Proposal · Workflow Automation

Quote-to-Job Workflow Automation for Lotus Design

Prepared for David Lefebvre, Owner · Lotus Design, Gatineau QC
Prepared by Derik Lawlis · Sagepar · 2026-04-27

The Short Version

Where Lotus Sits Today

3 machines, 1 owner doing all quoting, ~4 RFQs/week, jobs $10k–$80k. Turnaround time is the #1 pain. Fulcrum costs more than it saves at this volume; InFab wasn't accessible from Canada, which makes data sovereignty a real selection constraint going forward.

RFQs / week
~4
~208 / yr
Win rate
~50%
~104 jobs / yr
Job value
$10–80k
~$45k mid
Owner hours back
~600 / yr
est. 4hr → 1hr per RFQ × 4/wk

How It Works · End-to-End

Whole system on one page first. Then the detailed stages. Sample content (Acme bracket RFQ) is illustrative · the agent uses your real customers and parts.

YOUR M365 + QBO TENANTS · your data lives here ☁ CLOUD AGENT · CLOUDFLARE · 🇨🇦 📧 Customer sends RFQ STEP + PDF + email body 📥 MS365 Inbox watches for RFQs 🤖 Claude Agent Cloudflare Workers · 🇨🇦 read · classify · save · draft notify · track · pausable no customer data stored here 👤 You · David controls via 📊 web dashboard SHIP / EDIT / REJECT · pause anytime no email sent without you 📁 OneDrive folder files + summary.md per RFQ ✉️ Outlook Draft customer reply not sent 💼 QuickBooks draft estimate not sent 📨 Customer receives your reply + your estimate 1 · RFQ in 2 · read (Graph) 3a · save 3b · draft 3c · draft 4 · 🔔 notify 5a · review & send 5b · send 6a · sent 6b · sent
Architecture at a glance · 10 numbered arrows show the flow · two regions show where data lives
👤 Where you stay in control
Triggers (4 ways)
  • Run-now button (web dashboard)
  • Scheduled cron (e.g. 8am, 1pm, 4pm)
  • Inbox webhook (push, real-time)
  • Pause toggle (instant stop)
Notifications (3 channels, you pick)
  • Web dashboard (always live)
  • Email to yourself (Outlook)
  • Teams DM (single thread)
Decision checkpoint: SHIP / EDIT / REJECT each draft from your normal Outlook + QBO. Nothing reaches a customer without you clicking Send. Disconnect entirely by revoking OAuth in M365 + QBO admin.

Your web dashboard

What David's control surface looks like. One URL, browser-based, mobile-friendly.

lotus-quote-agent.pages.dev
Lotus Design · Quote Agent
ACTIVE Pause
Today
2 RFQs processed · 1 pending review · last run 12 min ago · next scheduled run 1:00 PM
Pending Review (1)
Acme bracket rev2
ROM ~$4,500 · 1 risk flag (tight tolerance) · received 14 min ago
Open in Outlook Open in QBO
Recent (last 7 days)
Norbec · jig plate · $2,100Quoted
Bombardier · fixture · $18,400Won
PrecisionMtl · plate set · D+5Follow-up
Run now Logs Settings

Customer intake form (your website)

Customers can submit RFQs by email or via your new intake form at quotes.lotus-design.ca · either path feeds the same agent. Form submissions skip the email step entirely.

quotes.lotus-design.ca

Request a quote

Drop your STEP + drawing and the basics. We come back within 24 hours.

📎 bracket-rev2.step · bracket-rev2.pdf · 1.4 MB · ready to send

Stage-by-stage detail

For when you want to scrutinize the rules, the line items, the follow-up timing.

