AI quoting for heat exchanger manufacturers

Win heat exchanger bids by getting your quote out first.

The data sheet is quick to read, but the owner's specification behind it sets the price of almost every line. Mavlon's AI Quoting Engine reads the whole bid package and turns it into a priced draft quote in your own pricing within minutes, so you answer before the other shops do and your team can bid on more of the exchangers it is asked to price. Your estimator checks it and sets the final number.

Book a Demo How we test it →

From ADNOC's public shell and tube specification

p.85A data sheet that says "welded" means a strength weld, and seal welds are not permitted.
p.84Plate is not permitted for tubesheets, so the draft prices forged ones.
p.41The exchanger gets three hydrotests: the shell side, the tube side, then both together.
p.32A spare tube bundle is asked for only "if required by the COMPANY".

One word on the data sheet, "welded", is worth $27,400 in our sample quote. The draft carries the strength weld, prices the seal weld beside it and asks the buyer to confirm, so the question is settled before the bid closes.

Why speed decides who wins

A quick quote misses what the specification adds. A careful one arrives late.

Every maker on the bid list gets the same package, and the data sheet alone does not hold the price. In the example in our guide, the request runs to 125 pages: a data sheet for one exchanger and ADNOC's 123-page shell and tube specification. A quote built from the sheet alone could miss the forged tubesheets, the strength welds, two of the three hydrotests, the calculations and the spares. Reading all 125 pages catches them, but it takes time the bid date does not give you. The shop that does that careful read quickly gets its quote in first, at a price it can stand behind.

125 pages

In the example request: one data sheet and a 123-page owner specification

1 of 3

Hydrotests priced from the data sheet alone, when page 41 asks for three

Of the total in our sample quote, set by one word on the data sheet

Minutes

From the bid package to a priced draft quote

A fast quote that skipped a page is not safe either. Page 18 says that when a quote carries no list of deviations, the buyer will assume the maker complies fully, and page 17 says the most stringent requirement applies unless agreed otherwise. So a cheaper reading you never wrote down is still a promise to build the stricter one, and the difference comes out of your margin.

The AI Quoting Engine does the careful read for you. Each line of the draft is priced the way your company prices and carries the page it came from, so your estimator can start on the calls that move the price, such as the tube joint and the spare bundle, on the day the package arrives.

Video: AI Quoting for Heat Exchangers: From Bid Package to Draft Quote (2:22)

Read the heat exchanger specification sheet guide →Where the days go in a quote →

What goes in

The data sheet, and everything behind it.

Heat exchanger cost estimation rarely starts and ends with the data sheet. The sheet says what the exchanger must do, and the owner specification behind it says what you must build, test and ship.

The data sheet

What the exchanger must do and its basic shape: the duty, the pressures, the materials, and the TEMA class and type.

TEMA is the Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Association, and its class R is the strictest of three. The example sheet asks for class R and says only that the tubes are "welded" to the tubesheet.

Example data sheet, made for our guide

Owner specification

How the exchanger must be built and tested, including rules that never appear on the sheet.

Tubesheets may not be cut from plate, each side gets its own hydrotest before a third test on the whole exchanger, and "welded" on the sheet means a strength weld.

ADNOC AGES-SP-06-003, pages 41, 84 and 85

Bid rules

What you must send in with your price, beyond the price itself.

The bid must include the thermal rating input and results from HTRI, the usual rating software, a preliminary general arrangement drawing and a clause-wise list of deviations.

Page 46

Spares and guarantees

What ships with the exchanger, and what you answer for once it is running.

The specification asks for commissioning spares of 10% of the bolting or two sets of each type and 200% of the gaskets, a spare tube bundle only "if required by the COMPANY", and a thermal performance guarantee whoever did the rating.

Pages 32, 57 and 64

What you get back

A draft quote your estimator can check line by line.

The engine learns how your company prices from your own past bid packages, the quotes you sent and your costing spreadsheets. A new exchanger package then comes back as a draft in that pricing, with the page behind every line.

