Quoting speed is often judged by what happens after an estimator opens a request. But the clock starts earlier, when a customer sends an email and someone at the plant has to turn that message into usable specifications. That first stretch of work can determine how quickly the team is able to respond.
At many corrugated plants, the information is there. It simply arrives in the format that works for the customer: an email, an attachment, perhaps several items in one request. The challenge is getting from that format to a request an estimator can evaluate.
The first delay is hidden in the request
Consider what happens when an RFQ lands in a shared inbox. Someone reads the message, opens its attachments, finds dimensions and board requirements, matches quantities to the right items, and enters the details into a quoting application. If a value is unclear or absent, the team may need to go back to the source or follow up with the customer.
Each task seems small. Together, they create a gap between receiving an opportunity and starting the work that will produce a quote. A plant that measures only the time spent estimating after a request is entered may miss this earlier delay.
Manual entry uses the same people who move opportunities forward
Customer service and estimating teams bring judgment to quoting. They interpret requirements, resolve questions, assess what can be produced, and help the plant respond with confidence. Repeatedly copying information from customer emails gives them less time for that work.
The effect grows when requests contain multiple items or arrive in volume. Each additional request brings more details to find and enter before the team can begin its review. For plant leaders looking to improve quote turnaround, the intake step deserves the same attention as the estimate itself.
Make the first human touch count
A useful way to approach intake is to give the team a prepared starting point. When the details from an email and its attachments are organized into draft RFQ lines, the first person to handle the request can review what was captured, identify gaps, and move it forward.
That review matters. An estimator still needs to apply experience and make decisions about the quote. The productivity gain comes from spending more of that expertise on the request itself and less on transcription.
Connect intake to the rest of quoting
This is the step addressed by the new Email Intake Agent in Amtech Quick Quote. It reads inbound requests and attachments, drafts one or multiple RFQ lines, flags information it cannot find, and shows confidence levels for extracted values. Customer service and estimating teams review the details before continuing with the normal quoting process.
The connection extends beyond the initial request. EnCore master data flows into Quick Quote and is kept current, and a won quote is written back to EnCore as a spec and a quote without re-keying. Addressing the first step is more valuable when the information can keep moving through the quote-to-order process.
Faster intake gives a plant more capacity to respond to opportunities using the team it already has. Danna Nelson, SVP of Products at Amtech Software, describes the Email Intake Agent as delivering “immediate revenue and productivity value.” As an Amtech-delivered capability embedded in Quick Quote, it also brings AI to the front office while helping IT departments manage supportability. That combination makes intake a practical place to improve quoting: people get to the work that matters sooner, and the technology fits within the broader Amtech ecosystem.
Ready to learn more?
See how Amtech is putting this approach into practice with the Email Intake Agent in Amtech Quick Quote. Read the launch announcement.
Ready to see it in action? Take a tour.