Input / Output Automated step You decide Data flow
Stage 1 · Trigger · how the cloud agent starts a run
Three trigger modes (any combination, you pick from the dashboard)
  • Manual. Click "Run now" in your web dashboard whenever you sit down to quote.
  • Scheduled. Cloudflare cron triggers at times you choose (e.g. 8am, 1pm, 4pm weekdays).
  • Inbox-driven. A Microsoft Graph webhook pings the agent the moment an RFQ-shaped email lands.
All three modes can run together. Pause from the dashboard at any time · the cloud agent stops processing immediately.
Stage 2 · Detect a new RFQ
Pattern match on incoming email
Fires when subject keywords (RFQ, quote, request for quote, devis, soumission) appear together with a STEP attachment OR a drawing-shaped PDF.
Example match
Stage 3 · Extract · pull every useful piece of data
What gets captured
  • Email body, sender, subject, date, thread context
  • Every STEP file attached (any revision)
  • Every PDF drawing attached
  • Customer match against your QuickBooks customer list (auto-flag if new)
  • Quantity, lead-time language, and any notes from the body
  • Prior history with this customer (last quote, last job, win-rate)
Stage 4 · Classify · four decisions, surfaced for you
Each decision shown with its branches
Rush?
YES → flag in summary, expedite reply, suggest rush surcharge NO → standard ROM workflow
Size / scope?
SMALL → soft-jaw, fast turnaround, simpler quote logic LARGE → custom material order, longer lead, careful pricing
Customer?
REPEAT → use saved template + pricing history NEW → flag for onboarding fields (PO terms, ship address)
Risk flags?
Tight tolerances · special finish · unusual material · DFM concerns All risks listed in your summary · you decide whether to ask the customer
Stage 5 · Organize · drop everything in a folder you can open
OneDrive folder structure (per RFQ)
OneDrive/
└── RFQs/
    └── 2026/
        └── Acme-bracket-2026-04-27/
            ├── email.eml              ← original RFQ archived
            ├── bracket-rev2.step      ← STEP file
            ├── bracket-rev2.pdf       ← drawing
            └── summary.md             ← agent's plain-English summary
What's inside summary.md
  • Customer: Acme Engineering (repeat · last quoted 2026-02)
  • Rush: No (next-week ROM)
  • Quantity: 12
  • Material: 6061-T6 (in stock per QBO)
  • Risk flags: ±0.0005 callout on bore · confirm critical?
  • Suggested ROM range: $4,200 – $5,100
  • Confidence: 80%. Unsure: deburr spec on rev 2 isn't called out · assumed standard.
Stage 6 · Build drafts · both run in parallel
✉️ Outlook Draft
Lands in your normal Drafts folder. Not sent.
💼 QuickBooks Estimate Draft
Appears as a draft Estimate in QBO. Not sent.
Customer: Acme Engineering
Estimate #: EST-2026-0042 (draft)
Programming & setup · 1 × $400
CNC machining · 12 × $250
Material (6061-T6 plate) · 1 × $480
Deburr / finish · 12 × $20
Inspection · 1 × $180
Subtotal $4,300 · Tax TBD · Total TBD
Stage 7 · Notify you · HITL touchpoint
One ping, summarizes the RFQ
🔔 RFQ ready · Acme bracket · ROM ~$4.5k · 1 risk flag · OneDrive › RFQs/2026/Acme-bracket-2026-04-27
Delivered through your web dashboard (always shows the queue), an email to yourself, or a Teams DM · pick any combination. Hot rush (Stage 4) fires all enabled channels at once.
Stage 8 · You review (the human checkpoint)
Your turn · same tools you use today
Nothing reaches a customer without you clicking Send.
1 · Open the folder
OneDrive › the RFQ folder. Read summary.md (1 page). Glance at the STEP if you want.
2 · Decide · ship, edit, or reject
Ship: jump to step 3.
Edit: change the Outlook draft and QBO estimate normally.
Reject: drop a note in summary.md ("redo with X") and re-run the agent.
3 · Send the email
Open the Outlook draft, hit Send. Customer gets your reply.
4 · Send the estimate
Open QBO, the draft estimate is already there. Hit Send. Customer gets the formal quote.
Stage 10 · Track & follow up · close the loop
Knows where every quote stands
  • RFQ logged in tracker.md · status: Quoted, value $4,500, sent 2026-04-27
  • Follow-up reminder set for D+5 if no customer response
  • If the customer replies, agent re-classifies the new email and updates the folder
  • When the job is won, status flips to Won and folder moves to RFQs/won/
Phase 1 keeps tracking in plain markdown. A real CRM is Phase 4 · only if you want it.