Priced lines with their pages

Every line has a quantity, a price from your own rates and the pages that ask for it, so anyone can check it against the package.

p.84Forged tubesheets, 2 each, because plate is not permitted

Calls priced both ways

Where the package can be read two ways, the draft carries the likely reading and prices the other one beside it. Flip the call and the total moves at once.

p.85Strength weld or seal weld: $27,400 apart in our sample quote

TBD instead of a guess

A line the package does not settle says TBD and stays in the total, so it is neither forgotten nor guessed into a firm price.

p.32Spare tube bundle, only "if required by the COMPANY"

Questions ready for the buyer

Anything the documents cannot settle becomes a question with its page, written so your estimator can paste it into the reply.

p.57Does the thermal guarantee rest on the data sheet as issued?

Then the quote

Your estimator reviews the draft, changes what they know better, makes the calls and sends the quote. Their time goes on the few decisions that move the price, not on the first read of 125 pages.

What it does not do

It does not design or rate the exchanger, decide compliance or set your margin, and it never sends anything to your customer. Your team decides every number that goes out.

How it differs

Most quoting tools start from a part or a catalogue. Exchanger jobs start from a data sheet and a specification.

There are good quoting tools on the market, and each was built for a different kind of request. Here is where each one fits, so you can pick the right one for the exchangers you build.

Kind of tool	What goes in	Where the price comes from	Fits best when
Configure-price-quote toolsTacton, Salesforce Revenue Cloud, Epicor CPQ	A salesperson picks options from your product catalogue.	Pricing rules you set up for each option.	You sell standard models, such as a catalogue brazed plate exchanger, that a few choices describe.
Job-shop quoting softwarePaperless Parts, SecturaFAB, Costimator	Part files and part drawings.	The part's geometry, its operations and your shop rates.	You machine or fabricate single parts from customer drawings.
Quoting inside your ERPJobBOSS², MRPeasy	The materials and routing your estimator types in.	The rates and routings already stored in your ERP.	You run the shop in that ERP and quote work like jobs you have done before.
Drawing data toolsWerk24	Single engineering drawings.	No price. It turns drawings into data for your other systems.	You want drawing data inside your own ERP or quoting tool.
Manufacturing data searchCADDi	Your archive of drawings and manufacturing data.	The past jobs and costs it finds for you.	You quote repeat parts and want to find what you made before.
Should-cost simulationaPriori	3D CAD models.	A simulated cost of making the part.	You run cost engineering or check what suppliers charge.
Mavlon AI Quoting EngineFor engineered equipment quoted from bid packages	The whole bid package: specification, drawings, bid form, addenda and the covering email.	Your own rate book, costing spreadsheets and past quotes.	You build shell and tube or other engineered exchangers to each buyer's data sheet and owner specification.

We make Mavlon, so read this table with that in mind. Descriptions of other tools come from their own websites in October 2026, and corrections are welcome at atishay@mavlon.co. Many teams use a configurator for standard models and Mavlon for the jobs that arrive as a bid package.

Where it fits

Made for exchanger jobs where the specification sets the price.

Custom work

Mavlon is the right tool when

The request arrives as a data sheet with an owner specification behind it, often with drawings, a bid form and addenda.
Each exchanger is built for one buyer's duty, under that owner's rules for joints, tests and spares.
Your senior estimator or proposal engineer has to read the specification before anyone can price.
You turn down bids you would like to win, or send them late.

Standard work

A different tool fits better when

You sell standard catalogue exchangers that a few options describe. A configurator is faster for that.
Your requests are short repeat orders that name the model. A good estimator will price them faster than any tool.
You need the thermal design itself. Thermal design software such as HTRI or Aspen EDR is built for that, and Mavlon prices the job from the buyer's documents.

We make Mavlon. Corrections are welcome at atishay@mavlon.co.

Prove it on your own quotes

Test it blind on exchangers you already quoted.

Before you trust it with a live bid, we run it on past exchanger jobs your team has already priced, with the pass mark agreed in writing first.

Pick one kind of exchanger you quote often, such as U-tube or floating head shell and tube units.
Set aside past jobs whose quotes the engine never sees.
The engine prices them from the raw data sheets and specifications.
Compare its totals with the prices your team actually sent.

