Pain 01
An option matrix no spreadsheet holds
Capacity, drive, voltage, guarding and duty class multiply into more complex configurations than a price book holds. That complexity stalls the quote.
Machinery and equipment
Industrial equipment manufacturing CPQ, from the configured machine to the released BOM
A machine carries capacity, voltage, guarding, drive options, ship-loose items and a country of installation. No price book holds those combinations, so your sales engineer waits on the one person who knows which options fit together. Dealect moves that knowledge into rules. Your dealers configure the equipment, pricing follows every option, and the order leaves as a bill of materials the plant can build.
The problem
Why does every machine quote end up on one engineer's desk?
A dealer sends the duty, the throughput and the site conditions. The answer comes back when the one person who knows the option matrix has time for it.
- Pain 02
An engineering review on every deal
Sales cannot settle a configuration question alone, so engineering prices the machine your sales team has already sold forty times.
- Pain 03
One person prices the whole line
When that person is away, quoting stops. Your sales cycle is the length of their queue.
- Pain 04
The spec error that reaches the shop
A drive that will not run at that voltage is found at assembly. Spec errors cost most when equipment manufacturers find them late.
- Pain 05
The order typed a third time
Quoting, then order entry, then ERP. Each re-key drops an option the customer paid for.
The capabilities
What equipment manufacturing CPQ has to run for a configurable machine
An industrial equipment manufacturing CPQ is the rule set, the price list and the paperwork between a dealer's first question and a released bill of materials. Six jobs, one system.
Option rules and interlocks
The drive that will not take that voltage. The guarding a throughput demands. Blocked on screen, before anything prices.
Capacity, voltage and duty variants
One machine family, every variant it ships in. Metric and imperial, 50 and 60 hertz, the duty class the site needs.
A price per dealer and per region
Dealers quote your published list at their own margin. Your factory cost never renders on their screen.
The quote and the spec sheet
A branded document leaves with the option list, the 3D view and the spec sheet the customer's engineer asked for.
The multi-level BOM and the routing
The accepted configuration releases a multi-level BOM, a routing and smart part numbering. Production builds from the order.
ERP, CRM and PLM
The order lands in your ERP, the opportunity in your CRM, the released part in PLM. Nothing is retyped.
If the acronym is the question, we answer it slowly in what CPQ is. Written by Teodoro Pickett and kept current by the team that builds Dealect. Published .
Show it
One machine, from the first click to the released BOM
In August 2026 we read the five vendor pages ranking in the United States for this category. Every one describes configuring a machine. Not one shows it. Here it is.
Step 01 · Configure
Step 1: The dealer builds the machine
Capacity, drive and guarding are chosen in the browser. The 3D view redraws on every option, so the customer sees the machine, not a line on a quote.
Step 02 · Check
Step 2: A rule refuses what the plant cannot build
The combination that fails clearance, voltage or duty class is blocked while the dealer is still choosing. Errors surface on screen, not at assembly.
Step 03 · Price
Step 3: The price follows every option
The total moves automatically with each choice, from your current list, at that dealer's margin. Pricing stops depending on who is quoting.
Step 04 · Quote
Step 4: The customer gets one document
A branded quote leaves with the option list, the 3D view and the spec sheet, in the dealer's name. The customer reads one thing, not four attachments.
Step 05 · Release
Step 5: The order leaves as a multi-level BOM
This is where an industrial equipment manufacturing CPQ ends: the configuration releases a multi-level BOM, a routing and smart part numbers into production. Nothing is retyped.
The machine on screen is our 3D product configurator on your catalogue. Priced live, that is 3D CPQ.
Engineer-to-order
Engineer-to-order quoting without an engineering review on every machine
Most of what an engineer-to-order shop calls new is a machine it has built before, with different numbers on it. Move that majority to configure-to-order and keep the engineering review for the genuinely new one. That is mass customization. The sales cycle gets its weeks back and quotes go out faster.
| How the machine is quoted | Who prices it, and how long | What reaches the shop floor |
|---|---|---|
| A price book and a spreadsheet | A sales engineer, once the file is current. Days. | A quote nobody can build from, and a re-key into the order. |
| An engineering review on every machine | Engineering, in its own queue. Days into weeks. | A drawing set, most of it repeating last month's machine. |
| Configure-to-order, rules carry it | The dealer, in the browser. Minutes. | A multi-level BOM, a routing and smart part numbers. |
The same argument covers every configurable product a plant ships. CPQ for manufacturers is the parent page. This one stays on the machine.
Integrations
Connected to your ERP, your CRM and your PLM
Nothing here replaces the systems or the process you already run. The configurator sits in front of them and hands each one the part of the order it owns.
- ERP
- The accepted order crosses as a multi-level BOM and a routing, so planning and purchasing read it the day it is signed.
- CRM
- The opportunity, the configuration and the quote sit on one record, so your sales pipeline shows what the customer actually configured.
