Canadian Division of Precinmac Adds Efficiency and Reduces Risk Across its Quoting Process
The Challenge
Precinmac’s two Canadian sites struggled to maintain structure and transparency in their quoting processes due to the limitations of Excel spreadsheets.
The Solution
Both sites implemented Paperless Parts to structure and track their quoting processes, driving collaboration, data-driven decisions, efficiency, and accuracy.
The Results
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Quote turnaround time for complex jobs reduced from 2-3 days to less than a day.
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The system’s centralized environment ensures efficiency and consistency while maintaining Excel-like flexibility.
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Standardized processes reduce errors and give both teams greater confidence in their numbers.
Background
Precinmac, a family of nine precision machining and fabrication companies, operates across North America with two facilities in Ontario, Canada: HPG and Trimaster. HPG was the first to successfully implement Paperless Parts two years ago, and when they saw the benefits, Trimaster quickly followed. Since then, six additional Precinmac facilities have adopted Paperless Parts.
HPG specializes in machining and finishing for compressor blades, primarily serving the aerospace and defense industries while Trimaster offers a broad range of services, including machining, grinding, sheet metal fabrication, and finishing, focusing on aerospace, defense, medical, and industrial markets. Together, these two sites employ over 300 people. While the facilities operate independently in some areas, they collaborate closely on shared functions to maximize efficiency.
Challenge
For five years, HPG and Trimaster President Enrico Innocente struggled to ensure consistency and transparency in the quoting processes of Precinmac’s two Canadian sites.
“We were relying heavily on Excel spreadsheets for quoting,” explained Enrico. “While Excel does provide flexibility, its lack of centralization created blind spots. Quoting out of a spreadsheet also meant that someone could make a change that could potentially derail our system—without any traceability.”
Like many precision manufacturers, Enrico knows efficiency is paramount: “Data entry doesn’t add value to the business, and we were spending too much time manually collecting the information we needed to deliver a quote confidently.”
Enrico heard that a sister site in the United States was in the early stages of evaluating Paperless Parts, and he began championing the software to bring HPG and Trimaster the consistency and visibility the business needed, while maintaining the flexibility their team valued.
Solution
Enrico’s primary goals with Paperless Parts were 1) To bring structure to HPG and Trimaster’s quoting processes and 2) to gain the ability to track everything along the way—from the moment they receive a quote to when it gets processed.
HPG was the first to implement the software, and when they saw the benefits, Trimaster quickly followed. “So far Paperless Parts is in six of Precinmac’s companies, and it’s been a game-changer.”
For the two Canadian businesses, Paperless Parts allows their teams to collaborate and ensure no opportunity falls through the cracks. “We hold daily calls with our sales and estimating teams where we review open quotes in Paperless Parts, so everyone knows exactly where things stand.” Taking collaboration a step further, team members can add detailed customer notes, track changes, and communicate with one another directly in the system.
“We need to understand the value, the volume, and the timing for each of our customers,” says Enrico. “The power of data lies in your ability to understand it, not just enter it. We need to be able to slice, dice, and analyze our quoting data, and we also need to be able to do it quickly—so having that information at our fingertips is crucial.”
Enrico also highlights the ease of scaling and training with Paperless Parts: “We can have multiple users with little ramp-up time, and it’s easy to add guardrails, revision control, workflows, and templates, which help prevent human error.”
Additionally, Enrico and his team enjoy the ability to work closely with Paperless Parts’ team to develop solutions to their unique business needs: “We have a particular way of quoting based on contribution margins rather than gross profit, and Paperless Parts was able to develop a system that adjusted the pricing exactly how we needed. The implementation was straightforward, and the team is always flexible in accommodating our needs—but it’s honestly rare that we encounter any issues,” he explains.
Results
Leveraging Paperless Parts across both of its sites, the Canadian division of Precinmac has been able to achieve:
- Faster, more accurate quotes: With Paperless Parts, both HPG and Trimaster have seen significant efficiency improvements. “A quote that used to take us 2-3 days now takes us less than a day—but more importantly, that quote is error-free,” Enrico shared.
- An organized and flexible quoting process: Enrico emphasized the benefits of maintaining Excel-like flexibility within a centralized, transparent environment: “If a customer calls and asks us to update a part number, we can do it instantly. Plus, with the system’s global search tool, we can quickly review customer history to ensure consistency. The system offers flexibility while maintaining a structured and standardized process.”
- Peace of mind: With Paperless Parts, Enrico and his teams don’t have to worry about someone accidentally changing a formula in a cell and causing an avalanche of mistakes. “The system helps us build standard routers by product family so our team can make quick adjustments, select margins, and move forward confidently. It’s really helping us bridge the skills gap we face today.”
To see how Paperless Parts can help you achieve your organization’s unique goals, book a free custom demo today.
“The visibility and structure we have now with Paperless Parts are invaluable. We have everything we need at our fingertips to make fast, smart decisions across our businesses.”