Common questions.

produci.ai is software for making quotes for machining jobs: turning, milling and sheet metal. It is built for the shop that works made-to-order and has to answer the customer fast, with a price that holds up.

It works like this: you upload the 3D model of the part and the drawing. Ottone, the AI assistant of produci.ai, reads the drawing, recognises the features of the part, proposes stock, material, operations and setups, calculates machine times and suggests a clear, detailed quote, phase by phase.

Then it's your turn: you check, correct what you want and decide the price. Ottone does the repetitive work; the experience and the final say stay yours.

For anyone who makes quotes every day in a machine shop: the owner who answers customers, the engineering department that works out the routing, the sales person who has to send the price.

It is built above all for those who work made-to-order, with parts that are always different: every request is a new drawing to study and there is never much time. produci.ai gives you a base that is already calculated, so you spend your time on the decisions that matter.

It suits a shop with a single person on quotes as well as a whole quoting department: you pay for the work done on parts, with no per-user costs.

Two files for each part:

• the 3D model in STEP format (.step or .stp), the exchange format that all the main CAD programs export;
• the drawing as a PDF, meaning the drawing with dimensions, tolerances and title block.

The two files complete each other. The 3D model carries the geometry: from it Ottone gets the overall size, the stock and the features to machine. The drawing carries what you need to make the part the way the customer wants it: material, tolerances, roughness, threads, treatments. Together they give a complete quote.

You can also open DXF drawings, to look at them.

Everything the quote needs to know besides the shape of the part:

• from the title block: part code and name, material, treatments, general tolerances (for example ISO 2768-mK);
• the dimensional and geometric tolerances, like a Ø25 h7 or a cylindricity;
• the roughness values, for example Ra 0.8;
• the threads, for example M16.

The data it reads fill in the part sheet on their own and, above all, go into the routing: a tight tolerance brings finishing, a low roughness brings grinding, a thread brings threading. This way the quote takes into account what the customer really asks for, and the time needed to get it ends up in the price.

produci.ai prepares the quote for turned, milled and sheet metal parts, even when operations mix in the same part: a shaft with keyseats, for example, has turning and milling in the same routing.

On the 3D model Ottone recognises the geometric features one by one: external cylinders, flats, shoulders, blind and through holes, slots, pockets, threads. Then it groups them by setup, meaning how the part is held in the machine.

For each feature it picks the machining strategy that suits your material: roughing, finishing, drilling, threading, grinding. The program has 894 strategies across 26 technologies: the routing arrives already written, and you check it.

It reads the material from the title block of the drawing. In a shop the same alloy is written in many ways, with the standard or without, with different codes: Ottone recognises it however you find it written and links it to the right designation. The catalogue has 114 alloys, 780 designations and over 27,000 commercial references, meaning the semi-finished stock the way you buy it from the supplier.

From the material and the shape of the part Ottone proposes the stock: the shape (for example a round bar), the dimensions and the machining allowance. The right bar, with its price, goes straight into the quote as the first line.

It suggests the stock, you approve it or change it: if you already have a different bar in the warehouse, you use that one.

Yes. From a bent sheet metal part produci.ai generates the flat pattern, straight from the 3D model: it is the shape to cut before bending. The system calculates it: you have the shape ready, without redrawing it.

From the flat pattern come the material to buy and the operations on the part: so sheet metal gets its quote too, with the same detail as a turned part.

Turning, milling and sheet metal sit in the same calculation, with the same method: you quote a bent bracket and a turned shaft the same way, in the same program.

Ottone is the AI assistant of produci.ai. The platform was born with artificial intelligence at its centre and Ottone has been its heart from day one: it reads the 3D model and the drawing, recognises the features of the part and prepares the quote.

You talk to it like to an experienced colleague, in everyday words. You ask how to do something in the platform, why a cost is what it is, or to redo a calculation: Ottone suggests how to do it, helps you understand the numbers and, when you ask, does the work for you.

Anything about your quotes. Three examples:

• How to do it. "How do I start a quote?" Ottone suggests the right steps, one at a time: upload the 3D model and the drawing, then tell me the batch.
• Where a number comes from. "Why does the turning cost €3.75?" It breaks it down into operations: roughing, finishing, shoulder, hole, each with its own time and cost.
• Do it for me. "Redo the quote with a batch of 50." It redoes it and gives you the new cost per part.

Write the way you talk in the shop: your own language is enough.

Ottone suggests, you decide. The quote it prepares is a complete, reasoned proposal: every phase has its machine, every operation its time and cutting parameters, every cost a reason you can ask it about.

Everything is in view and everything can be changed: the stock, the phases, the machines, the parameters, the batch, the markup. The way of making the part stays yours, with your machines and your habits.

It's like having a colleague who prepares the draft for you: the signature on the price you send to the customer is yours.

Yes. Every time you correct a quote, a phase, a machine or a cutting parameter, Ottone takes note of how you work. And when the part is produced, you upload the actual times and compare them with those of the quote.

From corrections and actuals Ottone learns the habits of your shop: parameters adapt on their own and every quote looks more like you.

What it learns stays only for you: it serves your shop and nobody else's.

Nothing to install, no licence to buy: you use produci.ai in the browser, like a website. You sign up, log in and upload your first part.

That's why it is ready at once on the engineering department computer as well as on the sales person's, and updates arrive on their own: next time you log in the new version is already there.

You use it from day one. The quote speaks your language: phases, machines, times and costs, the same things you would write by hand.

When you have a doubt, ask Ottone: "How do I start a quote?", "Where do I change the batch?". It guides you step by step, as a colleague would on your first day of work.

The skill you really need, you already have: it's your trade. produci.ai puts it to work faster.

Your machines, just once. For each one you enter the hourly cost, the work area and the axes: from then on they apply to every quote.

The hourly cost turns times into euros: it's the number that makes the quote yours. Work area and axes say what each machine can do.

The rest arrives ready: material catalogue, machining strategies, cutting parameters. You change them whenever you want, but to get started it's enough to upload your first part.

Yes. Every quote stays saved with its versions, batches and notes: you reopen it when you need it, to review it, update it or answer the customer who calls back a month later.

Reopening a saved quote is the right way to go back to it: corrections and recalculations are free. If you upload the same file again, instead, for Ottone it is a new part and it reads it from scratch.

With an analytical method, the same you would use with pen and calculator, done for every feature of the part:

• material: the stock, with its dimensions, at the catalogue price;
• operations: for each feature the right strategy and, for each operation, the cutting parameters (depth of cut, feed, cutting speed), which give the machine time;
• fixed times: machine setup, tool preparation and setups, with the machine setup split over the parts in the batch;
• cost: each time multiplied by the hourly cost of the machine it runs on.

Material plus phases gives the cost per part. It works for a turning quote as well as for a CNC milling one or a sheet metal part. Same data, same result: the quote is repeatable, and the same drawing always leads to the same number.

Yes, down to the last operation. The quote opens on "Materials and work phases": the material at the top, the phases below (cutting, CNC turning, CNC milling…), each with its machine, time, hourly cost and total.

Open a phase and you find its operations, one by one: feature, operation, setup, duration. Open an operation and you see the cutting parameters its time comes from.

And if you prefer to ask, Ottone tells you in plain words. "Why does the turning cost €3.75?" It's 5 minutes on the lathe, at €45 an hour, split between roughing, finishing, shoulder and hole. Every cent has a reason, and you can see it.

Yes, everything. You change the stock, the phases, the machines and the cutting parameters, and you type in by hand the values you already know: the quote recalculates. You can also add your own notes.

Every edit is free: corrections, recalculations, manual changes and export use zero chips. Chips are used only by Ottone when it works for you: when it reads the 3D model and the drawing, or when it answers your questions.

Yes. Each batch has its own version of the quote, with its cost per part and its price, and you see them one under the other.

It matters because fixed times, like machine setup and tool preparation, are split over the parts in the batch: the more parts you make, the less they weigh on each one. In the example on the Ottone page, the same shaft costs €22.48 per part with a batch of 10 and €19.78 with a batch of 50.

On top of that, produci.ai shows you the economic batch, with its cost per part: one more argument when you negotiate with the customer.

Yes. The quote gives you the cost; to get to the price you set the markup as a percentage, version by version, and you immediately see the resulting price.

This way you keep the two numbers that matter apart: what it costs you to make the part and what you sell it for. The margin is yours to decide, part by part and customer by customer, starting from a cost whose origin you know.

It's the work credit of produci.ai. Every time Ottone works for you it uses a few: when it prepares the quote from the 3D model, when it reads the PDF drawing, when it answers your questions. What you do yourself is free: corrections and recalculations of the quote, manual changes, export.

