Let the customer build it, then ask you for a price.
They choose the options, see the machine change, and send you a spec your works manager can actually read.
Turn it over
Drag the machine to look around itPrice it against your own business
Nothing leaves this page until you send itWhere this earns its money
An enquiry that says “I am interested” costs you a phone call, a fortnight, and an engineer’s afternoon before you know whether it was serious.
A configurator moves that work to the customer, who is happy to do it. They pick guarding, controls, loading and paint, watch the machine change as they go, and what lands in your inbox is a written specification you can quote from.
How it actually goes
Three moments from the same scene aboveWhat you send us
What you get back
Instead of a contact form that says “I am interested”, you get paint, guarding, controls and loading — enough to quote from.
Configure a real welding cell →Before you commit
The things worth knowing that a sales page usually leaves out.
You decide what it will and will not build
The rules are yours. Every impossible combination — a control that will not take an option, a guard that will not fit a footprint — is blocked with the reason shown, so a customer never configures a machine you cannot ship. Getting those rules out of your engineers’ heads is most of the work.
It produces a specification, not a contract
A configured spec is a good enquiry, not an order. Pricing shown to a customer is indicative unless you tell us otherwise, and every enquiry still lands with a person. Manufacturers who publish firm prices do it after a year of watching what comes through.
It will not fix a range nobody understands
If your options overlap, contradict each other, or exist because one customer asked in 2009, a configurator makes that visible rather than solving it. Several clients have used the build as the reason to rationalise a range — which was worth more than the tool.
ERP integration is a separate decision
A configurator that emails you a spec is a small job. One that writes into your ERP is a project involving your IT and ours. Start with the first; the second is straightforward once you know the enquiries are worth automating.
Tell us the machine and we will send a fixed price, in writing, in a few days — priced against your real figures rather than the working assumptions above.
Walk the configured cell
WASD to walk, drag to lookWhat makes a configurator trustworthy
The difference between a useful configurator and a toy is whether it refuses to build the impossible.
Rules that block, not warn
A configurator that lets a customer assemble something you cannot ship is worse than no configurator, because it produces enquiries you have to walk back. Incompatible options are disabled with the reason attached, so the customer learns why rather than hitting a wall.
The machine changes as they choose
Paint, guarding, control panel, loading — each choice visibly changes the machine in front of them. That is what holds a buyer on the page long enough to complete a specification, and it is why a configurator outperforms a PDF option list.
What lands in your inbox is quotable
Not “I am interested”, but paint, guarding, controls, loading, quantity and contact details, formatted the way your works manager reads a spec. Most of the engineering time a quote consumes is spent establishing exactly this.
Dealers get the same tool
A dealer raising a quote on your behalf is the point where specifications usually go wrong. Giving them the same configurator with the same rules means the enquiry arrives correct regardless of who assembled it.
Where this is the wrong answer
If you build one standard machine with no options, a configurator has nothing to configure. A clear spec sheet does the job better.
It pays when every machine differs, when quotes consume engineering time before they are qualified, or when dealers specify on your behalf.
Questions we get asked
What is a machine configurator?
It is a tool that lets a customer choose the options on your machine, see it change as they choose, and send you a complete written specification. It replaces the phone call and the option-list PDF that most enquiries currently start with.
How much engineering time does it save?
Manufacturers typically spend one to four engineering hours per quote establishing what the customer actually wants. A configurator removes most of that for the enquiries that arrive through it, because the customer has already specified the machine.
Can it show real prices?
It can, but most manufacturers start with an indicative range and keep final pricing in the quotation. That gives the customer enough to qualify themselves without committing you to a number before you have seen the site.
Can it connect to our ERP?
Yes. A configurator can write directly into your quotation or ERP system so the specification arrives as a record rather than an email. This adds to the build cost and is worth doing once the volume justifies it.
What stops a customer configuring something impossible?
Explicit rules, built with your engineers, that disable incompatible combinations rather than warning about them afterwards. Each blocked option carries the reason, so the customer understands the constraint instead of assuming the tool is broken.
How long does a configurator take to build?
Six to ten weeks for a single machine with a defined option list. The variable is not the software but how clearly the compatibility rules exist — most manufacturers hold them in the heads of two or three people rather than in a document.