- PLM
- Options resolve to released part numbers. A machine quoted here is a machine your engineering data already knows how to make.
Margin and approvals
Discounting that stops before it costs you the machine
Machine quoting leaks margin quietly. A superseded price, a forgotten ship-loose item, freight carried from memory. Rule-checked pricing cannot forget an option, because the option priced itself when it was chosen. That is where quote accuracy comes from.
Approvals fire on the exception, not on every deal. Dealers inside your discount floor send it themselves. A dealer below it waits for you, and the approval workflow shows which machine and which margin you are ruling on. The same mechanics run our sales configurator.
The margin mechanics
You publish one price list. Each dealer quotes it with their own margin. Your factory cost never renders on a dealer's screen, and a discount below your floor waits for your approval.
The dealer network
One rule set, every dealer and distributor quoting.
Your catalogue is the single source. Your dealers and your distributors quote from it at their own margin, and every lead stays tied to the dealer who owns it.
You manage the catalogue, the rules and the price list in one place. Your dealers and your distributors work from that one source. Change a price on Monday and the whole channel is quoting the new one on Monday.
Every configuration a customer makes becomes a lead tied to the dealer who owns it, so you see which dealers work a lead and which sit on it. The portal each dealer signs into is our b2b customer portal.
What each dealer gets
- Their own margin
- Your price with their margin on top. Your factory cost never renders on their screen.
- Their own branding
- Quotes leave in the dealer's name, on the dealer's paper.
- Their own leads
- Every configuration their customers make lands in their pipeline.
Machine classes
What industrial equipment manufacturers configure, class by class
One equipment configurator, six ways of describing a machine. The vocabulary changes. The mechanics under it do not.
Truck manufacturing CPQ
Chassis, body, axle configuration and upfit, priced as one vehicle.
Healthcare equipment manufacturing CPQ
The configuration and the compliance file, released together.
HVAC manufacturing CPQ
Capacity, coil, airflow and refrigerant, matched to the building.
Discrete manufacturing CPQ
A complex option matrix priced per unit, so ten machines are ten correct machines.
Construction CPQ software
Attachments, undercarriage and duty class on one machine, for one site.
Agricultural CPQ software
Implement, working width, hitch category and the tractor it has to fit.
Comparing vendors rather than classes? The field is ranked in best CPQ software.
What changes
What does a rule set take out of machine quoting?
Counts, not outcomes. Facts about the software, measured on one machine from a dealer's first click to a released order.
One configured machine, quoted through the rules · counts, not claims
0 times the machine spec is retyped
One configuration becomes the quote, the order and the multi-level BOM.
3 systems fed by one released order
ERP takes the BOM and routing, CRM the opportunity, PLM the part.
1 rule set behind every dealer's pricing
One catalogue and one price list, quoted across your whole sales channel.
What we will not put a number on
Quote speed and order accuracy depend on your option matrix, your dealers and your market, so we publish no percentage. Bring one machine family and your price list to a 30-minute call and we will time the quote in front of you.
FAQ
Questions from machinery and equipment makers
CPQ is the software a manufacturer uses to configure a product, price it and quote it in one place. For a machine builder it holds the option rules, the price list and the order documents, so a dealer answers the customer without asking engineering.
Configure, price, quote. Configure picks the capacity, the drive and the guarding, and refuses what your plant cannot build. Price applies your list and the dealer's margin. Quote produces the document and the spec sheet.
The CRM holds the customer and the deal. The CPQ builds the machine and the price inside that deal. A CRM records that a quote went out; only a CPQ knows it carried the heavy duty drive and priced the guarding with it. Neither replaces the other.
Judge it on four things a machine exposes fast. Can the rules express an interlock, not just a dependency. Does the accepted configuration release a multi-level BOM and a routing. Can dealers price at their own margin without seeing your cost. Does it reach ERP without a re-key.
A one-time build plus a monthly fee, priced per manufacturer rather than per seat, so a growing dealer network does not grow the bill. The build follows the depth of the option matrix. Our pricing page states the model.
Last updated
More industries
All industriesThe same portal on three more product lines.
Same portal, same dealer login, one more trade at a time.
Outdoor kitchen configuratorOutdoor kitchensDealers configure islands and finishes, quote with their margin, and send error-free orders.See the page
Sauna configuratorSaunasDealers pick sizes, wood, and heaters, quote with margin, and send clean orders.See the page
Shed design softwareSheds and carportsLots quote the building on their own price list, size first and roof style second.See the page
Next step
Watch your own machine get configured and quoted, in 30 minutes.
Bring one machine family, its option matrix and your price list to a 30-minute call. We will configure the machine, apply a dealer's margin and release the bill of materials while you watch. We reply by email to set a time.
- 30-minute personalized demo
- See real configurators in your industry
Your call is with the Dealect team.