QuotedPartComparisons · Updated 2026-10-30
Is Fulcrum quoting good enough, or do I need separate quoting software?
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For most Fulcrum shops, Fulcrum's own quoting is good enough when the estimator already knows the routing. It costs the quote from the BOM and routing at your labor, material and machine rates. It nests a DXF on the quote for material and machine time, and gives lead times from Autoschedule. What it doesn't describe is reading the customer's model or print to work out the routing and minutes for you. A separate quoting tool earns its place when that step is the bottleneck: many new parts a week, mostly from PDFs and STEP files. The worked example below shows what that step produces for a 14 ga bracket: 3 operations and $14.56 a part at 50 pieces.
See how QuotedPart connects to your workflow with its API, MCP server, autonomous quoting and shop-specific learning.
What Fulcrum's quoting does
Everything here comes from Fulcrum's quoting and BOM pages, read on October 30, 2026. A quote in Fulcrum is built on the item's BOM and routing. You import a BOM from drawings or CAD, or build it, then add routing steps, and costs update from labor, material and machine details. Fulcrum also reads image files, PDFs, CSVs and XLSX files to create a BOM. For sheet work, you can upload a DXF on the quote to nest it and update material and machine time.
Because the quote lives in the ERP, the rest of the shop benefits. Lead times come from Autoschedule's estimated completion dates, so the promise date reflects real load. Vendor RFQs for outside processing go out from Fulcrum, and the chosen vendor's cost lands on the quote. Customers can follow their orders and invoices in a Customer Portal. A standalone quoting tool can't match that link to scheduling, purchasing and job costing.
- BOM and routing: Quotes built from imported or drawn BOMs and routings; costs update from labor, material and machine details
- Sheet: Upload a DXF on a quote to generate a nest and update material and machine time
- Lead time: Lead times on quotes come from Autoschedule's estimated completion dates
- Outside services: Email sync to send vendor RFQs and add the chosen vendor's cost to the quote
What it leaves to the estimator
Fulcrum's pages don't say that it measures a 3D model for machining features or reads a print's material, finish, tolerance and notes into the quote. The routing steps and their minutes are yours to enter, or to copy from a similar item. For a repeat part, that's quick. For a new part, someone still has to look at the print, decide the operations and estimate setup and run time before Fulcrum's costing has anything to work with.
That is the step quoting tools automate, and the reason several of them integrate with Fulcrum. Paperless Parts lists Fulcrum among its live ERP integrations, and Machine Research names Fulcrum too. Before you buy one, ask the vendor exactly what lands in Fulcrum: the item, the routing with minutes, the quote, or only a sales order.
The step Fulcrum leaves to you, worked through on a bracket
Here is a fictional 8 in long U-bracket in 14 ga (0.075 in) cold-rolled steel, with two 90° bends and six Ø0.281 holes, powder coated. Our pricing engine builds the routing from the drawing at the US default rates. The operations table shows what an estimator would otherwise enter into Fulcrum by hand. At 50 pieces the biggest cost line is powder coat, $224.00 for the lot. Powder coat carries the coater's lot charge, which is spread over the order, so the price per part drops steeply from 10 to 50 pieces.
Our pricing engine doesn't nest. It prices material by blank weight, and a Fulcrum nest of your real sheet would be more accurate for the material line. In practice the two cover different parts of the same job: the quoting tool proposes the routing and minutes, and Fulcrum nests, schedules and costs the job.
| Operation | Work center | Rate | Setup min (lot) | Run min (part) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laser cut | Fiber laser | $175/h | 15.0 | 0.80 |
| Bend, 2 bends | Press brake | $80/h | 26.0 | 0.40 |
| Deburr | Deburr / bench | $55/h | 5.0 | 0.80 |
Where the money goes, and the decision
The cost lines below are for the 50-piece lot. Look at the setup and programming line against machine and labor: at short runs, setup is a large share of the price, and the routing you enter in Fulcrum needs to carry that setup correctly.
