CPQ Software for Manufacturing That Prices Parts Straight from CAD Files
steelit by figureit is CPQ software for manufacturing, built for steel and sheet metal fabrication. Extract, calculate and win with maximum speed: upload a 3D or 2D CAD file, and steelit reads around 90% of the quoting inputs, sizes, materials, bends and nesting, then returns an accurate quote in minutes.
Built for manufacturers and suppliers, from 10-person companies to 400-person plants, across machine building, automotive and defence supply chains.
What Is CPQ Software?
CPQ stands for configure, price, quote: software that turns a customer request into a finished, sendable offer inside one system.
In manufacturing the request is a part rather than a catalogue item, so the price has to be built from geometry, machine time and material instead of a list price. steelit is CPQ software for steel and sheet metal fabrication.
Configure
The part is read for what it actually needs: operations, material, thickness and bends. Combinations your company cannot produce are caught before a price is built.
Price
Current material costs, machine rates and margin rules are applied automatically, so the number reflects real production rather than a discount matrix.
Quote
The finished document comes out branded and complete, with the cost breakdown, quantities and part list, ready to send.
Connect
Design data comes in from CAD, agreed quotes go out to your ERP or CRM. Nothing is typed twice, which is where most quoting errors start.
Manufacturing Quoting Shouldn't Take Three Days and a Spreadsheet
Most quoting still runs through a CAD viewer, a spreadsheet and an inbox, with a person carrying numbers between them. That is where the days go, and where the errors come from. steelit closes the gap between the file that arrives and the price that goes out.
Can your CPQ tool read a STEP file, or only a price list?
Sales-CPQ configures products that already exist. A manufacturer prices a part that has never been made, so “configure” becomes manual re-entry of every dimension.
steelit takes the STEP file as the input and reads the dimensions itself.
How many systems does one RFQ touch before a price goes out?
CAD viewer, Excel, ERP, email. Every handoff between engineering and sales costs hours and adds another place for an error to enter.
Configure, price and quote happen in one place, on one set of numbers.
Does every estimator price the same part at the same number?
Without shared machine rates and margin rules, the price depends on who calculated it and how well they know the real production steps.
One rule set per company, so the same part comes back at the same price.
Can your quoting process take 10× the RFQs without 10× the people?
Quoting capacity is the bottleneck, not quoting skill. Whoever answers first is usually the one who gets the order.
steelit scales the volume of quotes without scaling the estimating team.
One Request, One System,
One Price Your Team Can Defend
If two or three of those sounded like your last week, the problem is not your estimators. It is that configure, price and quote live in three different places. Send us a real part and watch steelit price it with your rates and margins.
Manufacturing CPQ Software Tailored to Scale Steel Sales
Manufacturing CPQ software has to survive contact with a real RFQ. Traditional quoting systems model your whole factory first, and that depth is useful once a year and expensive every day an enquiry lands.
steelit by figureit is built for speed and simplicity: 3D CAD and STEP files go in instantly, roughly 90% of the geometric data is read automatically from the file, and your team sends a branded PDF quote in minutes. CPQ is one part of it. The wider steel fabrication estimating software covers everything from first enquiry to priced job.
Extract 3D CAD geometry and unfold complex parts automatically
steelit reads dimensions, thickness, bend count, cut length and the unfolded blank straight from the part, then nests the blanks onto your sheet formats. Weldments and multi-part assemblies are handled as they arrive, without anyone re-drawing them. Our CNC nesting software page explains how the layout is generated.
Calculate precise machine times and material costs in real time
Cutting, bending, welding, finishing and raw material are priced per part and per batch from your own machine rates, and recalculated live when quantity, material or finish changes. Laser work carries its own calculation rules, which our laser quoting software page sets out in full. Every line of the price stays visible, so margin is a decision rather than a guess.
Turn chaotic incoming customer emails into clear quote drafts fast
Requests arrive as an email with a PDF attached, a scanned drawing or an Excel parts list. steelit reads them in and prepares a draft quote, so the enquiry does not sit in an inbox until someone has time to decode it.
Connect your existing ERP system for seamless data automation
An ERP connection is optional and set up for the companies that want one. Where it is in place, parts, prices and finished quotes move between steelit and your ERP without being typed twice. The full list of manufacturing software integrations has its own page.
What Customers Say About Working with figureit
“figureit has developed digital sales support tools for several of our business areas. I was thoroughly impressed by the professionalism of the team and the quality of the solutions from figureit. I highly recommend figureit.”
“figureit has demonstrated its ability to support the digital networking of industrial processes with very good concepts. What is particularly impressive is not only their understanding of processes but also their focus on delivering maximum customer benefit while ensuring the best possible efficiency. We always feel understood and optimally advised.”
“figureit has convinced us. High expertise combined with quick comprehension and professional implementation make the collaboration a pleasure.”
What the Best CPQ Software for Manufacturing Must Do
The best CPQ software for manufacturing has to price a part nobody has built yet, which is exactly what most CPQ tools were never designed to do.
Search for CPQ software and you will mostly find sales-CPQ: tools built for revenue teams that configure catalogue products, apply discount rules and produce a proposal document. In DACH you will also find variant configurators for machine builders selling configurable machines. Both are good at their job. Neither can take a STEP file and tell you what the part costs on your machines.
| steelit | Sales CPQ | |
|---|---|---|
| What goes in | The customer's 3D or 2D CAD file | A product catalogue and its configuration options |
| How the price is built | Machine time, material, finishing and your own rates | List price, discount matrix and approval rules |
| A part never made before | Priced from its geometry on the first pass | Has to be added to the catalogue first |
| Who works in it daily | Estimators, project managers and engineers | Sales representatives and revenue operations |
| What comes out | A quote with every cost line, ready to produce against | A proposal document |
| Where it comes from | Shop-floor calculation, CAD and nesting | The CRM and sales-enablement world |
If you sell configurable products from a catalogue, a sales-CPQ is the right tool and steelit is not.
