling, no waiting. | G |
| Knowledge Retention | Pricing logic and configuration expertise leaves when estimators leave. | Captured in the system permanently. Institutional knowledge that stays. | G |
| New Estimator Ramp | Months of shadowing experienced estimators. High error risk throughout. | Guided by the system from day one. Guardrails prevent underpricing. | A |
| Speed to Deployment | Enterprise CPQ alternatives: 6–18 months, £150k–£500k investment. | CPQDash configured and live in days, not months. | G |
| ERP / CRM Integration | Not applicable to current spreadsheet-based process. | Not required to go live. Available as a phased next step when needed. | A |
What you have seen is a starting point configured for precision metal stamping. The meeting is the conversation about what gets modified, what gets added, and what a Brandauer-specific deployment looks like in practice.