It works like at the machine: the more chips come off, the more work has been done. For the quote, a 3-hole flange uses 3; a support plate full of holes and pockets, 23.

You buy chips with a top-up or with a monthly subscription, and you can always see the ones you have left.

No. No cost per user: you only buy chips.

You pay for the work Ottone does on your parts, no licence per workstation. The cost follows the quotes you make, and that's it.

You pay twice: for Ottone it is a new part. To review a quote, reopen the saved one.

Every file you upload, Ottone reads from scratch: 3D model, drawing, features, routing. The saved quote already has everything: you reopen it, update it, recalculate it, and the changes are free.

No. But the chips you have left are always in view, and the examples on the Pricing page give you the order of magnitude.

Chips depend on the work the part requires, and Ottone finds that out by reading it. The examples range from 3 chips for a 3-hole flange up to 23 for a support plate, for the quote of the part: a simple part uses few, a complex one more.

Yes. The indicator shows the chips left. Click it and you see your plan, how many you have used out of the total and when it renews or expires.

This way you always know how much work you have left and decide in time whether to top up.

Ottone stops before starting the part and asks you for a top-up.

You top up, even with just €25, and restart from there.

Yes. Top-up chips last 12 months. With the subscription, the ones not used in the month are lost. Welcome chips last 30 days.

• Welcome: 30 days from sign-up.
• Top-up: 12 months from the day you buy the last top-up. If you buy more than one, the chips add up and the expiry of the last one applies: every new top-up extends by 12 months the ones you had left too.
• Subscription: one month from the day you activate it, then it renews on the same day each month. If you subscribe on the 20th, the chips are valid until the 19th of the next month.

If you have chips of several kinds, Ottone uses first the ones that expire first: this way you make the most of them all.

It has no separate price: it uses the same chips. The longer the question and the longer the answer, the more chips it uses.

A quick question costs little, a detailed explanation a bit more. Reading the quote and changing it yourself, instead, is always free.

No, they are VAT excluded.

The top-ups of €25, €50 and €100, the Shop subscription at €299 a month and the Quoting office subscription at €999 a month are all plus VAT.

Yes, whenever you want.

• If you move up, for example from Shop to Quoting office, the change takes effect at once: you pay the new plan and get all its chips right away. Your new month starts from that day, and the chips you had left you use until they expire.
• If you move down, the change takes effect from the following month: until then you keep your plan and its chips.
• If you go from top-ups to a subscription, the top-up chips stay valid until they expire: Ottone uses first the ones that expire first.

You cancel the subscription whenever you want: it stays active until the end of the month already paid. For larger volumes there is the custom plan: talk to us.

You sign up with "Try it free" and get 500 welcome chips as a gift, valid 30 days. With those you try produci.ai on real parts, your own: you upload the 3D model and the drawing, look at the quote Ottone suggests, correct it, ask it questions.

500 chips are enough for several parts: in the examples on the Pricing page the quote for a part goes from 3 chips for a simple one to 23 for a complex one.

30 days from sign-up: that is how long the welcome chips are valid.

It's the time to try calmly on different parts and compare the quotes from Ottone with the ones you have already made yourself.

Yes, it's the best way. Pick a part you know well, maybe one you have already quoted or produced: this way you compare Ottone's routing, times and cost with your own numbers right away, and see where it matches you and where you correct it.

The drawings you upload stay yours: confidentiality is the starting point of produci.ai.

You choose how to continue:

• a top-up of €25, €50 or €100 (125, 250 or 500 chips, valid 12 months), when you need it;
• a monthly subscription, if you quote every day: Shop, €299 a month for 5,000 chips, or Quoting office, €999 a month for 25,000 chips;
• a custom plan, for larger volumes or for connection to your management system and machines (Industry 4.0).

Prices exclude VAT.

Yes. The data you upload is yours and always at your disposal: 3D models, drawings and quotes. Confidentiality is the starting point of produci.ai.

For a machine shop the customer's drawing is worth as much as the part, and it is often covered by a non-disclosure agreement. produci.ai is built starting from here: your drawings serve your quotes.

It stays yours. Everything Ottone learns from your corrections and your actuals serves only your shop.

Your times, your machines, your habits are your edge over competitors: Ottone uses them for your quotes, and for nobody else's.