What's Deferred Until After the Pilot

These are real and useful but I'm under 90% confidence on them today. Not in pilot scope. We revisit only if the core flow earns its keep.

Auto-DFM from STEP geometry Real candidates exist in 2026: DFM Studio (parses STEP topology, evaluates tool access + depth ratios + wall deflection), HCL DFMPro, Leo AI, InfinitForm, CoLab. Phase 2: feed 5 of your real parts through 1-2 of these and compare output to your judgment. Output quality is the unknown.
Toolpath API hand-off No public API documented for third-party automation as of 2026. Toolpath has Fusion integration only. Investors include Autodesk + Kennametal + ModuleWorks so an API is plausible. Action: email Toolpath directly to ask. Manual STEP drop continues for now.
Auto-balloon drawing Candidates: BalloonifyIQ (browser-based, AI OCR, 7-day free trial), InspectionXpert (Ideagen, most established), Net-Inspect (AS9102-flavored), High QA, QA-CAD. Gating question: do you actually do First-Article Inspection ballooning, or is it just a quoting aid? If FAI, BalloonifyIQ is the Phase-2 pilot. If just quoting, skip.
AWS Bedrock Canadian region for ITAR / DND work The default Claude API call routes through US AWS. We can switch the agent to Anthropic on AWS Bedrock (ca-central-1) for any work with export-control flags. Only if you confirm you have that customer mix.
Setup price · friend pricing

$2,995 CAD · all-in

Regular: $12,000
Three ways it earns out:
  • › Time back. ~600 owner hours per year (4hr → 1hr per RFQ × 4/wk). CAM programming, sales, your weekend · whatever you'd do with those hours, that's the upside.
  • › Money made. Faster, sharper quote turnaround wins more jobs. Even a 5-point lift in conversion at $45k mid is roughly $10k/yr in additional revenue at your current volume.
  • › Foundation. The MS365 + QuickBooks + OAuth + dashboard plumbing is the hard part. Once it's up, the next workflow (bookkeeping reconciliation, scheduling, customer follow-ups, anything email-heavy) is incremental, not from scratch. This is your beachhead for less email drag everywhere.
Cloud run-cost ~$50/mo (Cloudflare + Claude API, paid direct, no markup).
Reserve your spot · pay $2,995 →
Stripe checkout · refundable through the 2-week pilot · or text Derik first

The Pilot · 2 Weeks, 2 Quotes, No Commitment

  1. I wire the diagram above against your inbox.
  2. It runs on the next 2 RFQs (~2 weeks at your current cadence).
  3. You log per quote: time spent, draft accuracy, anything you had to correct, customer reaction.
  4. After the second quote you decide: keep, expand into the deferred items, or stop.

Fulcrum stays running through the pilot. Nothing gets cancelled until you've seen it work.

Keeping Fusion + Production Files Current

Two pieces here: keeping Fusion software up to date, and keeping production files (designs, NC programs, drawings, BOMs) at the latest revision. Most of this is already solved by Fusion's built-in features. The agent adds the customer-side revision detection.

Fusion software auto-update

Built into Fusion: Preferences › General › Check for updates automatically. Set once. Fusion handles itself across machines as long as you're signed into your Autodesk account.

Production files always at latest version (no extra setup)

Fusion's built-in cloud PDM auto-versions every save. Your designs, NC programs, drawings, and BOMs are versioned and accessible across machines. The latest version is what opens by default; older versions are reachable via the version-history dropdown if you ever need to roll back.

Reference: Autodesk Fusion PDM

Customer-side revision detection (what the agent adds)

When a customer sends a STEP with a new revision (rev2, rev3, "ECN-04"), the agent detects it in the filename and email body, archives the prior revision in the OneDrive RFQ folder, and flags the change in the summary so you don't quote against an outdated drawing. The QBO estimate notes always reference the active revision number.

When a job is won, the agent copies the latest STEP from the active revision into your production folder so Fusion picks up the right one when you open the job.

Want to do the pilot?

Reply to this and I'll get started. Two weeks, two quotes, no commitment.

Either of us can stop it any time.

Derik Lawlis · Sagepar · dalawlis@gmail.com · +1 514 213 7720