The moment the price depends on how a part is cut, bent and welded, you need a manufacturing CPQ.
How Does steelit Automate Your Entire Quoting Workflow?
You upload the file. steelit reads the geometry and prices the part. You adjust and send.
Upload CAD or RFQ Documents
Drag and drop 3D STEP files, 2D DXFs or PDF customer requests directly into the web portal.
Automated Geometry Extraction
steelit reads weight, surface area, bend counts, cut lengths and material utilisation from the part.
Configure Operations and Margins
Your machine rates, labour steps, raw material costs and margin rules are applied automatically.
Generate and Send Branded Quote
Export a professional PDF quote, or push the finalised pricing straight to your customer in one click.
Real Fabrication Teams Share Their Results With steelit
Successful ERP Integration
Key Features
- Bidirectional ERP interface
- Comprehensive background calculations
- Customised to their needs
Bye, bye Excel
Key Features
- Replacement of Excel spreadsheets
- Automatic STEP file analysis
- Fast processing of large data volumes
Quote calculator for steel beams
Key Features
- Specialised steel beam calculator
- Increased quoting efficiency
- Process optimisation
CAD Formats and ERP Systems That Work with steelit Daily
steelit sits between the files your customers send you and the systems you already run your business in. The ERP end is optional and set up per company. The full ERP, MES and CAD integration list has its own page.
File Formats
- 3D CADSTEP, STP, P21, SLDPRT, IPT, PRT, PSM, CATPART, CATDRAWING, SAT, X_T
- 2D CADDXF, DWG, GEO, MI
- DocumentsPDF, XLSX, XLS, CSV
ERP Systems
- SAP ERP and SAP S/4HANA
- proALPHA
- abas ERP
- Microsoft Dynamics 365
- REST APIs and custom webhooks
Manufacturing Operations
- Laser, plasma and oxyfuel cutting
- Press brake bending and forming
- Tube and pipe cutting
- Welding and assembly
- Powder coating and surface finishing
Why Do Enterprise Manufacturers Choose steelit Every Day
Precision Margin Optimisation
Rules for machine time, material waste and order volume are applied automatically, so your margin is protected on every quote without checking each one by hand.
Boutique Swiss Engineering
Enterprise-grade security backed by responsive, expert human support whenever your shop floor needs it. You speak to the people who wrote the software.
High Volume Quoting for Teams
Built for manufacturers handling tens to hundreds of RFQs. Sales, engineering and management work in the same quote, at one price per company rather than per user.
Strict European Data Security
Hosted in Europe with full GDPR compliance, and trusted by top-tier European industrial groups.
Bring One RFQ. We Configure, Price and Quote It Live.
Pick a request you priced by hand last month. We set up your materials, machine rates and margin rules, run the same part through steelit, and put the two prices side by side. Half an hour, on a job you already know the answer to.
Manufacturing CPQ Software FAQs
What does the abbreviation CPQ stand for?
CPQ stands for configure, price, quote. It describes software that takes a customer request, configures what is being sold, calculates the price and produces the finished quote in one system. In manufacturing, configuring means resolving how a part is actually made, its material, thickness, cutting, bending and finishing, rather than picking options from a catalogue.
What is the best CPQ software for manufacturing companies?
The best CPQ software for a manufacturing company is the one that can price the work it actually takes in. For manufacturers that means reading CAD files, calculating machine time on their own rates, handling nesting and material use, and connecting to the ERP they already run. steelit is built for that job. Companies selling configurable catalogue products are usually better served by a sales-CPQ.
Which CPQ software providers are there?
CPQ providers fall into three groups. Sales-CPQ vendors configure and price catalogue products for revenue teams, usually as part of a CRM stack. Variant configurators serve machine builders selling configurable machines from an option matrix. Manufacturing CPQ, including steelit, prices a physical part from its CAD geometry. Which group fits depends on what you sell, not on vendor size.
How is manufacturing CPQ different from sales CPQ tools?
Sales-CPQ configures products that already exist in a catalogue and prices them from list prices and discount rules. Manufacturing CPQ prices a part that has never been made, from its geometry, your machine rates and your material costs. The two solve different problems, and many manufacturers run a CRM alongside steelit rather than instead of it.
What 3D and 2D CAD file formats can I upload into steelit?
steelit accepts STEP and STP, IGES and IGS, DXF and DWG, SolidWorks, Inventor and SAT files, as well as requests that arrive as PDF or Excel. 3D files give the most complete extraction, because thickness, bends and the unfolded blank can be read directly from the solid model.
Can I integrate steelit with my ERP system like SAP?
Yes, steelit integrates with SAP ERP and SAP S/4HANA, and also with proALPHA, abas ERP and Microsoft Dynamics 365, plus any other system through REST API and webhooks. The connection is optional rather than standard, and is set up during implementation if you want it. Where it is in place, parts, prices and quotes are exchanged automatically and no number is entered twice.
Do I stay in full control of my shop floor machine rates?
Yes, you keep full control of your machine rates, and the same applies to labour steps, material prices, surcharges and margin rules, which you can set and change at any time. steelit calculates with your numbers and shows every line of the result, so an estimator and a managing director can both see exactly how a price was reached.
How long does it take to get trained and onboarded on steelit?
Onboarding is a short guided project rather than an IT programme. We set up your materials, machine rates and calculation logic together, connect your ERP if you need it, and train your estimators on your own parts.