How DriveWorks CPQ Enhances Manufacturing Accuracy

Manufacturers today face increased pressure to deliver customisable products quickly and accurately. This is where DriveWorks CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) becomes an indispensable tool, helping companies automate complex processes that are crucial for meeting customer expectations and improving operational efficiency. But what exactly does DriveWorks CPQ do, and how can it benefit your manufacturing business?

Understanding CPQ in Manufacturing

CPQ software, specifically tailored for the manufacturing industry, helps businesses manage and streamline the entire sales process for configurable products. When dealing with products that require custom specifications- whether it’s different sizes, materials, or additional features; having a solution that ensures accuracy is essential. DriveWorks CPQ goes beyond basic configuration by allowing users to define every variable that a customer may request.

For a business, this means the ability to guide customers through a step-by-step configuration process, ensuring all the choices they make are compatible. Once configured, DriveWorks automatically generates a detailed quote and sends this data to the relevant departments like engineering, purchasing, and production, reducing the likelihood of human error or delays in information flow.

Integration with Existing Systems

One of the most significant advantages of DriveWorks CPQ is its ability to integrate seamlessly with other business systems. For example, it can connect to your company’s CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems. This integration allows real-time syncing of data across departments, ensuring that sales, design, and manufacturing teams are always working with the most up-to-date information.

When a sales representative uses DriveWorks CPQ to create a custom order, the software automatically communicates that order’s specifics to the ERP system, so inventory levels, pricing, and lead times are adjusted in real time. This integration also extends to CAD (Computer-Aided Design) systems, allowing for the automatic generation of manufacturing data such as technical drawings and 3D models based on the customer’s configuration choices.

Reducing Errors and Increasing Efficiency

In traditional manufacturing environments, quoting a custom product often involves several stages of back-and-forth between sales and engineering teams, increasing the risk of miscommunication and errors. With DriveWorks CPQ, this process is streamlined into a single digital workflow, reducing manual entry, preventing mistakes, and freeing up time for more value added tasks.

Automating the configuration and quoting process also speeds up production, as accurate manufacturing data is immediately generated from the order. This reduces lead times and ensures that customers receive their products faster. The 3D visualisation feature of DriveWorks CPQ further enhances the customer experience by giving them real-time visuals of their configured product, so they know exactly what to expect.

Customisation and Flexibility for Unique Products

Many manufacturers deal with highly customisable products that may vary from order to order. DriveWorks CPQ allows you to predefine every option and rule within the configurator, ensuring customers only select viable configurations that can be manufactured. This flexibility makes it particularly useful for businesses that deal with one-off or highly engineered products.

Additionally, DriveWorks CPQ provides companies with the ability to build branded, user-friendly configurators. These configurators can be web-based, giving customers the freedom to configure products anytime and anywhere, and from any device. This not only increases customer engagement but also provides a scalable solution for companies with global customer bases.

Empowering Sales and Engineering Teams

For sales teams, DriveWorks CPQ is an invaluable tool, allowing them to provide fast, accurate quotes and visualisations without relying on the engineering team for technical input. This frees up engineers to focus on innovation rather than spending time verifying configurations or generating quotes.

The system also benefits engineers by reducing the need for repetitive work. Instead of manually creating CAD models or drawings for each new configuration, the software automates this process based on pre-defined rules. This helps ensure that engineering resources are used efficiently and that all technical documentation is consistent and accurate.

Why DriveWorks CPQ is a Must-Have for Manufacturers

As the manufacturing industry continues to move towards greater automation and customisation, tools like DriveWorks CPQ are becoming essential. They provide the ability to meet customer demands quickly, accurately, and efficiently. Whether you’re a small manufacturer looking to scale operations or a large enterprise managing thousands of configurable products, implementing CPQ software can reduce lead times, eliminate errors, and increase overall customer satisfaction.

Moreover, the flexibility of DriveWorks CPQ makes it an excellent solution for companies that want to integrate the system into their existing workflows, without overhauling current processes. Its ability to work in harmony with other business-critical systems makes it a powerful tool that can grow and evolve with your business.

DriveWorks CPQ for all

In conclusion, DriveWorks CPQ transforms the way manufacturers handle configurable products, from sales to production. It automates repetitive tasks, improves accuracy, and enhances customer satisfaction, all while saving time and resources. As manufacturing continues to evolve, adopting solutions like DriveWorks CPQ will be vital for companies looking to stay competitive and responsive to market demands. Take the next steps today, watch the video below, or visit our DriveWorks product page to learn more…

	About the author: This blog post was written by Elite SOLIDWORKS Applications Engineer, Myles Bryning. Myles has been with the Visiativ Technical Support Team since 2011 and is a Certified DriveWorks Professional.