Pro LBM, trusses, windows, doors and millwork

// AI for building products distributors

AI for LBM dealers and building products distributors, tested on bids your estimators already sent.

For pro lumber and building material dealers, and the distributors who sell roofing, siding, windows, doors and millwork to builders and contractors. Pick one desk: lumber takeoffs and material quotes from a builder's plans, or special order windows and doors checked from the manufacturer's quote to its acknowledgment. A free AI proof of concept runs it on copies of 20 to 30 jobs your team already finished, with no login to your ERP, your estimating program or any manufacturer's quoting tool. The owner names a reviewer, the person who knows that desk best, and their call decides it.

Book a proof-of-concept call30 minutes with Rob

LBM proof of conceptFree, one desk

Start with: Lumber takeoffs, or special order windows and doors
You send: Copies of 20 to 30 finished jobs, after the NDA
Logins: None: no ERP, estimating program or vendor portal
Never: A header, beam or truss sized by the AI
Your reviewer: Named by the owner before day one
Price: A range up front, a fixed figure before signing

// Jobs we would test

Four jobs between the plan set and the jobsite

Two open now
Two later, one at a time

JOB.01 · START HERE

Lumber takeoffs

A builder's plan set counted into a lumber list and material quote by plan, elevation and option, with the trusses, engineered floor and roofing taken from their own layouts and units.

See the lumber takeoffs page

JOB.02 · ALSO OPEN

Special order windows and doors

Units configured in the manufacturer's quoting software, drafted as special order lines, with every acknowledgment checked against the quote before the factory builds anything.

See the special orders page

JOB.03

Builder POs by lot

The purchase order a production builder issues for each start, compared with the agreed house package and that lot's options before the first load leaves your yard.

See the builder PO page

JOB.04

Trim and door packages

Interior doors, casing, base and stair parts counted from the plan's door schedule and room sizes, as one millwork package for each house.

See the millwork takeoff page

// Why takeoffs come first

Every bid your estimators sent is already graded

The answer key sits in the estimating files. Each bid left four things behind: the plan set the builder sent, the takeoff your estimator built, the quote that went out, and whether the builder took it. A proof of concept on those bids is scored against your own work. Production building raises the stakes, because one plan is sold in several elevations and built lot after lot, so a miscount in its takeoff repeats on every house.

Two tiers, each with its own association and software. NLBMDA, the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association, dates from 1917 and counts more than 6,000 member locations running lumber yards and component plants. It calls the dealer the supplier of choice for professional contractors, builders and remodelers. Upstream, NAWLA, the North American Wholesale Lumber Association, has membership categories for wholesalers and manufacturers, and Epicor describes LumberTrack as designed for sawmills, panel mills, wholesalers and brokers. Dealer desks run systems sold to that trade, such as Epicor BisTrack, DMSi Agility and ECI's Spruce.

The count happens outside the ERP. Estimators take off in a separate program and bring the result in. ECI lists estimating imports for Spruce from tools including Saberis, Andersen iQ and 20/20, and Epicor names TradeTek among BisTrack's partners for estimating. What the builder sees can differ from what your estimator built: DMSi notes that Agility can print roofing and siding quotes with totals only, so a competitor can't read the pricing. The test grades the line-by-line takeoff underneath, whatever form the quote took.

Special orders come second because they can't come back. Windows, doors, trusses and I-joists are often built to the order, and dealers put that in writing. Iverson's Lumber, for one, has customers sign a Special Order Authorization and says many special orders take a deposit, can't be cancelled and can't be returned. The acknowledgment check is the last cheap moment to catch a wrong unit, and the orders your desk already placed show what it caught.

Nothing leaves your yard during the test. No number goes to a builder, no order to a manufacturer, and no structural member is sized.

// How it runs

Pick a desk, test it, then decide

Step 01
Copies of finished work
Once the NDA is signed, send 20 to 30 finished examples of one job: plan sets with the takeoffs and quotes your estimators built, or special orders with their quotes, POs and acknowledgments. Plans that can't leave become a look-alike set made with your reviewer.
Step 02
Your reviewer sets the bar
Before day one the owner names the reviewer, the success criteria are put in writing (whose waste factors count, for one), and you get a price range for the live job. Your reviewer then grades each draft against what your team did.
Step 03
About 30 days live, after a yes
The same job runs on new plan sets or orders for about 30 days. An estimator approves every takeoff before a builder sees it, and a person approves every special order before a manufacturer does. The other desk is its own decision, with its own price.

Each desk is priced as its own job: a range before the proof of concept, a fixed figure before you sign.

Rob sets the range on the first call, once he knows how many plan sets your estimators bid in a month, how many are production plans with options, and how many special orders your window and door desk places.

// Questions

What LBM dealers ask first

Will the AI size headers, beams or trusses?

No. Sizes come from the plans, the builder's engineer, your component plant or your engineered wood supplier's layout. When a size is missing, the line goes to your estimator blank, with a note on where it should come from.

We bid production plans and custom homes. Which should we test?

Production plans usually make the cleaner first test, because one plan with its elevations and options gets bid and built many times and each bid left a full record. A few custom homes can go in the sample, and your reviewer grades them the same way.

Do you need BisTrack, Agility or Spruce?

No. The test works from exports and copies, whichever ERP or estimating program you run. Your systems come into it only for the live run, scoped and priced before you sign.

Can we start with special orders instead of takeoffs?

Yes, if the window and door desk is where your team loses more time or more money to remakes. It is still one job, tested on its own 20 to 30 past orders with its own success criteria and its own price.

Who should our reviewer be?

For takeoffs, the estimating manager or the senior estimator on your largest builder. For special orders, whoever runs the window and door desk and works with the manufacturers' reps. The owner names one person, and their call decides the test.

Rob Eason, founder

// Book a call with Rob

Start with last quarter's builder bids.

Thirty minutes with Rob. Come ready to say who you are and what you run, which desk to test first, and about how many plan sets or special orders cross it in a month. Plan sets and price files wait until the NDA is in place.

Book a proof-of-concept call

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