From Zip to Quote in Hours: Automating PCB & PCBA Quoting with Should-Cost Analysis

Fabricators and EMS providers spend many engineering hours reviewing design packages just to answer RFQs, and many of those quotes never become orders. This talk looks at how should-cost tools automate the slow steps: reading Gerbers and drill files, extracting stackup and feature data, scrubbing the BOM, flagging DFM issues and producing consistent line-item pricing. We will cover where automation is reliable, where an engineer still needs to review the job, and how to feed structured cost data into quoting, ERP and customer-portal workflows through APIs. Attendees will learn how to cut quote turnaround from days to hours while protecting margin.