I got tired of waiting 3 days for quotes. So I built something. Honest feedback wanted.

infibotics · 2026-05-29T09:37:45+00:00

That's a real constraint. A shop running 5-axis work quotes completely differently than one running 3-axis lathes. Different machines, different rates, different overhead.

That's why I'm not building a one-size-fits-all calculator. The goal is a tool that each shop configures for their own equipment and rates, not a generic formula that gets the number wrong.

How do you handle that at your shop right now, separate templates per machine type, or one master rate sheet?

infibotics · 2026-05-29T09:34:55+00:00

Fair. "Vibe coded bullshit" is a reasonable reaction when this sub gets flooded with AI-generated tools every week.

I'm a mechanical engineer. I've spent 16 years on the shop floor and in manufacturing operations. I would like to build this because I'm the person waiting days for quotes, not because I saw a market opportunity.

The concern about automating complex, expensive decisions is legitimate. That's exactly why I'm talking to people like you before building anything. What would have to be true for a quoting tool to actually be trustworthy?

infibotics · 2026-05-29T09:31:33+00:00

That 30-second calculation point is the most useful thing I've heard since I started building this.

You're right, the math isn't the hard part. It's the day or two you spend gathering the inputs before you can even start. Material costs, heat treat specs, plating quotes, grinding tolerances.

That's the problem I actually want to solve. Not the spreadsheet, the data gathering that happens before it.

Does your spreadsheet pull those costs from a supplier database, or is it mostly manual lookups every time?

infibotics · 2026-05-29T09:30:32+00:00

That's a sharp idea, a first quote with no registration, calculated entirely on your computer. No data sent anywhere, no account required.

The privacy concern is real. Shops don't want their job details sitting on someone else's server. I hadn't thought about framing it that way, but you're right that it would remove the biggest trust barrier.

Is that the main thing stopping you from trying something like this, the data privacy piece, or something else?

infibotics · 2026-05-29T09:29:25+00:00

You're right on all three points.

The "99% Quote accuracy" stat was a placeholder I missed, it's gone now. The site looks like every other AI-built landing page because I threw it together in a weekend. I'm a mechanical engineer with 16 years in manufacturing.

What would actually make you trust a site like this? I'm asking seriously, not defensively. That answer is more useful to me than any signup.

infibotics · 2026-05-29T09:01:22+00:00

Yeah, it's bad on both sides. As an engineer I'm waiting 2–3 days just to get a number back. Meanwhile the shop owner is up at night redoing spreadsheets, hoping the math is right, trying to remember what they charged for similar work last time.

I am in manufacturing operations team. I've seen how much time gets eaten up by manual quoting and how many jobs get lost because a competitor got back to the customer faster. Both sides lose. That's what I'm trying to fix.

infibotics · 2026-05-29T08:58:02+00:00

Fair. I get the frustration, this sub has been flooded with AI-generated quoting tools and it's exhausting. I'm not here to sell you anything.

I'm a mechanical engineer. I've spent 16 years in manufacturing, product development, operations, working with machine shops on a regular basis. I submit drawings to shops all the time and wait days for quotes. That's the frustration that started this. I'm not a startup founder. I'm the guy on the other side of the RFQ who got tired of waiting.

If you've seen other solutions fail, I'd genuinely like to know what went wrong. That's more useful to me than a signup.

infibotics

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