Manufacturing SMEs: quote faster, answer less, see your numbers

How industrial buyers find a supplier

B2B buyers rarely search for a brand name. An engineer types a process, a material, a tolerance or a standard ("laser cutting stainless 3 mm", "injection moulding small series"), reads two or three technical pages, then asks for a quote. Distributors, trade fairs and word of mouth do the rest, but the website is where the buyer checks that you really have the machine, the certification and the capacity.

Google's own guidance asks for content that shows first-hand experience and expertise. For a manufacturer that is an advantage: what your workshop actually does, with real tolerances, materials and limits, is exactly the content no generic competitor can copy. See SEO.

Where the time goes

• Quotes: drawings read by hand, prices rebuilt from a spreadsheet, answers that leave days after the request.
• "Where is my order?" calls and emails, answered by checking three tools.
• Weekly figures: output, delays, scrap and cash rebuilt from exports every Monday.
• Invoices and payment terms: reminders sent late, and the switch to electronic invoicing to prepare.
• Documents: technical sheets, certificates and procedures that only one person knows how to find.

What we would build

• A quote tool shaped like your trade: options, materials and rules entered once, a draft quote produced in minutes, checked and sent by your team. See custom software.
• A customer portal where each customer follows orders, delivery dates and documents (certificates, invoices) with their own access. See client portals.
• Dashboards and an operations watch: the figures you check every week, fed from your tools, with an alert when something drifts (late orders, a stock below threshold). See dashboards and data and operations watch.
• An assistant that answers from your documents: procedures, technical sheets, past answers, each answer pointing to the document it came from. See document AI.
• An unpaid-invoice agent that reminds customers politely on the right dates and stops when payment arrives. See the unpaid-invoice agent.

Two French rules to plan for

Electronic invoicing. Since 1 September 2026, every company in France must be able to receive electronic invoices, and large and mid-size companies issue them through an approved platform. Small and micro businesses must issue electronic invoices from 1 September 2027. Any tool we build that creates invoices or reads supplier invoices is designed to work with the approved platform you choose; we are not one ourselves.

Payment terms. Between businesses, the Commercial Code sets 30 days by default, with a maximum of 60 days from the invoice date or 45 days end of month when agreed; late penalties are due without a reminder being needed. Reminders and dashboards use those dates.