How print quoting software drives profit beyond the price tag

Most print businesses believe their quoting process is a sales function. They're wrong. For a vast majority of operations, it's the single biggest, and often invisible, bottleneck strangling their entire production capacity. While presses sit idle waiting for work, experienced estimators are bogged down in spreadsheets, manually calculating prices for low-margin jobs that customers expect in minutes, not days. This friction doesn't just delay a single order; it constricts the flow of revenue through the entire plant.

The market has moved on. Enterprise customers, conditioned by seamless e-commerce experiences, now demand instant, accurate quotes. The rapid growth of short-run and on-demand jobs means the administrative cost of manual estimation can easily eclipse any potential profit. This is where modern print quoting software transcends its traditional role. It’s no longer just a calculator; it's an intelligent engine for workflow automation. At GelatoConnect, we see this transformation firsthand. Our network partners leverage an integrated system where quoting is the starting point of a frictionless production journey, not a manual gatekeeper.

Main takeaways

Here’s what you need to know about transforming your quoting process in 2025:

• Shift your mindset: View your quoting process as a critical operational constraint, not just a pre-sales task. Addressing this bottleneck unlocks the throughput of your entire facility.

• Embrace integration: Standalone quoting tools create data silos. An API-first system that connects to your ERP, web-to-print portal, and production floor is now the industry standard.

• Leverage AI for accuracy: Move beyond static price lists. AI-powered estimation uses historical production data to generate more accurate, dynamic, and profitable quotes that account for real-world variables.

• Automate the standard: The goal is to automate 80% of routine quote requests. This frees up your most valuable resource—your estimators—to focus on the 20% of complex, high-value jobs that require human expertise.

• Measure what matters: The key metrics are no longer just about win rate. Focus on quote turnaround time (QTAT), quote-to-order conversion rate, and cost per quote to measure true efficiency.

• Connect quoting to procurement: Your quoting system must have a real-time link to material costs to protect margins against market volatility. GelatoConnect’s platform provides tools for simplified procurement and supplier management to ensure pricing is always accurate.

Why traditional print estimation is failing in a digital-first world

The print industry is a colossal force, with a global market value of $785.1 billion in 2024. Yet, many of its core processes remain surprisingly manual. The software segment designed to manage these processes is growing rapidly, with the print management software market projected to expand at a CAGR of 9.94%, precisely because the old ways are no longer sustainable.

Traditionally, print estimation has been an art form, reliant on the "tribal knowledge" of seasoned experts. The process involved:

1. Receiving an email with incomplete specifications.

2. Engaging in back-and-forth communication to clarify details.

3. Manually calculating paper usage, ink coverage, press time, and finishing costs in complex spreadsheets.

4. Adding a margin and emailing a PDF quote back to the client.

This workflow, which can take hours or even days, is fundamentally broken in a world of on-demand expectations. The rise of short-run digital printing means the volume of quote requests has exploded, but the value per job has decreased. Manually quoting a $150 order for business cards is economically unviable.

This is the operational challenge GelatoConnect was built to solve. By providing partners with tools like our AI-powered cost and time estimation, we help them transition from a reactive, manual process to a proactive, automated model capable of handling thousands of orders profitably.

Core pillars of modern print quoting software

To turn your quoting process into a competitive advantage, your software must be built on three modern pillars. It’s not about finding a single tool with the most features; it's about building an interconnected ecosystem.

Pillar 1: Unified workflow integration over software islands

Disconnected software is the enemy of efficiency. A quoting tool that doesn’t speak to your production MIS or your ERP is just another data silo, creating opportunities for manual entry errors and delays.

A modern, API-first print quoting software serves as the central hub of your operations. When a quote is approved, it shouldn't trigger an email to a production manager; it should trigger an automated API call that:

• Creates a job in your production system.

• Generates an error-free job ticket.

• Reserves materials in your inventory.

• Updates your accounting software, such as Microsoft Dynamics 365.

This is the principle behind GelatoConnect's automated print workflow. For our partners, the quoting and order intake process is the first step in a seamless, automated journey. The data captured at the beginning flows through to production and shipping without human intervention, dramatically reducing turnaround times and eliminating costly errors.

