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A custom palletising machine half built in a bright assembly hall, two technicians working on its frame.

Prices built on data, not memory.

Drawgen prices a custom machine while it is still a concept, from what your own past jobs actually cost. Your estimator sees the evidence behind every line, and what history cannot price.

Talk to usSee how it works

€0

Cost basis from 14 past jobs, plus one line for your estimator

The selling price is set by your estimator.

DrawgenAt a glance

Drawgen is quoting and purchasing software for machine builders who build to order. It keeps one record per job, from the first enquiry to the final cost, and uses the jobs you have finished to price the next one.

Robot and gripper€0Supplier offer
Design and commissioning€05 past jobs
Infeed€04 past jobs
Pallet magazine€03 past jobs
Guarding€0Rule
Layer sheetsNo history

Concept stage, before any design€0

What it pricesA machine that has not been designed yet, module by module, and it says which part has no history.

3 similar of 14 closed jobsYours only

Where it learnsYour own quotes, orders, hours and final costs. Nobody else’s, ever.
Job 26-041 closedActual against quoted
Infeed-3%Held
Robot and gripper-1%Held
Pallet magazine+3%Held
Guarding+19%Drifted
Layer sheets+6%Drifted
Design, commissioning+8%Drifted

3 held 3 drifted1 miss becomes a rule

What it checks afterWhen the job closes, every module is set against its quote: where the cost held, and where it drifted.

The job recordFive steps

One record per job, from the first enquiry to the final cost.

Quoting and purchasing are one piece of work. Drawgen follows a job from the enquiry to the day it closes, and keeps every value, source and decision on the same record.

1Step 1 of 5

Enquiry review

Drawgen reads the enquiry, pulls out what matters for the price, and lists what the customer has not said. It then finds the past jobs that look like this one.

Sales reads less and asks the right question sooner.

EnquiryEnd-of-line palletising09:12

Hello, we are looking for an end-of-line palletising cell for two lines at 12 cases a minute each.

Cases are 400 × 300 × 250 mm, up to 14 kg, stacked on 1200 × 800 pallets. The cell sits in our wash-down area, so guarding should be stainless.

We would like delivery in 26 weeks. Could you send a budget price by the end of the month?

RequirementsFrom the enquiry
  • Throughput2 × 12 cases/min
  • Case400 × 300 × 250, 14 kg
  • Pallet1200 × 800
  • AreaWash-down, stainless
  • Delivery26 weeks
  • Layer sheetsNot stated, ask
23242425250 similar past jobs found

2Step 2 of 5

Priced lines and supplier requests

Each module of the machine is priced from what similar modules actually cost on your finished jobs. Lines that need a supplier become requests. Lines history cannot support stay open.

The estimator works from evidence, not a blank sheet.

Job 26-041End-of-line palletising cell, two linesPriced lines
Infeed conveyors, 2 lanes€04 past jobs
Robot and gripper€0Supplier offer, Mar 2026
Pallet magazine€03 past jobs1 rule
Guarding, stainless€02 past jobsRule: wash-down
Layer sheet dispenserFor your estimatorNo past job has one
Design, controls, commissioning, 410 h€05 past jobs, hours by role
Cost basisEvery line opens to its sources€0
Supplier requestRobot and gripperDrafted from the record, sent to two suppliers you have usedApprove Approved by buyer

3Step 3 of 5

The quote

The cost basis carries its sources into the quote. Your estimator fills the open lines, sets the selling price and approves what goes to the customer.

The estimator sets the price and signs it off.

QuotationPalletising cell, two lines
Q-26-041
Infeed conveyors, 2 lanes€24,800
Robot and gripper€61,200
Pallet magazine€18,400
Guarding, stainless€15,900
Design, controls, commissioning, 410 h€39,400
Layer sheet dispenser, set by estimator€7,800
Cost basis€0
Selling price, set by your estimator
Approved by the estimator
Sent to customer

4Step 4 of 5

Purchase checks

When the order is won, every supplier offer is checked against what you quoted and what you last paid for the same thing. Your buyer decides what to order.

The buyer sees every offer against the quote.

