Quote to order

Quote-to-order or QTO for short (from English: from offer to order) describes the process chain from the preparation of the offer to order processing in a company. Quote-to-order is based on the terms engineer-to-order , make-to-order or configure-to-order , which describe a special production or manufacturing process. In contrast to this, quote-to-order is used as a general description of the processes between offer and order using a wide variety of processes. In IT ( information technology ), quote-to-order developed into a term that describes the software-based mapping and bundling of all processes between the preparation of an offer and order processing.

use

In the manufacturing industry, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems have become established to map the entire value chain of a company and map the processes from order processing to delivery. In sales and in customer care, customer relationship management systems have established themselves in order to map customer-related (sales) processes, from the first contact through the preparation of offers to customer history and further marketing processes. Quote-to-order solutions close the gap between CRM and ERP. You use processes and data from the ERP and CRM world and make them available in the phase between offer and order. The existing functionalities are supplemented by specific components such as B. Configurators that support the creation of complex offers.

operation area

In principle, quote-to-order solutions can be used by all companies that prepare offers and accept and execute orders. The use of quote-to-order solutions can bring competitive advantages to companies whose products and services have a large number of variants or complex pricing (for example in mechanical engineering).

In finance, too, offers are often created on the basis of complex calculation methods. Banks, insurance companies and building societies can use quote-to-order solutions to bundle the variety of media and systems and provide usable sales support tools for work at the point of sale .

advantage

The advantage of quote-to-order solutions lies in the benefits they offer for all parts of the company involved in sales and order processing. The sales department is able to create high-quality offers without specialist department support. In addition, he is relieved of administrative tasks and can devote himself to his actual task (customer service).

When processing orders (e.g. with an ERP system), the compatibility of the offer with the available resources becomes apparent. Ideally, orders can be fed into the production process directly from sales.

disadvantage

Quote-to-order processes should relieve sales, order entry and production. The opposite is often the case. This happens above all when the entire quote-to-order complex is not seen as a unit, but is implemented as an application extension of CRM or ERP systems. Unrelated tasks (and system views) are simply shifted to different company units, which in turn neglect their main tasks (e.g. sales employees who have to enter their orders themselves).

Summary

Quote-to-order processes form the interface between sales and production. You use existing IT infrastructures and functionalities. As highly integrative solutions, they offer flexibility, fit into existing IT landscapes and can be adapted and configured to the specific needs of a company. The seamless flow of data for easy information handling is becoming more and more important in companies. Quote-to-order solutions can thus offer great benefits.