QuoteMate
Saving time & saving money for manufacturing
Tempus Tools offers a web based suite of tools to streamline the quoting process for laser cutting job shops and fabricators around the world.
Calculating the cost of laser cutting a part requires knowledge of the material being used and how much material the part uses, as well as the time required to cut the part. Other factors such as the size of the order may also come into play.
To allow customers improve their efficiency quoting laser cutting work, Tempus Tools wanted to develop two products:
QuoteEasy - developed internally - sets rules for all the factors mentioned above, automating quote calculation
QuoteMate - developed by Sawwa - automates the calculation of time required to process a part and its material usage. This assists in the quoting process but also allows customers to continue pricing jobs using their own methodologies.
Challenge
Define and build a product that would make Tempus Tools products more accessible to a larger market.
Repurpose legacy code during development to improve the code’s ROI.
Outcome
Sawwa helped Tempus Tools define QuoteMate - a new tool that would revitalise previously developed code. We designed, architected and developed QuoteMate. We released it alongside other Tempus Tools products, allowing for a unified marketing campaign and simplified customer support.
Scope of work
Strategy
UX Design
Software architecture & design
Web application development
Backend development
The process
Strategy & design
Clear goals, unclear product
The goals for QuoteMate were clear. The product solution, on the other hand, was not. We worked with different stakeholders and end-users to build an understanding of what would make QuoteMate a valuable product. From this, we worked through an iterative process to design mock-ups, giving everyone their first glimpse of it.
The design process was largely influenced by a job shop estimator’s workflow as well as their experience using CAD packages. Building QuoteMate’s user experience based on this foundation aimed to increase uptake by reducing the learning curve for new users and encouraging new users to trial the product by offering a sense of familiarity. We finalised the UX design process by adding some branding and UI design elements to our mockups preparing them for the development team.
A reusable pricing model
The pricing model was the final piece requiring definition. We collaborated closely with the Tempus Tools team to develop a pricing model that would be attractive to smaller businesses whilst still delivering value to larger job shops and fabricators. The result was a credit based system that works similarly to purchasing data on a mobile phone plan (i.e. the more credits purchased, the cheaper the price per credit . The result was a pricing model that Tempus Tools was able to use in both products.
Software architecture & design
The design made it clear that there were going to be multiple technical pieces that would need to be engineered together to deliver QuoteMate. Namely, an authentication system, a payment processing system, an email service and some code libraries Tempus Tools had already developed to handle CAD files. Our software engineering team architected all the components of the system and their interactions with one another.
Build
Tempus Tools had previously developed a tool to assist with processing CAD files and preparing them for manufacturing. They also had a tool providing a library of parts in which users specified key dimensions to create parts from the browser. Both tools had been developed using outdated technologies. Our engineering team reviewed them and redeveloped them using the latest web development technologies.
To ensure that the system was usable in major manufacturing markets, we ensured that QuoteMate was built to operate in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. In addition, we developed a process to use Google translate for additional languages, allowed translators to review resultant translations and allowed developers to seamlessly integrate the solution back into the application.
During QuoteMate’s build phase, we provided Tempus Tools with regular updates on progress and kept them appraised of any new learnings. This allowed the QuoteEasy engineering team to identify and capitalise on any QuoteMate developments from which they could derive additional benefit through reuse. .
Our development process always includes regular demonstrations and opportunities for feedback to ensure we can iterate quickly and always develop the optimal solution for release.
Release
QuoteMate launched alongside QuoteEasy in late 2020. Working closely with Tempus Tools to ensure both products were released in tandem ensured that there could be a unified marketing campaign that was clear and consistent. It also allowed new customers to pick the right solution for their needs.
We continue to work with Tempus Tools delivering QuoteMate enhancements as well as planning and developing new features.
