Glossary
The vocabulary, defined the way the trade uses it
Original definitions in the trade’s own words, each linking back to the mechanism it describes.
Catch-all inbox
A single address like quotes@yourcompany.com where all RFQs land regardless of which salesperson a customer knows.
Division 8
The CSI MasterFormat division covering openings: doors, frames, windows, hardware, and glazing.
Door schedule
The table in an architectural drawing set listing every door opening: mark, size, type, material, fire rating, and hardware group.
ERP write-back
An integration that creates real documents, quotes and orders, inside the distributor's ERP system, rather than exporting a spreadsheet someone retypes.
Human Edit Rate
The percentage of AI-drafted quote lines that a human reviewer corrects before sending.
Omission detection (4 Eyes)
Cross-checking the schedule count, the plan symbol count, and the legend against each other to surface openings that one source lists and another misses.
Order entry automation
Turning inbound purchase orders into ERP sales orders without hand-keying.
Plan set (drawing set)
The complete package of architectural drawings for a project: floor plans, elevations, schedules, legends, and details, often hundreds of sheets for multifamily work.
Price levels
Customer-specific pricing tiers in a distributor's ERP: the same SKU sells at different prices to different accounts based on contracts, volume, and relationship.
Quote turnaround time
The elapsed time from receiving an RFQ to the customer holding a priced quote.
Quoting inbox
One shared place where a distributor's quoting and ordering actually happens: requests from email, PDF, WhatsApp, fax, and voice land in a single queue, line items match the distributor's own catalog at each customer's price level, a human approves in one action, and the ERP is updated downstream.
RFQ (request for quote)
A customer's request for pricing on a list of items, sent to a distributor by email, PDF, WhatsApp, fax, or phone.
Rollout modes (Assist, Guarded, Autopilot)
The three trust levels for AI quoting at Quoting.ai.
SKU matching
Resolving a customer's free-text request, a 10 watt light, 40 sticks of 2 inch copper, a model number with a typo, to the exact item in the distributor's catalog.
Submittal
The documentation package a subcontractor submits for approval before fabrication and installation: product data, shop drawings, and schedules.
Takeoff
The process of measuring and counting materials from construction drawings to build a bid: how many doors, how many windows, how many linear feet of wall.
Definitions are the easy part
The product behind them is live: the quoting inbox for distributors, the takeoff canvas for subs, humans in command.