Job 26-041Order won, purchase checksBuyer
LineQuotedLast paidOffer
Robot and gripper€61,200€59,800€60,400
Gear motors, 6€7,300€7,150€8,650 +18%!
Stainless sheet parts€6,900€6,800€6,700
Bearing units, 24€1,450€1,390€1,420
Pneumatics set€3,100€2,980€3,050
Gear motors are 18% over what was quotedTwo other suppliers on record have supplied the same sizeAsk a second supplier Request sent by buyer

5Step 5 of 5

Post-costing

When the job closes, quoted and actual meet module by module. What went wrong becomes a miss, a rule your estimator confirms, and a better starting point for the next quote.

Everyone learns what the job really cost.

Job 26-041Closed, quoted against actual
Infeed conveyors-3%
Robot and gripper-1%
Pallet magazine+3%
Guarding+19%
Layer sheets+6%
Design, commissioning+8%
QuotedActual
Miss recorded€3,100

Wash-down seals and drain trays were not in the guarding line. Absorbed, not billed.

Rule proposedEstimator

Guarding in a wash-down area includes seals and drain trays.

Confirm rule Confirmed by estimator
EnquiryEnd-of-line palletising09:12

Hello, we are looking for an end-of-line palletising cell for two lines at 12 cases a minute each.

Cases are 400 × 300 × 250 mm, up to 14 kg, stacked on 1200 × 800 pallets. The cell sits in our wash-down area, so guarding should be stainless.

We would like delivery in 26 weeks. Could you send a budget price by the end of the month?

RequirementsFrom the enquiry
  • Throughput2 × 12 cases/min
  • Case400 × 300 × 250, 14 kg
  • Pallet1200 × 800
  • AreaWash-down, stainless
  • Delivery26 weeks
  • Layer sheetsNot stated, ask
23242425250 similar past jobs found
Job 26-041End-of-line palletising cell, two linesPriced lines
Infeed conveyors, 2 lanes€04 past jobs
Robot and gripper€0Supplier offer, Mar 2026
Pallet magazine€03 past jobs1 rule
Guarding, stainless€02 past jobsRule: wash-down
Layer sheet dispenserFor your estimatorNo past job has one
Design, controls, commissioning, 410 h€05 past jobs, hours by role
Cost basisEvery line opens to its sources€0
Supplier requestRobot and gripperDrafted from the record, sent to two suppliers you have usedApprove Approved by buyer
QuotationPalletising cell, two lines
Q-26-041
Infeed conveyors, 2 lanes€24,800
Robot and gripper€61,200
Pallet magazine€18,400
Guarding, stainless€15,900
Design, controls, commissioning, 410 h€39,400
Layer sheet dispenser, set by estimator€7,800
Cost basis€0
Selling price, set by your estimator
Approved by the estimator
Sent to customer
Job 26-041Order won, purchase checksBuyer
LineQuotedLast paidOffer
Robot and gripper€61,200€59,800€60,400
Gear motors, 6€7,300€7,150€8,650 +18%!
Stainless sheet parts€6,900€6,800€6,700
Bearing units, 24€1,450€1,390€1,420
Pneumatics set€3,100€2,980€3,050
Gear motors are 18% over what was quotedTwo other suppliers on record have supplied the same sizeAsk a second supplier Request sent by buyer
Job 26-041Closed, quoted against actual
Infeed conveyors-3%
Robot and gripper-1%
Pallet magazine+3%
Guarding+19%
Layer sheets+6%
Design, commissioning+8%
QuotedActual
Miss recorded€3,100

Wash-down seals and drain trays were not in the guarding line. Absorbed, not billed.

Rule proposedEstimator

Guarding in a wash-down area includes seals and drain trays.

Confirm rule Confirmed by estimator
Enquiry reviewPriced linesThe quotePurchase checksPost-costing
An estimator in a glass office above the workshop, reading a printed cost sheet beside a concept sketch and a laptop.

What will this machine really cost us to build, based on our own past work?

The question behind every quote a machine builder sends. Drawgen answers it from your jobs, and shows its working.

EvidenceBehind every line

Open any line and see where the number came from.

Every priced line carries its sources: the past jobs it draws on, what they were quoted at and what they finally cost, the rules your estimator applies and the misses you do not want to repeat. Where history runs out, Drawgen says so.

Job 23-1182023

Palletiser, one line, pallet magazine

Quoted €16,200Actual €17,900

Job 24-0522024

Palletiser, two lines, pallet magazine

Quoted €18,000Actual €19,200

Job 25-0092025

Palletiser, two lines, pallet magazine

Quoted €17,500Actual €18,100

RuleEstimator, 2024

Wash-down area: stainless guides, add 12% to the magazine.

MissJob 24-052

Pallet guides were left out of the quote. €1,100 absorbed.

Cannot be priced from historyOpen

Layer sheet dispenser: no past job has one. For your estimator, or a supplier request.

Pallet magazine3 past jobs
€18,400

Actual cost on similar jobs ran from €17,900 to €19,200, restated at this year’s rates.

37
closed jobs in the record
64rules17misses

The loopWhy it gets better

Every closed job makes the next quote better informed.

Most builders never get round to comparing what they quoted with what the job cost. Drawgen does it as the job closes, so the next quote starts from one more job you can trust.

  1. 01Enquiry reviewThe new job is compared with every closed one.
  2. 02Priced linesModules are priced from what they actually cost.
  3. 03QuoteYour estimator sets the price, with the evidence open.
  4. 04Purchase checksOffers are checked against the quote.
  5. 05Post-costingQuoted meets actual. Misses become rules.

The problemWhat memory costs

The price is fixed on a concept, weeks before anyone knows what the machine will cost.

Machine builders quote from a sketch or a slide, from spreadsheets rebuilt from old quotes, and from what one or two people remember. The difference between the quote and the final cost is found out months later, if at all.

2weeks

Real workThree and a half months

of real work in a three-and-a-half-month order at a German machine builder. The rest was questions, clarification and waiting.

Source: Staufen AG, order fulfilment in machinery and plant engineering, 2018

−40% to +70%

UnderQuoted = actualOver

between quoted and actual cost, in a study of tool and die making. A different trade, with the same one-off, engineering-led work.

Source: WZL RWTH Aachen and Werkzeugbau-Akademie, 2015

178,000

people short in German mechanical engineering by 2034. The person who knows what a job really costs is retiring faster than they are replaced.

Source: IW Köln for the Impuls-Stiftung, 2024

A buyer checks a delivery on a tablet in the goods-in area, between shelves of gear motors, bearings and cable drums.

What you quoted is what every offer is checked against.

Quoting and purchasing share one record, so your buyer sees the quote, the last price paid and the new offer side by side.

In controlPeople decide

It gives your team time and evidence, and leaves every decision with them.

Your estimator sets the price

Drawgen shows what similar jobs cost and where the evidence runs out. The selling price is always your estimator’s decision, and the rules stay theirs, written down and credited to them.

Your buyer approves every request

Supplier requests and orders are drafted from the job record and wait for a person. Nothing goes to a supplier or a customer on its own.

Your data stays yours

One database per builder. Your prices, costs and hours are never pooled with anyone else’s, and never used to price another builder’s jobs.

IndustriesBuilt to order

For machine builders who build to order, in ones and tens.

A white collaborative robot, with no cage, stacking white cases onto a pallet in a pristine hall lit by early morning sun.

01

Packaging and palletising

Modules you have built before, priced from what they actually cost.

A long, straight roller conveyor crossing an immaculate hall at blue hour, seen from the mezzanine.

02

Material handling and conveyors

Price per metre from the lines you built, not the rule of thumb.

A white gantry crane holding a yellow spreader beam in mid-air, in a tall, bright, symmetrical hall.

03

Lifting and handling equipment

Inspection, proof testing and certification in the quote, not after it.

A white collaborative robot on a mobile base beside an assembly table, lit by spotlights in a clean, dark hall at night.

04

Automation and robotic cells

Integration and commissioning hours from the cells you delivered.

A special-purpose machine in an aluminium frame, being assembled in a bright hall with sage walls and tall windows onto trees.

05

Special-purpose machinery

The past jobs close enough to price from, and a clear word when none is.

How it startsA first project

Start with jobs you have already finished.

Drawgen is early, and we are building it with a small number of machine builders. The first step is always the same: your own closed jobs, rebuilt, so you can judge the result on work you know.

Talk to usWhat to send
  1. 01
    Pick five jobs you have closed

    The quote and its calculation sheet, the purchase orders, the hours and the invoices, as they are. Spreadsheets and exports are fine.

  2. 02
    We link them into job records

    Every value keeps its source. You get a plain report of what joined up, what did not, and what is missing.

  3. 03
    Your estimator walks us through the rules

    In a few recorded sessions. The rules are theirs, confirmed by them, and they stay with you.

  4. 04
    We rebuild the five quotes from the concept alone

    Then compare them with your original quotes and with what each job finally cost, on a measure you agree with us beforehand.