One Applications Engineer across the whole RFQ-to-quote workflow.
Axle isn't a quote writer with an AI label on it. It performs the applications-engineering work between an incoming technical request and a priced, validated quote, and it hands your engineer the evidence along with the answer.
End to end, in one system.
Understand
RFQ intake and requirements extraction.
Engineer
Selection, configuration, sizing, BOM.
Source
Vendor cost, availability, lead time.
Price
Customer pricing and margin rules.
Validate
Engineering and commercial checks.
Deliver
Quote, submittal, system writeback.
Below, each capability in the order the work happens: what Axle receives, what it does, what it produces, and when a person steps in.
What Axle does with an RFQ.
Each stage of the work, with the artifact it produces. Every example below is illustrative.
Reads the request, however it arrives
Emails, formal RFQ packages, spec sheets, datasheets, spreadsheets, photos of marked-up documents. Axle extracts the duty and the conditions, cross-checks the documents against each other, and lists what's missing instead of assuming it.
- Flow: 300 GPMemail + spec p.2
- Head: 180 ft TDHspec p.2
- Wetted materials: 316 SSemail + spec p.2
- Solids contentmissing, asked
Selects the right product from your line card
Narrows to the candidates that meet the duty, materials, approvals and customer standards, ranks them by fit, availability and your history, and shows what it ruled out and why. Manufacturer equivalents surface where substitution is allowed.
- ANSI 3x2-10, 316 SS, 1750 RPMSelected: 96% BEP, 3 approved jobs
- ANSI 3x1.5-13, 316 SS, 1750 RPMRuled out: duty at 68% BEP
- ANSI 3x2-10, 316 SS, 3500 RPMRuled out: NPSHr exceeds available
Configures it so it's buildable and orderable
Every option set: materials of construction, connections, seals, enclosures, coatings, drivers, controls, certifications. Invalid combinations are rejected against manufacturer rules, and the accessories the application needs get added.
| Casing, impeller, sleeve | 316 SS | valid |
| Seal | Single mechanical, Plan 11 | KS-11 |
| Motor | 15 HP TEFC, 460 V, 1750 | valid |
| Flanges | 150# RF | valid |
| Seal support | Plan 53 with Plan 11 | incompatible |
Runs the sizing, deterministically
Where the application requires it, Axle runs the sizing and check calculations for the product class: curves and operating points, NPSH margins, motor sizing, Cv and pressure drop, range and turndown, load and fault current. The math runs in code, not in a language model, and the inputs and margins are shown.
- ✓NPSHa 22 ft vs NPSHr 9 ft13 ft margin
- ✓12.4 BHP at duty, 15 HP selectednon-overloading
Builds the whole bill of materials
The main equipment and everything around it: drivers, mounting, seals, guards, instruments, fittings, spares, labor and services where you quote them. Your part numbers, your descriptions, and a source for every line.
| # | Item | Qty | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pump, ANSI 3x2-10, 316 SS | 1 | selection |
| 2 | Motor, 15 HP TEFC, 460 V | 1 | sizing |
| 3 | Baseplate, fabricated steel | 1 | accessory rule |
| 4 | Mechanical seal, Plan 11 | 1 | customer std KS-11 |
| 5 | Startup service, 1 day | 1 | past job Q-0917 |
| 9 more lines | |||
Gets current vendor cost, availability and lead time
Each line priced from the freshest source you have. Where none exists, Axle drafts the supplier RFQ, sends it, and reads the response back into the BOM with the date attached. Nothing on the quote is priced off last quarter's sheet.
| Item | Cost | Source | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pump, ANSI 3x2-10 | $6,120 | vendor quote · today | 4 wk |
| Motor, 15 HP TEFC | $1,240 | price file · Sep | stock |
| Mechanical seal | $610 | 41 days old, refreshed | 2 wk |
Applies your pricing, the same way every time
Customer contracts and price lists, discount structures, margin floors by product line or customer. Any line below floor gets flagged, and Axle surfaces where a valid alternative improves margin without changing the fit.
Checks its own work before you see it
Selection against requirements, compatibility across the BOM, calculation results against margins, configuration rules, customer specs, pricing and availability. Every assumption it made is listed, so failed checks and low-confidence items are the engineer's starting point, not the whole quote.
- ✓Requirements covered by selection7 of 7
- ✓Duty inside allowable region96% BEP
- ✓Vendor pricing under 30 days1 refreshed
- ?NPSHa assumes flooded suctionpending customer
Delivers your documents, in your templates
The quote or proposal in your exact format, the BOM in your Excel template, and the submittal package with datasheets, curves and certifications attached. Buyers see the paperwork you've always sent, sooner.
Writes back to the systems that run your business
On approval, the quote, opportunity, line items and documents are created or updated in your ERP and CRM. Where a system has no API, Axle produces the import file your team already uses. No re-keying.
- ✓ERP: quote Q-1184 created, 14 linescustomer, terms, ship-to matched to account
- ✓CRM: opportunity updatedstage Quoted, amount $13,590, close date set
- ✓Documents attached to both records
Learns how your company does the work
Catalogs and manuals, historical RFQs and quotes, final BOMs, customer standards, engineering rules, and every correction an engineer makes. Axle compares each sent final against its own draft and proposes a rule. You accept or reject it with one click.
Runs as autonomously as you decide, per class of work
You define standard versus exceptional work: product classes, customers, dollar thresholds, margin floors, risk flags. Every job routes to the right level, and any class can be pulled back to full review with one setting.
- New customers, any jobLevel 1 · review all
- Pump reselections under $25k, existing customersLevel 2 · review exceptions
- Repeat parts orders, contract pricingLevel 3 · autonomous
Each does part of the job. Axle does the job.
A general AI assistant can read a spec and draft text. A CPQ or ERP stores your products and formats a quote. Neither does the applications-engineering work in between.
| Capability | General AI assistantChatGPT, Claude | CPQ or ERP | Axle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reads RFQs, specs and emails in any format | ✓one at a time, by hand | – | ✓ |
| Knows your catalog, price book and past jobs | – | ✓products and prices | ✓ |
| Selects and configures products for an application | ~general knowledge, no rules | ~configures known products; doesn't select | ✓ |
| Runs sizing calculations deterministically | –model arithmetic | – | ✓ |
| Gets current vendor cost and lead time | – | ~stored costs, often stale | ✓ |
| Validates its own work and shows sources | – | – | ✓ |
| Produces quotes in your templates | ~text only | ✓ | ✓ |
| Writes back to ERP and CRM | – | ✓it is the ERP | ✓ |
| Learns from your corrections | – | – | ✓ |
| Human approval thresholds and audit trail | – | ~approval workflows | ✓ |
✓ does it · ~ partly · – doesn't. Axle works alongside your ERP and CRM rather than replacing them.
See it on one of your RFQs.
Bring a recent technical request and the quote you sent for it. We'll show you what Axle produces from the same inputs, and where it would have asked you a question.