Custom Pricing Engine for CAD-Based Manufacturing Quotes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current CAD programs require trained users to generate price quotes for manufacturing, leading to higher prices and delays due to inefficiencies in the pricing process, causing suppliers to miss opportunities.
Innovation Solution
A custom pricing engine system that receives supplier-specific costs, generates pricing outputs based on inputs, and calculates an aggregate price, allowing designers and suppliers to interact directly through an electronic marketplace for streamlined price generation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If automated pricing programs are used, then pricing speed is improved, but device complexity increases requiring specially trained users
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary layer between the automated pricing program and the user. This intermediary automatically extracts design parameters from CAD models and translates them into pricing calculations, eliminating the need for users to directly operate complex pricing software. The intermediary handles the complexity internally while presenting simple results to users.
Solution Approach 2:
The pricing system performs self-service by automatically retrieving supplier cost data from databases and executing pricing calculations without requiring trained operators. The system autonomously processes design specifications, queries supplier information, and generates price quotes, making the complex automated program accessible to any user regardless of training level.
2Ease of operation
If manually guided pricing processes are used, then ease of operation is improved, but loss of time increases due to verification and guidance steps
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-configuring pricing parameters, supplier cost data, and calculation methodologies in databases before actual pricing requests. When a design is submitted, the system immediately queries these pre-prepared resources and executes calculations without requiring step-by-step user guidance or verification, thus maintaining ease of operation while minimizing time loss.
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple pricing engines are aggregated, then manufacturing precision is improved through comprehensive cost analysis, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple pricing engines into a unified system that automatically selects and combines appropriate calculation methods. The unified architecture consolidates supplier databases, material cost data, and manufacturing parameters into integrated repositories, allowing the system to aggregate pricing information from multiple sources while presenting a single coherent interface to users, thus improving precision without exposing the underlying complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and software that allow one or more users to utilize custom pricing in the context of an electronic marketplace. Such custom pricing can be implemented by transmitting specifications of custom pricing engines and/or custom design document interrogator engines to the marketplace along with or independently from one or more design documents containing structures to be priced. Various corresponding and related methods and software are described.