Pronto Xi quoting and order entry
We run Pronto Xi and get quote requests and purchase orders by email. How do we automate quoting and order entry with AI?
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AI can read emailed quote requests and purchase orders, match each line to Pronto Xi item codes and customer part numbers, fetch the customer's price and warehouse stock from Pronto, and create a draft quote or sales order in Pronto Xi for staff to approve. The integration has to return customer-specific pricing, so confirm with Pronto or your Pronto partner which API route provides it.
Who this is for
This page is for wholesale distributors on Pronto Xi whose teams key quotes and emailed purchase orders by hand. The AI layer is the same for both. The general method for any ERP is in the answer on AI quotes from emailed RFQs; this page covers what is specific to Pronto.
Solve8 builds this for multi-site distributors in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and across Australia and New Zealand, in fixed-fee phases: discovery on one queue at one branch with a measured baseline, a shadow pilot on live work where you set the accuracy bar, a build connected to Pronto Xi on your infrastructure in Australia, then support or handover. You can stop after any phase and keep the work. Your Pronto partner stays responsible for ERP configuration.
How an emailed request becomes a draft record in Pronto Xi
Read and match
The agent reads the email and attachments and matches each line to a Pronto Xi item code using customer part numbers, supplier codes and past orders.
Ask Pronto for price and stock
The integration asks Pronto Xi for that customer's price and the stock in the supplying warehouse. No separate price file is kept.
Apply your rules
Margin floors, discount limits and minimum order quantities are checked, and breaches go for approval with the reason.
Create the draft in Pronto
The quote or sales order is created through Pronto's own interfaces, so credit checks and reporting work as for records keyed by staff.
Learn from corrections
A corrected match updates the customer part number cross-reference, and each record keeps the source email and approver.
Pronto integration routes and what to confirm
| Route | What Pronto publishes | What to confirm for AI quoting |
|---|---|---|
| Pronto Connect pre-built APIs | Pronto describes pre-built RESTful APIs with user-based security that restricts data to the connecting user | Which APIs your version has for items, debtors, pricing, stock, quotes and sales orders |
| Pronto Connect custom APIs | Pronto Connect lets you create customised APIs | Who builds a missing pricing or quote API and maintains it through upgrades |
| Avenue REST APIs | Pronto Woven states these return a single price per product, are not suitable for B2B where prices vary by customer, do not support the Promotions Engine and allow 30 calls per minute | Treat as unsuited to customer-specific quoting unless Pronto confirms otherwise |
| Pronto Xi Sync | Pronto's integration product, with pre-built integrations for platforms such as Shopify, eBay and Amazon | Whether it can pass customer pricing and draft records to an AI layer |
| Alerts and webhooks | Pronto states alerts can trigger external webhooks, directly or via middleware | Whether a quote approved or order released can notify the AI layer |
The pricing the integration has to reach
Customer price agreements
Ask the provider to show the price returned for one item to three different customers, and check each against Pronto.
Volume breaks
The integration should pass the quantity and return the break that applies.
Contract prices and expiry
An expired contract price should be flagged for a person before the draft is created.
Promotional pricing
Confirm with Pronto or your Pronto partner whether the route you choose returns promotional prices.
Warehouse stock
Stock for the supplying warehouse, with on-order quantities where available.
Cost for margin checks
Confirm the integration user can read cost without wider access than it needs.
Working with your Pronto partner
Solve8 builds the AI layer
Email reading, item matching, your rules, exception queues, approvals and logging.
Your Pronto partner owns the ERP
Pronto Connect APIs, any custom API, the integration user and its permissions, and Pronto Xi configuration.
Agree the interface early
Which calls the AI layer makes, what each returns and who supports each part after go-live.
Test in a Pronto test company
Drafts are created in a test company first, so your partner can confirm records before live data is touched.
What to ask any provider to demonstrate on your own data
| Test | What a good result looks like |
|---|---|
| Unknown product | A line with no match is flagged with suggested items, not forced onto the nearest code |
| Low stock | A quantity above available stock is flagged with the warehouse position |
| Messy order | A scanned PDF with handwritten changes is read, or held for a person with the reason |
| Duplicate order | The same purchase order sent twice is caught before a second sales order is created |
Ask Pronto about its own AI roadmap
In August 2025 Pronto Software announced an agreement with IBM to bring agentic AI into Pronto Xi through IBM watsonx. Ask Pronto what is available in your version, whether it covers quote and order entry from email, and how a separate AI layer would sit beside it.
