Why This Matters to Distributors: Order and quote entry remains one of the most labor-intensive processes in wholesale distribution. Proton.ai’s new platform is designed to automate much of that work, helping distributors reduce manual processing, improve response times, and allow sales teams to focus on customer relationships and more complex selling activities.
Proton.ai has launched an artificial intelligence platform designed to automate order and quote entry for wholesale distributors, expanding its software portfolio with a tool aimed at reducing manual work in the sales process.
The company announced availability of Proton Order & Quote Entry Automation, a platform that uses AI to convert customer emails, spreadsheets, PDF documents, and other purchase requests into draft quotes for sales representatives to review before they are sent to customers.
The launch expands Proton.ai’s existing platform, which includes customer relationship management, product information management, and e-commerce applications for distributors.
The software is designed to interpret customer requests, identify products, recommend substitute items when products are unavailable, generate draft quotes and prepare customer emails using customer-specific pricing and catalog data. Sales representatives review and approve every quote before it is delivered to a customer.
Proton.ai said the platform accepts customer requests in multiple formats, including forwarded emails, spreadsheets, and PDF files. Sales representatives can also enter requests by speaking into the application during customer conversations.
The company said the software is intended to reduce the time sales representatives spend moving between enterprise resource planning systems, product catalogs and pricing tools while preparing customer quotations.
In addition to drafting quotes, the platform can identify substitute products when requested items are unavailable and prepare follow-up communications after a quote is sent. Distributors retain final approval over all customer-facing communications.
Building Products Inc., a wholesale building materials distributor serving retail lumberyards in the Midwest, is among the early users of the platform.
Proton.ai also said one of North America’s largest industrial distributors evaluated the software against an internally developed product cross-reference system during a proof-of-value project.
According to the company, the platform identified the correct product from description-only requests three times more often than the distributor’s existing system and reduced list preparation time by 75%. Proton.ai did not identify the distributor, and the results were not independently verified.
The company said Order & Quote Entry Automation operates on the same data platform as its CRM, PIM, and ecommerce products, allowing information generated in one application to be used across the platform.
The launch reflects broader investment in AI applications for wholesale distribution. While many early AI deployments focused on customer service and internal productivity, software providers are increasingly targeting operational workflows such as order entry, product matching, pricing, and inventory management.
Those functions remain among the most labor-intensive activities for distributors, particularly when customers submit incomplete product descriptions, competitor part numbers or handwritten lists that require employees to search multiple systems before preparing a quote.
Founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Proton.ai develops AI software for wholesale distributors, including applications for customer relationship management, product information management, ecommerce, and sales operations.
Do not miss any content from Distribution Strategy Group. Join our list.
Share this article:
