WHY NOW
Why technical requirements deserve closer attention
Three developments are hitting machinery and plant engineering at once, changing how much effort a dependable bid decision takes.
Inquiries keep getting more detailed
Speeds, tolerances, interfaces, and availability figures are spread by the hundreds across chapters, appendices, and data sheets. Today they are mostly transcribed into comparison spreadsheets by hand, which severs the link to the source passage.
Effort per bid matters
Flat demand and global competition meet bids that shuttle back and forth between sales and engineering. Recurring questions about design and availability sit in inboxes while the deadline runs down.
Keep hard-won experience available
Which design has proven itself and where the edge cases lie is knowledge held by a few experienced colleagues. When they leave the company, assessing similar inquiries starts from scratch again.
AN ILLUSTRATIVE PROCESS
From customer specification to plant proposal
Sales, engineering, and procurement bring customer requirements, product knowledge, and supplier information together into one aligned proposal.
Review the inquiry and gauge the effort
Sales receives the customer specification, attachments, and delivery terms by email or through a customer portal. Together with the technical departments, they judge whether the inquiry is technically and commercially attractive and can be handled with the capacity available.
Transcribe requirements into working lists
Each department reads the documents from its own perspective. Technical requirements, commercial terms, and required evidence are transferred into spreadsheets or comment lists. The different working versions then have to be merged.
Review existing solutions and modifications
Engineering compares the requirements against product data, existing configurations, and earlier projects. Open questions are discussed with colleagues and with the customer. Results and changes have to be fed back into the respective lists.
Involve suppliers and determine costs
Procurement compiles documents for purchased assemblies and requests quotes. In parallel, engineering assesses the modifications required. Responses, deviations, costs, and lead times feed into the overall calculation.
Release the proposal and hand over the project
Scope, exceptions, and commitments are aligned and released. Changes from negotiations are carried forward. If the order is won, project execution takes over the documents and needs a traceable record of the agreed requirements.
Keeping the overview depends on lists, meeting outcomes, and technical assessments staying current across everyone involved.
WITH DECOTA
What improves for your team
Spot requirements and contradictions earlier
DECOTA captures the technical requirements from the customer specification, the attachments, and the data sheets and links each one to its source passage. Your team sees contradictory figures and open items before anything is priced.
Reuse reviewed assessments
For every requirement, DECOTA finds similar requirements from earlier inquiries along with the assessment made at the time. Proven designs stay documented in-house, even when experienced colleagues leave.
Turn requirements into a structured response
The assessed requirements form the basis for the functional specification, which is produced directly from the case. If a requirement changes during a clarification meeting, the link within the document is preserved.
FOR DECISION MAKERS, IN SHORT
Your engineering team gains time for new solutions. Existing configurations and earlier assessments help resolve technical questions faster. Sales and estimating see sooner which requirements are met and where modifications will be needed.
Frequently asked questions
How does DECOTA support the transition to the EU Machinery Regulation?
DECOTA supports comparing stored specifications against documented requirements and product revisions. Your team can trace which open inquiries or products are linked to a changed specification and which assessments need review. Which requirements actually apply, and what action is needed, is determined by the responsible department.
Our proposals combine machine, options, and service. Can that be represented?
Yes. Service and maintenance scopes are captured in the knowledge base like product attributes and checked against the requirements of each inquiry. That shows which part of the scope covers a given requirement.
We purchase assemblies externally. Does DECOTA help with supplier requirements?
From the assessed requirements you compile a package for a trade or an assembly whose items point back to the customer inquiry. You assign the responses to the individual requirements. Sending it out runs through your existing channels.
Where can DECOTA take pressure off your team
In a first 30-minute conversation we learn how you work today, examine where DECOTA fits, and assess together what value it can deliver for your team.
Schedule a conversation