Key points
- The bottleneck is matching: distributors carry items from many manufacturers. Every line item has to be matched to the right SKU in your own range.
- AI suggests, your team decides: suggestions come with rationale and confidence, and uncertain matches are flagged.
- Request missing items: line items outside your range can be split by trade and sent to suppliers as requests.
- In practice: Frauenthal processes large tenders about twice as fast, with 90%+ precision on structured bills of quantities.
As of 4 November 2026
Disclosure: this industry page is published by Scalera. Information on features comes from our product pages and FAQ, results from the published Frauenthal case study. It covers project business with tenders, not stock or counter sales.
Why is project business so demanding for distributors?
Because a distributor doesn't just offer one product programme but items from many manufacturers. A bill of quantities, on the other hand, describes a requirement or names a reference product. Between the two sits one question: which item in our range meets this line item?
For large distributors this is a search across millions of items. Frauenthal, by its own account Austria's leading HVAC wholesaler, carries 1.6 to 1.7 million items with heterogeneous brand and product logic (Scalera, Frauenthal case study). Before Scalera, a central team of 12 FTEs processed thousands of tenders a year manually.
The case study is open about the consequences: 2 to 3 hours per large tender, growth only with additional headcount and a backlog risk at peak times (Scalera, Frauenthal case study).
Where does AI help distributors in project business?
At four points between request and quote. The table shows what the software handles and what stays with your team.
| Step | What AI handles | What your team decides |
|---|---|---|
| Read the BoQ | Extract line items from PDF, scans, Excel, GAEB or ÖNORM | Whether to bid on the project |
| Match items | Suggest matching SKUs with rationale and confidence | Uncertain matches, equivalence |
| Missing items | Split requests by trade, send them, track responses | Which supplier wins the order |
| Handover | Export via CSV, XML, GAEB or API into the ERP | Prices, margins and approval |
Scalera's own classification. Features as described on Scalera, Product Matching and Scalera, Supplier Matching; prices and approval stay with the distributor.
For incoming orders after the award, see the separate overview Order processing automation. This page focuses on the quote.
How does AI match line items to a catalogue of millions?
By specification, application context and standard, not just by keywords. The AI is trained on construction products and recognises technical, functional and normative requirements, even across chapters and page breaks (Scalera, Product Matching).
Three features matter most for distributors:
- Other manufacturers' products: Scalera recognises your own and competitor products in the BoQ and suggests matching items from your catalogue (Scalera, FAQ).
- Product groups: line items are categorised by product group so several specialists can work on their sections at the same time (Scalera, FAQ).
- Traceability: every suggestion shows its rationale and confidence; missing accessories are added (Scalera, Product Matching). More in Accessories and add-ons in quotes.
With every completed quote Scalera learns which products fit which requests, for your account only and without cross-customer training (Scalera, FAQ). How search in very large catalogues works is covered in Product matching at scale.
What does the Frauenthal example show?
At Frauenthal, Scalera recognises tender line items within seconds and maps them to products across more than 1.6 million SKUs. Overall precision is above 80 percent, and above 90 percent on structured bills of quantities (Scalera, Frauenthal case study).
Large tenders now take about 1 to 1.5 hours instead of 2 to 3 hours. The system is rolled out across the entire central offer management, and more tenders are processed without additional headcount (Scalera, Frauenthal case study).
How do distributors request missing items from suppliers?
Not every line item is in your own range. Then you need a price request to the manufacturer or an upstream supplier. With Scalera, requests go out with one click, including a structured position overview and all relevant attachments, and Scalera tracks responses and sends automatic reminders for missing quotes (Scalera, Supplier Matching).
Tenders can be split by trade, personalised requests sent and all responses tracked from a single dashboard (Scalera, Product Matching). What a good request looks like is shown in Automate supplier price requests.
What do distributors need to prepare?
Mainly their data and rules. Frauenthal names three success factors: executive-level priority with early IT involvement, internal champions with feedback loops on real tenders, and a systematic data architecture (Scalera, Frauenthal case study).
There, data architecture meant harmonising data across systems, structuring product logic and integrating business rules such as margins and cross-selling (Scalera, Frauenthal case study). For distributors with several regions, locations also help: separate teams with their own catalogues and workflows (Scalera, FAQ).
- Scope your project business: which product groups and regions receive the most bills of quantities?
- Pick a starting area: begin with standard or high-volume items and expand later.
- Check master data: item descriptions, technical attributes and conversion factors for units.
- Test with real BoQs: measure hit rate and processing time on your own tenders.
- Name champions: experienced quoting staff who give feedback and bring the team along.
How to set up a test with your own tenders is described in Piloting AI tender software.
Frequently asked questions about AI for distributors
Is AI worth it for smaller building materials distributors?
It depends less on size than on how much project business you do. If you answer bills of quantities regularly, you can start with one product area; many customers start with their highest-volume or most standardised product lines and expand later (Scalera, FAQ).
Can the AI match line items that name another manufacturer's product?
Yes. Scalera recognises both your own and competitor products in tenders and suggests matching items from your catalogue (Scalera, FAQ). Whether an item is equivalent is your team's call; see Winning with alternates.
How does Scalera handle several branches or regions?
Through locations. A location is a segmented team in your account with its own product catalogues and workflows (Scalera, FAQ). Each region can work with its own range.
What if the units in the bill of quantities don't match our sales units?
If a conversion factor is specified in your product data, Scalera converts automatically; otherwise it notifies you (Scalera, FAQ). Which product data you need is covered in Product data for tenders.
Does AI replace the central offer team?
No. At Frauenthal the same central offer management keeps working but processes more tenders without additional headcount (Scalera, Frauenthal case study). Scalera flags uncertain matches for review (Scalera, FAQ).
How do results get into the ERP?
Matched tenders can be exported via CSV, XML, GAEB or API into ERP, CPQ or CRM systems (Scalera, Product Matching). Details are in ERP integration for tenders and quotes.
Key takeaways
- In project business, the biggest effort for distributors is matching line items to products from many manufacturers.
- AI suggests items with rationale and confidence, recognises other manufacturers' products and sorts by product group; your team reviews uncertain matches.
- Line items outside your range can be split by trade and sent to suppliers, with responses tracked.
- Frauenthal processes large tenders about twice as fast, with 90%+ precision on structured BoQs and without additional headcount.
- In a demo you can see how Scalera matches bills of quantities to your range.