A US manufacturer of engineered waterfront structures went live in production after a test like this. Its drafts come within about 2 to 3 percent of its own price on familiar product lines, and within about 10 to 15 percent on brand-new jobs with many add-ons.

The pilot protocol →The waterfront structures case study →

What we have published so far

A live customer: a US manufacturer of engineered waterfront structures, name withheld at its request.
The Cape Vincent demo: a public 179-page bid package turned into a priced draft quote.
The heat exchanger guide: a 125-page shell and tube request, priced line by line with sample rates.

The pass bar: seven of ten totals within 15 percent, agreed in writing first.

Read before you book

Guides for heat exchanger quotes.

GuideHeat exchanger specification sheetFrom the data sheet to a priced example quote, with the page behind every line and the questions for the buyer.GuidePressure vessel specificationsWhat owner specifications add to a pressure vessel quote, line by line.GuidePre-bid risk assessmentA register of the sentences in a customer's document that cost money, each with its page.GuideFixed price contract riskWhere fixed price risk starts, read from 32 manufacturers' annual reports.ToolSpecification compliance matrixAn Excel template for listing every requirement in a package against your offer.

What is AI quoting for heat exchanger manufacturers?

It turns a buyer's heat exchanger request, meaning the data sheet, the owner specification and any drawings, bid form and addenda, into a priced draft quote. Mavlon's AI Quoting Engine does this in the manufacturer's own pricing, with every line tied to the page it came from, so an estimator can check it and send it. Most shell and tube exchangers are built to order, which is why their makers are sometimes called engineer-to-order manufacturers, and why the price has to be worked out from each buyer's documents.

How is Mavlon different from a configurator or CPQ tool?

A configurator prices standard options that a salesperson picks from your catalogue. Mavlon starts one step earlier, from the buyer's data sheet and specification, and works out what is being asked for before anything can be priced. A team can use both: a configurator for standard catalogue units and Mavlon for the exchangers that arrive as a bid package.

How is it different from Paperless Parts, SecturaFAB or Costimator?

Those tools price machined and fabricated parts from part files and drawings, using the part's geometry, its operations and the shop's rates. Mavlon prices a whole engineered exchanger from the bid package, meaning the data sheet, the owner specification, the drawings, the bid form and the addenda, in the manufacturer's own pricing. A job shop quoting single parts is better served by them, and a maker answering shell and tube requests is better served by Mavlon.

Can it help with heat exchanger cost estimation?

Yes, for the cost estimation that starts from a buyer's request. The engine reads the data sheet and the owner specification, works out what drives each line, such as the tubesheet form, the tube joint, the number of hydrotests and the spares, and prices those lines with your own rates. It does not design the exchanger. Thermal design software such as HTRI or Aspen EDR does that, and Mavlon prices the job from the customer's documents.

How does it learn our pricing?

From your own records: past bid packages paired with the quotes you sent, your costing spreadsheets and your rate book. Where a rule is not written down anywhere, it becomes a question for your estimator rather than a guess.

How fast is the draft?

A priced draft comes back within minutes of the upload. The time your estimator then spends depends on how many decisions the package leaves open, and each one arrives already priced both ways, like the strength weld and the seal weld in our sample quote. See that call in the guide.

Does it replace our estimators?

No. It drafts the quote, and your estimator decides. It does not set margins, decide compliance or send anything to your customer. What changes is how many exchanger bids your team can answer, and how fast.

Who is behind Mavlon?

Mavlon, Inc. is a US company founded in 2024 by Atishay Jain, an AI engineer. It builds the AI Quoting Engine for custom manufacturers, and it is live in production with a US manufacturer of engineered waterfront structures. Read that case study.

Questions buyers ask

What exchanger makers ask us first.

Send your next exchanger quote first, with the page behind every line.

Book a demo and see the AI Quoting Engine turn a heat exchanger bid package into a priced draft quote, with every line tied to its page, the open calls priced both ways and the questions ready for the buyer.

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