In this guide 6 sections
Panel quotes stall because the estimator rebuilds the bill of materials from the last similar job, then waits on supplier prices for drives, breakers and enclosures. A library of reusable panel templates with stored supplier prices removes the rebuild and most of the waiting, so a quote becomes an edit rather than a rewrite.
The quote starts from a copy of an old job
Most estimators open the last panel that looked similar. They save it under a new name and begin deleting. It feels quick, yet every line is now suspect.
Was that VFD the right size for this motor? Did the old job use a different PLC family? Each doubt sends the estimator hunting through emails and old drawings. A quote that should take an hour stretches across an afternoon, and the customer’s purchase engineer, who also chases two other bidders, starts to wonder whether you are interested.
The copied job also carries hidden baggage. Old cable lengths, a discontinued terminal block and a customer’s special paint colour all survive the copy unless somebody spots them.
- Drive sizes carried over from a different motor
- Discontinued terminal blocks left in the list
- Old paint and nameplate notes on the new quote
- Labour hours copied without checking the wiring count
Pricing waits on three suppliers
Enclosures, drives and breakers come from different houses. Each supplier answers on its own clock, and the distributor who stocks Siemens or Allen-Bradley drives rarely replies as fast as the sheet metal shop. The estimator sends three requests and waits for the slowest reply.
Prices also go stale. A breaker priced last quarter may have moved, and nobody knows until the supplier replies. So the estimator asks again, even for parts bought last week.
Stored price records fix this. Keep the last quoted and last paid price for every part, with the date and the supplier. You can then quote at once and flag only the lines older than a set age.
- Enclosure price from the sheet metal vendor
- Drive and soft starter price from the distributor
- Breaker and contactor price from the electrical wholesaler
- Date of the last confirmed price for each line
Rebuilt BOMs hide small mistakes
A bill of materials typed from scratch has gaps. The estimator forgets DIN rail, ferrules, cable glands or the door lock. These small items get missed on the quote and then absorbed by the shop.
A panel template holds the fixed core. Think of a motor starter section, a PLC rack with its I/O cards, a 24 volt supply and a safety relay block. Each block lists every part, including the small ones.
Then the estimator picks blocks, sets motor ratings and counts I/O points, and the list builds itself with cable, ferrules, DIN rail and glands added by rule. Nothing is retyped.
Approvals add days nobody sees
A senior engineer often reviews the quote before it goes out. That reviewer is usually busy with a live job. The quote sits in an inbox between a commissioning report and a drawing query, and the customer hears nothing for two days while the sales engineer keeps apologising.
Review gets faster when the reviewer sees only what changed from the template, such as a larger VFD, an extra safety relay or a different PLC family. A short list of deviations takes minutes to read. A full BOM takes an hour.
Set a rule for who must review. A repeat panel from a standard template may need no review at all, while a special design always does.
Build the template library one panel at a time
Do not try to template every panel in one push. Start with the three panel types you quote most often. Pull their last five jobs and compare the BOMs line by line, spotting what repeats.
What appears in every job becomes the template. What changes becomes an option. Record the options with a short rule, such as which breaker follows which motor rating.
Add one panel type each month. After a quarter, most quotes begin from a template. Begin by listing the panel types quoted in the last year, then pick the top three.
Panel quote template sheet
This worksheet fits on a single sheet and splits into four parts. Part one records panel type, voltage, enclosure rating and customer. Part two ticks template sections for motor starters, PLC rack, supply and safety. Part three is a price table with part, supplier, last quoted price and date. Part four holds reviewer name and deviations.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
How long should a PLC panel quote take?
It depends on how special the design is. A repeat panel built from a stored template can be quoted in a short sitting. A new design needs supplier prices and an engineer’s review, so it takes longer.
Do I need software for panel templates?
You can start in a spreadsheet with one tab per template. Software helps once prices, revisions and reviewers multiply and the sheets drift apart.
Why do supplier prices slow us down?
Each supplier replies at its own pace, and old prices cannot be trusted. Stored prices with dates let you quote at once and only ask about stale lines.
Who should approve a panel quote?
Set the rule by risk. Repeat panels from a standard template may need only the estimator. Custom designs, large drives and safety circuits should go to a senior engineer.