Updating Prices with Inflation: A Price Table the Factory Controls
By Facundo Campo, 3D quoting tool developer
In short: To quote when prices change every month, a manufacturer needs its own price table kept separate from the calculation logic: you update a value once and every new quote uses it, while quotes already sent keep the price list version they were built with.
When steel, metal sheeting or the exchange rate change every month, the safest way to quote is to separate what goes into a product from what each thing costs. Prices live in a table the manufacturer manages itself; the quoting tool calculates from that table. You update a value once and every new quote comes out with the right price, without calling anyone.
Why outdated prices are the real problem
This is everyday reality in Argentina, and it will sound familiar in any market where inflation is high or material costs swing from month to month. At a steel fabricator that builds metal buildings, costs move on several fronts at once. C-purlins and structural tubing follow the price of steel, corrugated or trapezoidal sheeting changes when the supplier changes, freight to the provinces goes up with diesel, and labor is adjusted under union wage agreements. On top of that, some inputs are priced in dollars and some in pesos.
In practice, it all ends up in a spreadsheet with twenty tabs that the owner "brings up to date" whenever he remembers, while the sales reps keep quoting from the old list. The mistake shows up when the material gets bought and the margin is already gone.
The problem isn't that prices go up. It's that the new price doesn't reach every place where quotes are made.
How a manufacturer-managed price table works
In the quoting tools I build, the price is never written into the logic. The rule says, for example, that an 18 × 30 m metal building with frames every 6 m takes six frames (the two end frames plus the intermediate ones), so many meters of purlins and so many square meters of sheeting. The table says what a kilo of steel section costs, what a square meter of sheeting costs and what an hour of erection costs. The quote comes from multiplying one by the other.
That separation has three concrete consequences:
- You update it in one place. If C25 sheeting went up, someone in the office logs into the panel, changes that value and that's it. No formulas to touch, nothing to ask a programmer.
- Everyone quotes from the same numbers. The rep at the factory, the one on the road with a phone and the one answering WhatsApp all see the same price from that moment on.
- The logic doesn't break. Changing a price can't alter how many purlins an open-sided shed takes, because those things live separately.
To learn more about how that "what goes into it" logic gets built, read how to turn the owner's know-how into rules.
What should go in the table: costs or selling prices?
It depends on how each manufacturer works, and it's one of the first things defined when the system is developed. There are two reasonable paths:
- Enter costs plus a margin. The table holds the cost of a kilo of steel, a meter of sheeting, an hour of shop time, and a markup percentage per product line or per product. It's more precise and shows the real margin, but someone has to keep costs up to date.
- Enter selling prices per component. The square meter of side cladding, the 4 × 4 m sliding door, the linear meter of side canopy. It's simpler to maintain and looks like the price list the manufacturer already has.
Many small and mid-sized manufacturers start with the second and move to the first later. What matters is that the table reflects how the owner thinks about prices, not what's convenient for the programmer.
Dollar-based values, indexes and bulk adjustments
In Argentina there's a question that always comes up: what if I pay for steel in dollars? The same question applies anywhere some inputs are tied to a foreign currency. It can be handled in several ways depending on the project. One is to enter some values in dollars and keep a reference exchange rate that the manufacturer updates; the quoting tool converts at the moment it calculates. Another is to apply an adjustment coefficient per group of inputs: "everything that's steel, +6%". That way, when the supplier's new list comes out, you don't have to touch forty lines one by one.
What I don't recommend is having the system pull automatic rates from the internet without anyone looking at them. The selling price is a business decision. The tool should make that decision easy, not make it on its own.
Price list versions: what happens to quotes already sent
This is the point most people overlook. If I update sheeting prices today, what happens to the quote I sent last week to a farmer in Pergamino, in the Buenos Aires countryside?
The right answer is that the quote doesn't change. Each quote stores the configuration (dimensions, cladding, openings) and also the prices it was calculated with, or a reference to the price list version in effect that day. That way you can:
- Reopen an old quote and see exactly what the customer was told.
- Recalculate it with the new list at the click of a button, if the customer comes back after it expired.
- Compare the two figures and decide whether to honor the original price or not.
Without versions, the sales rep ends up arguing with the customer over a number nobody can trace anymore.
Quote validity, written and visible
When prices move, a quote without an expiration date is a risk. The PDF the quoting tool generates can include the issue date, the validity period the manufacturer sets (seven days, fifteen, whatever applies) and a note on what happens after that. I explain this in more detail in the PDF quote that builds itself.
That date is useful internally too: with a CRM built for manufacturers, quotes about to expire can show up next to the rep's next follow-up.
Who can edit the table and who can't
A manufacturer-managed price table doesn't mean anyone can change anything. In the EQUIBOX case, for example, the public quoting tool shows the horse barn in 3D, but prices only appear when a sales rep is logged in, and there are admin and sales rep roles with different permissions. The same logic applies to the table: the office updates values, the reps quote, and every change is logged with who made it and when.
That way the manufacturer gains sales team autonomy without losing control: the owner is no longer the only one who knows what a metal building costs, but he's still the one who sets the prices.
What changes day to day
Picture a typical case: on Monday the sheeting supplier's new price list arrives. Before, the owner left it for the weekend, and in the meantime ten quotes went out at the old price. With the table, the office enters the new values that same Monday, and the quote the rep puts together with the customer at the afternoon meeting already uses the updated sheeting price.
It's a small difference on each quote and a big one at the end of the month, and a good reason to move off the spreadsheet, as I explain in 3D quoting tool vs spreadsheets, drawings and renders.
If updating prices at your company depends on a single person and you'd like to see what a table designed for your product would look like, message me on WhatsApp at +54 9 11 6193-3176 or email facundocampo100@gmail.com. I'm Facundo Campo and I build custom 3D quoting tools for manufacturers; you can try the metal building configurator first to see how the visual side comes together.
Frequently asked questions
Can I update prices in the quoting tool without a programmer?
Yes, if the system is designed with a manufacturer-managed price table. You change the value from a panel and every new quote picks it up instantly. The programmer only steps in if the product logic changes.
What happens to old quotes when I change a price?
They keep the price they were built with. Each quote stores its configuration and the price list version it used, so you can see what the customer was told and, if needed, recalculate it with the new list.
Can it handle prices in dollars?
Yes, depending on how it's defined in the project: by entering some inputs in dollars with an exchange rate the manufacturer updates, or with adjustment coefficients per group of inputs.
Do the public Estructuras 3D configurators show prices?
No. The public configurators are there to try out the 3D and don't show prices. Live pricing with a manageable price table is part of the custom development for each manufacturer, as in the EQUIBOX quoting tool.
