What manufacturing sales actually needs
A manufacturer sells to customers on framework agreements, not anonymous buyers reading a storefront price list. Price depends on batch size, material, sometimes the raw-material season. Lead time is as much a part of the offer as price: a customer ordering against a specific production run needs to know when the goods will arrive before placing the order at all.
- Contract pricing: negotiated with a specific customer, valid for an agreed period, independent of the general price list.
- Configurable products: variants, materials and finishes selected per order, not picked from a fixed SKU list.
- Orders tied to the schedule: the delivery date follows the production line’s load, not a shelf stock count.
How it works in Endora Commerce
The pricing engine handles contract pricing as a separate pricelist assigned to one customer, with volume thresholds and rules that override the base list. Where price and lead time need a conversation before the order is placed, a request for quote steps in: the customer describes the need, the sales rep prices it and sets the date, and an accepted RFQ turns into an order in one click.
The order lifecycle is fully configurable, so stages like “in production” or “ready to ship” get defined once and wired to notifications or an ERP write-back. ERP integration keeps the production schedule and material stock in one source of truth instead of splitting it across systems.
Who this fits
It fits where the catalog runs to dozens or hundreds of configurable line items, not thousands of ready-made SKUs, and most of the volume comes from regular, contracted customers. If an order starts with a question about price and lead time and ends as a line in the production schedule, this is exactly that pattern.
See also the platform features or all industries Endora Commerce fits.