Proof from Solve8's quoting work
Solve8 built AI that categorises defect records and suggests quote lines for a national fire protection provider, in the client's own cloud in Sydney, now entering shadow mode beside the quoting team. Pronto quoting follows the same pattern.
Related work
- AI quotes from emailed RFQsHow AI matches SKUs, applies customer pricing and drafts quotes in your ERP.
- Purchase orders into ERPChecks that stop a misread order from posting.
- ERP partner or AI consultancyWho should do which part of an AI project on your ERP.
- AI for wholesale and distributionQuotes, orders, pricing and freight inside your ERP.
Sources
Pronto Woven, REST APIs (single price per product, not suitable for B2B, no Promotions Engine support, 30 calls per minute): https://www.prontoavenue.biz/documentation/rest-apis
Pronto Software, Pronto Xi 780 API Integration Platform overview (pre-built RESTful APIs, custom APIs, user-based security): https://engage.pronto.net/hubfs/Pronto%20Xi%20Overviews/Foundation/Pronto-Xi-780-API-Integration-Platform-overview.pdf
Pronto Software, API Integration Platform (Pronto Connect, Tasks and Alerts webhooks): https://www.pronto.net/erp-technology/api-integration-platform/
Pronto Software, Pronto Xi Sync: https://www.pronto.net/products/pronto-xi-sync/
Pronto Software, Pronto Xi ERP to integrate IBM's agentic AI technology (13 August 2025): https://www.pronto.net/pronto-software-to-embed-ibm-agentic-ai/
Questions
Can AI read our customer pricing in Pronto Xi for quotes?
Yes, if the integration route returns customer-specific prices. Pronto Connect offers pre-built APIs and custom APIs, while Pronto Woven states its Avenue REST APIs return a single price per product and suit B2C. Ask Pronto or your Pronto partner which API returns contract prices, volume breaks and promotions for your version, then test it against prices shown in Pronto.
Do we need our Pronto partner involved, or can an AI provider do it alone?
Involve your Pronto partner. The AI layer can be built separately, but the Pronto Connect APIs, any custom API, the integration user and its permissions sit inside Pronto Xi. Agree early who builds and supports each part, so upgrades to Pronto do not break the quote or order flow.
Will Pronto's IBM watsonx agentic AI work replace a custom quoting agent?
Pronto announced in August 2025 that it would bring IBM watsonx agentic AI into Pronto Xi. Ask Pronto what is available in your version and whether it covers reading emailed requests, matching customer part numbers and creating draft quotes or orders. Compare that with your needs before committing to a separate build.
Should a Pronto Xi distributor automate emailed orders or quotes first?
Start with whichever queue costs more staff time and causes more errors. Emailed purchase orders are usually higher volume and easier to check, because the customer has already chosen items and quantities. Quotes involve more judgement on substitutes and pricing. Many distributors start with orders, then extend the same matching and pricing to quotes.
What happens when a customer's contract price in Pronto has expired?
The agent should flag it before the quote or order is created. The draft goes to the sales or pricing lead with the expired agreement shown, and they decide whether to renew the price, quote list price or contact the customer. Ask any provider to demonstrate this on your own data.
Related
- We get quote requests by email. Can AI match the SKUs, apply customer pricing and create the quote in our ERP?How distributors use AI to read emailed RFQs, match SKUs, apply customer pricing and margin rules, check stock and draft quotes in Business Central.
- Wholesale and distributionQuotes, orders and pricing in your ERP.
- Customers email us PDF purchase orders and staff retype them into the ERP. Can AI do this reliably?How AI reads emailed PDF purchase orders, checks them against customer, item and price data, routes exceptions to a person, and writes orders to your ERP.
- Our field team uses simPRO and finance uses Pronto Xi. We export CSVs and rekey them. What is the realistic way to integrate the two?Field team on simPRO, finance on Pronto Xi and still rekeying CSV exports? The realistic integration options and what to ask both vendors before you start.
- Should our ERP partner do our AI quoting and order entry, or should we use an AI consultancy?ERP partner or AI consultancy for AI quoting and order entry? When each one fits, when to hire, how they work together and ten questions to ask any provider.
- System integrationConnections between the systems you run.
Have this problem across your branches?
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