Keep quoting in Fulcrum if most RFQs are repeat parts or close cousins, one or two people quote, and the estimator can build a routing quickly. Add a quoting tool if new parts dominate, prints arrive as PDFs and STEP files, and quotes wait on the person who knows the routings. QuotedPart reads the PDF and STEP files and prices every quantity at your rates for $199/month per shop, billed monthly. It doesn't send quotes into Fulcrum today: you'd re-enter the item, or export CSV or Excel and use Fulcrum's import, so check whether that is acceptable for your volume.
| Cost line | Lot | Per part |
|---|---|---|
| CRS sheet (1008/1010), 0.69 kg each | $72.28 | $1.45 |
| Setup and programming | $83.00 | $1.66 |
| Machine and labor | $180.72 | $3.61 |
| Powder coat | $224.00 | $4.48 |
The bracket at three quantities
- • Fictional U-bracket: 8 × 3 × 2 in formed, 14 ga (0.075 in) CRS, flat 8 × 6.8 in, two 90° bends, six Ø0.281 holes
- • Laser cut, press brake, deburr; powder coat as an outside service with its lot charge
- • US catalog default rates (fiber laser $175/h, press brake $80/h, bench $55/h) and 30% markup
- • Material priced by blank weight; no nesting
- • Freight, tax and customer-specific terms excluded
| Quantity | Cost per part | Price per part | Lot price | Lead days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | $35.75 | $46.48 | $464.80 | 11 |
| 50 | $11.20 | $14.56 | $728.00 | 11 |
| 250 | $8.04 | $10.45 | $2,612.50 | 12 |
Sources and limits
Claims are dated where they can change. Product calculations are examples from the stated inputs, not a promise about a customer's quote. Competitor wording is attributed to the source shown.
- Fulcrum: Quotes built from imported or drawn BOMs and routings; costs update from labor, material and machine details (their words: “Import BOMs from drawings or CAD software and easily add routing steps.”) — source (checked 2026-11-04)
- Fulcrum: Reads image files, PDFs, CSVs or XLSX files to create a bill of materials; BOM lines can be imported during the quote or sales order workflow (their words: “Fulcrum reads image files, PDFs, CSVs, or XLSXs and creates a full bill of materials in seconds.”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- Fulcrum: Upload a DXF on a quote to generate a nest and update material and machine time (their words: “Upload a DXF file directly on a quote to generate a nest and automatically update material and machine time cost estimates without leaving Fulcrum.”) — source (checked 2026-11-04)
- Fulcrum: Lead times on quotes come from Autoschedule's estimated completion dates (their words: “automatically calculating estimated production completion dates — all made possible by the autoschedule”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- Fulcrum: Email sync to send vendor RFQs and add the chosen vendor's cost to the quote (their words: “Send and track RFQs directly through the platform, and once vendors are selected, allow Fulcrum to automatically add costs to the quote.”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- Fulcrum: Customer Portal shows customers their order and invoice status (their words: “Updates from the shop floor flow automatically to a secure Customer Portal.”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- Paperless Parts: Live ERP integrations named: Epicor (10/11/Kinetic), ECI (E2 Shop, JobBOSS, JobBOSS², M1), Fulcrum, Global Shop Solutions, Infor VISUAL/SyteLine, ProShop, Made2Manage, MIE Trak Pro (their words: “We currently have live integrations for the following ERP systems: Epicor (10/11/Kinetic), ECI (E2 Shop, JobBOSS, JobBOSS², M1), Fulcrum, Global Shop Solutions, Infor VISUAL / SyteLine, ProShop, Made2Manage, MIE Trak Pro.”) — source (checked 2026-11-04)
- Machine Research: Integrates with QuickBooks, JobBOSS², ProShop ERP and Fulcrum (their words: “Machine Research integrates with QuickBooks, JobBOSS², ProShop ERP, and Fulcrum, with more integrations in development.”) — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- QuotedPart: STEP/IGES models measured in the browser, DXF flat patterns, PDF drawings read; a part can be priced from the PDF drawing alone; Send to JobBOSS² (estimates, routing and quote via ECI's API); Export for JobBOSS (on-premise); CSV and Excel export for any other system. — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- The bracket is fictional. Operations and prices are our pricing engine's output at the US catalog's default rates and 30% markup, not a Fulcrum calculation or a market price.
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