Pillar 2: AI-powered estimation for predictive accuracy

Static pricing tables are obsolete in a volatile market. The Producer Price Index for paper products shows constant fluctuation, making manually updated spreadsheets a constant liability. True competitive advantage comes from predictive, not reactive, pricing.

Leading-edge systems are now incorporating AI and machine learning, a trend noted by Keypoint Intelligence as a key driver for 2024. This technology analyzes thousands of past jobs to understand the true cost of production. It learns how different substrates affect run speed, how specific artwork impacts ink consumption, and how setup times vary between machines.

This is precisely how we developed the print industry’s first AI-powered quoting engine. Instead of relying on theoretical calculations, GelatoConnect's AI Estimator uses real production data from our global network to predict costs and lead times with incredible accuracy. This ensures that every quote is not only fast but also profitable. Learn more about how AI and machine learning are automating decisions in print production on our blog.

Pillar 3: Automated intake and self-service for customer empowerment

Your customers' expectations are set by Amazon, not by traditional B2B processes. They want speed, transparency, and control. A modern quoting system must be powered by an equally modern intake process, whether through a web-to-print portal or a direct API connection for enterprise clients.

Automating intake ensures that job specifications are received in a structured, standardized format every time. This eliminates ambiguity and the need for manual clarification. It’s the foundation upon which instant quoting is built. A system that can’t receive clean data can’t produce a reliable quote.

At GelatoConnect, our entire network is built on a streamlined order intake process. Our partners connect to a single, standardized API, allowing them to receive perfectly specified, production-ready orders from global customers without ever sending a single email.

Fictional Case study: A German PSP breaks its quoting bottleneck

A fictional but representative partner, "*** GmbH" in Germany, faced a common challenge. Their team of three estimators was a bottleneck. With a quote turnaround time (QTAT) averaging 48 hours, they were losing a significant number of short-run jobs to online competitors. By joining the GelatoConnect network, they integrated their operations with our platform.

• Before: Their estimators spent 70% of their day processing standard, low-value quotes.

• After: Using GelatoConnect's workflow, 85% of incoming jobs were quoted and processed automatically. The AI Estimator provided accurate pricing instantly, dynamically adjusting for real-time paper costs. Their expert estimators were freed to focus on complex, high-margin packaging projects.

• The result: *** GmbH reduced their QTAT for standard jobs to under one minute. Their quote-to-order conversion rate increased by 15% within six months, and overall plant throughput grew by 20% without adding a single new press.

From theory to practice: KPIs and frameworks for success

Implementing new software requires a new way of thinking. The Theory of Constraints (TOC) is a powerful framework that teaches that any complex system is limited by a single constraint. In many print shops, that constraint is the quoting process. By automating it, you increase the capacity of your entire operation.

To manage this transformation, focus on these key performance indicators (KPIs):

• Quote turnaround time (QTAT): Measure the time from request receipt to quote delivery. The goal for automated jobs should be seconds, not hours.

• Quote-to-order conversion rate: Track what percentage of quotes become orders. Faster, more accurate quotes directly improve this number.

• Cost per quote: Calculate the total cost of your estimating department (salaries, software) divided by the number of quotes produced. Automation should drive this cost down dramatically.

Partners on the GelatoConnect network can integrate data into powerful analytics platforms like Microsoft Power BI to create dashboards that visualize these metrics, providing a clear line of sight from quoting efficiency to bottom-line profitability. This data-driven approach is a core part of a modern, complete guide to print workflow automation.

Stop quoting, start producing: Your next steps

For too long, the print industry has treated quoting as an administrative hurdle. The data and technology available today prove it is something far more critical: it is the control valve for your entire production workflow. By embracing automation, integration, and AI, you can transform this traditional bottleneck into your most powerful engine for growth.

Optimizing this single process unlocks greater efficiency across the board, enabling you to handle more jobs, increase profitability, and exceed the expectations of modern customers. Joining the GelatoConnect network gives you access not only to global demand but also to the sophisticated software and workflows needed to service that demand profitably.

Ready to transform your quoting process from a cost center into a competitive advantage? Discover how GelatoConnect's automated print workflow can optimize your operations from intake to delivery. Talk to our partnership team today to see it in action.