The question comes up in the first meeting: “and does this go into our software?”. It can, and it should, but not on day one. What data goes from the management software to the configurator (price list, references, stock) and what comes back (the order with its lines), how it is done in phases without stopping anything, what you have to ask your software supplier for and what you have in the meantime: panel, email and CSV.
A configurator and a management system exchange three kinds of data. Not all of them are needed from the start.
The item list with its references and the price list with its discounts. At the start they are loaded with a template and changed from the panel; once connected, they update on their own when they change in the software. That way the configurator never shows a reference that no longer exists.
What is in the warehouse and what lead time each component has, so that the configurator can warn (“this finish takes three weeks”) or suggest another. It is what you see in the pergola demo as the bill of materials against stock, with sample data.
Customer or distributor, project reference, delivery, date and every line with reference, description, quantity and price. It is the order sheet that already comes out as PDF, going in as a sales order or as a quote in your software. What it carries, in documents a 3D configurator generates.
The connection to your software is developed in the project, bespoke. In the meantime, the configurator works in full.
From day one, every request stays in the panel with its configuration and its status, reaches you by email with the PDF and the order sheet, and exports to CSV with the columns your software imports. Many manufacturers stay here for months: someone imports the CSV or types the order in with the sheet in front of them, without interpreting anything.
The software exports items and price list (in a periodic file or on request) and the configurator reads them. The manufacturing rules stay in the configurator; prices and references stop being maintained in two places. This is done when the price list changes often or the catalogue is large.
Every confirmed order goes in as a sales order or a quote, with its lines and references, and returns its number. It is the phase that depends most on the software supplier: they need to provide a way to create orders from outside (a connection for external programs, an import file or an intermediate table) and a test environment. In integrated technical configurators this connection is included in the price. See technical configurator with cutting list.
One question and four details. With them, the connection is priced with figures.
Development starts from €6,500 for a visual configurator of one product family; most manufacturer projects fall between €14,500 and €35,000, depending on catalogue, rules and integrations, plus maintenance from €190/month. The integrated technical configurator (€25,000 – €35,000) includes the connection to your shop or your management software. At the other levels it is priced as an extension, once we see how your software exposes data.
With products from the open demos, with sample data.
Frames, beams, protectors and anchors with reference and quantity. Connected, the order goes in with its lines and the software deducts stock; unconnected, the CSV imports in a minute.
Every order generates the list of what has to be bought from the supplier; with the software's stock, the configurator knows what is available and the lead time for every profile and every motor.
Hundreds of references generated from dimensions, with prices that change with the timber: the price list is maintained in the software and the 3D catalogue reads it, without reloading anything.
There are more short answers in frequently asked questions about 3D configurators and who we are in 3D configurator company.
Yes, bespoke, in the project. Reading items, price list and stock from the software, or sending the order with its lines as a sales order, is developed according to how your software exposes data: a connection for external programs, an import file or an intermediate table. In the meantime, every request stays in the panel, arrives by email and exports to CSV.
No. The configurator works in full without a connection: a panel with the requests and their status, PDF and order sheet by email and CSV export with the columns your software imports. The connection is done in a later phase, once the configurator already gets the order sheet right.
How a sales order is created from outside and how items and price list are exported (external connection, file or table), a test environment, a user with limited permissions and the list of mandatory fields for an order. With that, the connection is priced with figures.
In one place only. If your software is the reference, the configurator reads it; if not, the price list is edited in the configurator's panel with its template and its version. What is never done is maintaining it in both places.
If the software exposes stock, the configurator can warn that a finish or a component takes longer, or suggest another, and the bill of materials comes out against stock, as in the pergola demo with sample data. It is a separate phase, priced once we see your software.
Development starts from €6,500 for a visual configurator of one product family; most manufacturer projects fall between €14,500 and €35,000, depending on catalogue, rules and integrations, plus maintenance from €190/month. The integrated technical configurator (€25,000 – €35,000) includes the connection to your shop or your management software. Details in the price of a 3D configurator.
Generate an order sheet in the shelving, pallet or pergola demos and look at its lines: reference, quantity and price, just as they would go into management software. No sign-up, with sample data, at configurador.grup3d.es/demo.
With your software in front of you? Tell us which one you use and how orders go in today, and in a 20-minute video call we will see which phase makes sense first and what you would have to ask your supplier for. No commitment.
Would you rather talk it through? Call us on 662 061 421 or write to grup3d@grup3d.es.
The documents a 3D configurator generates and who receives each one: quote PDF, order sheet, workshop sheet, drawing, cutting list, DXF and CSV.
Read →Online quoting tool for manufacturers: instant price with your price list, manufacturing rules, transport and installation by area, PDF and order sheet.
Read →The index with one card per configurator, filtered by sector, with their open demos.
Read →For manufacturers and for those who sell without a factory: what we do, how, and at what price.
Read →Price, code, cutting lists, online shop, mobile, AI and every sector.
Read →The three levels, what each one includes and what is priced separately.
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