Plumbing

Automated quoting for plumbing suppliers

Elbow, bend and knuckle are the same part with three names — and the customer uses one, your catalogue another. Tablia searches by meaning, not by identical text, and returns the quote for the salesperson to check.

The customer asks three stores and buys from whoever answers first. How many lines does your salesperson look up twice because the part is catalogued under another name?

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Valley Plumbing

online

  1. Good morning! I need the material for the riser, can you quote it?

  2. Good morning! Send the list right here — text, a photo of the paper or a file.

  3. 10 elbow 90 3/4 solvent weld 6 coupling 3/4 solvent weld 4 tee 90 25mm 2 ball valve 3/4 20 pvc pipe 25mm 6m 1 flange adaptor 3/4

  4. Got it. That is 6 items — I am checking them against the store's stock now.

  5. Quote #HV18 is ready. 5 of the 6 items; I marked the 3/4 flange adaptor as missing.

    📄 quote-HV18.pdf

  6. Can the valve be another brand?

  7. It can. Here is version 2 of #HV18 with a ball valve from another brand; the previous one is now superseded.

    📄 quote-HV18-v2.pdf

Illustrative conversation. Store, items and codes are examples.

A riser list, exactly as it arrives

The same list asks in inches on four lines and in millimetres on two. The store's catalogue uses one of the two — never both.

Store WhatsApp

Good morning! I need the material for the riser, here is the list:

10 elbow 90 3/4 solvent weld

6 coupling 3/4 solvent weld

4 tee 90 25mm

2 ball valve 3/4

20 pvc pipe 25mm 6m

1 flange adaptor 3/4

07:12

What Tablia read

  • 10 pcelbow 90 3/4 solvent weldPVC 90 BEND SOLVENT WELD 25MM
  • 6 pccoupling 3/4 solvent weldPVC SOLVENT WELD COUPLING 25MM
  • 4 pctee 90 25mmPVC SOLVENT WELD TEE 90 25MM
  • 2 pcball valve 3/4SOLVENT WELD BALL VALVE 25MM
  • 20 lenpvc pipe 25mm 6mPVC SOLVENT WELD PIPE 25MM 6M LENGTH
  • 1 pcflange adaptor 3/4Not found in your catalogue

5 of 6 items found. Whatever is missing goes to the salesperson with the customer's original wording — nothing disappears from the quote quietly.

Illustrative example. The list and the catalogue names are fictional.

The same part with three names and two units

Exact-text search does not find “bend” when the customer wrote “elbow”. Search by meaning does — and that is the difference between quoting six lines and quoting ten.

10quantity
elbowproduct
90angle
3/4bore
solvent weldclass

In the catalogue that part may sit as PVC 90 BEND SOLVENT WELD 25MM. Different name, different unit, same part. That is the kind of match search by meaning solves and exact-text search does not.

Three names, one part

Elbow, bend and knuckle live side by side at the same counter. The customer uses the name they learned.

Solvent weld is not threaded

Same bore, same look on the list, and parts that do not fit together on site.

Inches and millimetres

The customer asks in inches, the catalogue stores millimetres. Both are right, and only one is written down.

How Tablia reads the plumber's list

  1. 01

    It separates item from quantity

    The list is read line by line, and the number that is a quantity is kept apart from the bore and the length of the pipe.

  2. 02

    It keeps bore and class in the name

    3/4, 25 mm, solvent weld and threaded stay attached to the item, instead of becoming loose text that gets lost in the search.

  3. 03

    It accepts the other name for the part

    Alternative names recorded on the product are searched too. That is how “elbow” finds what your store calls a bend.

  4. 04

    It searches by meaning

    Matching is by what the item means, not by text lining up character for character with the catalogue description.

  5. 05

    It flags what it could not find

    A fitting your store does not carry goes to the salesperson with the customer's original wording, instead of becoming a similar part.

The list can arrive as

PDFJPGPNGXLSXXLSDOCXCSVtexthandwritten

Handwriting is the only one that does not go in — returning a wrong quantity that looks right is worse than refusing the file.

Your catalogue works as it is

What you upload

The stock file your store already uses, in CSV, XLS or XLSX. Tablia recognises the code, description and price columns with the help of artificial intelligence, and you check the mapping before it takes effect. If your catalogue stores everything in millimetres and the customer asks in inches, it is search by meaning that bridges the gap.

What it does with what it could not find

The fitting appears to the salesperson flagged as not found, with the customer's original wording. Tablia does not move up a bore size to find something similar. The decision is your team's: add the part, propose an equivalent, adjust the quantity or say the store does not carry it.

The quote only goes out after the salesperson checks it

Nothing is sent to the customer automatically. The salesperson reviews item by item, adjusts quantities, swaps products, sets the price and decides when to send.

In plumbing it is the review that prevents the worst error: the part that arrives looking close enough, goes into the job, and only shows up as a problem after the wall is closed.

Tablia takes on

  • Reading the list, in whatever format it arrives
  • Inferring the unit nobody wrote down
  • Looking up each item in your catalogue
  • Flagging what it could not find

You decide

  • The quantity of each item
  • Swapping the product
  • The price
  • When to send

Questions from people who run a plumbing supplier

The customer writes elbow and I catalogue it as bend. Does that work?

Yes, and it is the most common case in this trade. The search is by meaning, and alternative names recorded on the product are searched too. The customer does not have to use exactly the word in your description.

What if the customer does not write the unit?

They almost never do. Tablia infers the unit from the item and from the context of the other lines — pipe usually comes in lengths, fittings in pieces. The inference appears on screen next to the item, and the salesperson corrects it if they disagree.

Does Tablia convert inches into millimetres?

There is no conversion rule inside it, and it is better to say so now. What there is, is search by meaning, which usually reaches the equivalent part. When no match comes, the item arrives to the salesperson as not found, rather than as a guess.

Do I have to tidy up my catalogue before starting?

No. You upload the stock file you already use, in CSV, XLS or XLSX, and Tablia recognises the code, description and price columns with the help of artificial intelligence. You check the mapping before it takes effect.

What happens to a fitting I do not carry?

It appears to the salesperson flagged as not found, with the customer's original wording beside it. It does not turn into a similar part and it does not vanish from the list. The decision is yours: add it, propose an equivalent, or say the store does not carry it.

In what format can the customer send the list?

PDF, a photo in JPG or PNG, a spreadsheet in XLSX or XLS, a document in DOCX, CSV or typed text. The only one that does not go in is a handwritten list: Tablia does not accept handwriting, so it never returns a wrong quantity that looks right.

Does the quote go to the customer on its own?

Never. Nothing is sent without the salesperson. They review item by item, adjust quantities, swap products, set the price and decide when to send. Tablia takes on the typing and the searching; the decision stays with whoever knows the job.

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Bring a real riser list

In the demo we use a list your store received this week, against your own catalogue. It is the fastest way to find out whether Tablia can handle what you sell.

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