Paper, Print & Packaging
An enquiry arrives and a senior estimator rebuilds the cost in Excel (paper grade and rate, sheet size and imposition / ganging, plates, colours, run length, makeready, finishing, margin), and by the time the quote goes out, paper has moved, so the printer quotes on a stale price, mis-gangs the sheet, or takes days. Under-quote and the job loses money; over-quote and the job is lost.
Who has it
All segments. At paper and board mills the same template prices a grade or order on the live fibre and energy cost; at print-finishing and converting job-shops it prices a finishing job per 1,000 on the consumable and machine-hour cost; commercial, offset and packaging printers price the full job.
What we build
One standard estimating template per product type, the paper line tied to the live paper / board price, with imposition / ganging awareness so short jobs are costed on a realistic sheet layout, plus a register that versions every quote and tracks win and loss, drawing on live-dashboards so the standards stay honest.
What is automated, where AI helps, who signs off
The reliable spine
The estimating template and the live-price feed carry the value: cost is built per product type with the paper line tied to today's paper or board price, imposition and ganging are applied so short jobs sit on a realistic sheet layout, and every quote is versioned and tracked for win and loss.
Where AI helps
AI is confined to reading the enquiry and prior similar jobs to pre-fill the estimate and suggest a sensible imposition; the estimator reviews it, and it never sends a price or commits to a customer.
Who signs off
A named person signs off the quote and the price before it goes to the customer.
What changes day to day
Quote turnaround drops from days to hours, quotes stop going out on a stale paper price, and short jobs are ganged on a realistic sheet layout, so cycle time and win rate improve and below-cost wins fall.
Illustrative outcome
Quote cycle time and win rate improve, and the share of below-cost wins falls. Illustrative; final numbers come from your own data.
Illustrative; final numbers come from your own data.
Path to the build
Book a free 60-minute call, then a free Blueprint on the firm's own records. Deep-dive and build, followed by run and govern so the workflow keeps paying back.
Related builds
A free 60-minute call. No cost, no obligation, just a clear read on what is worth building.