Cross-reference quotes for plant parts, from a worn number or a photo to your item.

The request rarely names your item. It names what is stamped on the old part, a catalog number from a brand you don't carry, a size read with a caliper, or nothing but a photo. Someone works out what the part is, finds the closest item on your shelf or a vendor's, decides whether it is an exact interchange or an equivalent, and prices it.

For the test, AI reads copies of those requests and drafts each quote line: your item, how it matched (exact interchange, same dimensions and features, or a proposed equivalent), stock or lead time, and the price from your records. A line it can't confirm goes to your salesperson with the reason. No quote is sent.

The suffix is the part. A request for a 6205-2RS names a size and asks for rubber seals on both sides, and each maker spells that its own way. SKF's contact seals appear as 2RSH or 2RS1, NSK's as DDU and NTN's as LLU. NSK's VV and NTN's LLB are non-contact seals, and 2Z or ZZ means metal shields, not seals at all. A trailing C3 means internal clearance greater than normal, so a quote that drops it is for a different bearing. The draft keeps every suffix the request carried, or says which one it couldn't read.

Fittings that thread together and still leak. Hydraulic dash sizes count tube size in sixteenths of an inch, so a -6 JIC end is for 3/8-inch tube. The thread alone doesn't identify the fitting: an adapter sold as 3/4-16 SAE O-ring boss on one end and 3/4-16 JIC 37-degree flare on the other has the same thread on both ends, one sealing on an O-ring and the other on a flared cone. When a photo shows the threads but not the seat, the draft holds the line and asks for the seat type instead of guessing.

Two names for one insert, and a grade on top. A turning insert ordered as CNMG 432 in ANSI inch terms is CNMG 120408 in ISO metric terms: a half-inch inscribed circle with a corner radius of about 1/32 inch. The shape matches across makers, but each adds its own chipbreaker and grade code, such as PM 4405 from one and KCP25C from another, and those decide how the edge cuts. When a plant wants the same insert from a brand you carry, the draft matches the size exactly and lists the grade as a proposed equivalent for your salesperson to confirm.

Gloves and bolts carry ratings, not only numbers. A requisition for cut level 4 gloves may predate ANSI/ISEA 105-2016, which replaced the old 0 to 5 scale with nine levels from A1 to A9, rated in grams. EN 388 gives its coupe test a number from 1 to 5 and the ISO 13997 test a letter from A to F, and the scales don't convert one-to-one. A bolt in a photo is easier: three radial lines on the head mark SAE J429 Grade 5, six mark Grade 8, none marks Grade 2, and metric bolts carry a property class such as 8.8 or 10.9. Each draft names the rating it quoted against.

What your reviewer watches. Usually the counter salesperson the others go to with an odd number. They check that each draft quotes an item you carry, that an exact interchange really is exact, that every equivalent is marked for approval, and that a part with no good match came back as a question. A part once returned because the match was off belongs in the sample.

When your reviewer says yes against the success criteria, the job runs on incoming plant requests for about 30 days.

A salesperson checks every draft quote before a plant sees it, and only your team approves an equivalent or sends a price. Matches your reviewer confirms can be added to your cross-reference file.

That month has a fixed price you see before signing. Any job after it is priced separately.