The AI Importer reads the quote and estimate files you already use and turns them into draft quotes or orders in Factory. Spreadsheets, CSVs, PDFs and even photos of documents all work. Kits, sub kits, line items, labour, quantities and prices come through without anyone typing them in again.
You keep quoting exactly the way you do today. The Importer removes the double entry that comes after.
The AI Importer is currently in beta. We're working with customers to set it up and refine it. To get started, contact your onboarding specialist or our team (details at the bottom of this article).
The AI Importer is different from the Order Importer, which adds line items to a sales order from a set CSV or Excel template.
Who it's for
The Importer is built for fabricators who quote outside Factory, for example:
Custom costing spreadsheets you've refined over years
Specialist quoting or estimating software (laser cutting, windows and doors, structural steel and similar) that exports a bill of materials
PDF quotes or estimates, or photos of paper ones
If your file contains line item descriptions, quantities and prices (and costs, if you track them), the Importer can be trained to read it. There's no fixed template you need to follow.
What you get
A job with around 100 line items typically takes about a minute and a half to extract. Simpler files are much faster. The same job entered by hand often takes 30 to 60 minutes, with more room for typing errors.
Every import creates a draft in Factory, so nothing goes out until you've reviewed it. The Importer supports the same product types Factory does, including kits, sub kits, lineal and square products, and labour mapped to your team members and labour processes.
How it works
The Importer runs on a set of extraction rules built for your file format. The rules tell it how to read your file: what becomes a kit, what's a line item, where quantities and prices sit, and how labour should map.
You don't write these rules yourself. Our team builds them with you from a real example of your file, tests them, and refines them until the output in Factory looks the way you want. Once they're right, they run in the background on every import. As long as your file template doesn't change, you won't need to touch them again.
If you quote from more than one template (for example, a laser quoting tool for one type of work and your own spreadsheet for another), you can have a separate rule set for each.
Getting set up
1. Talk to us
Contact your onboarding specialist, message us through Intercom in Factory, or email customers@factory.app. Send us a real example of the file you want to import.
2. We build your extraction rules
We'll book time with you to walk through your file and how you want it to land in Factory. You don't need to explain how your numbers are calculated, only what you want to see on the job.
3. Create an API key in Factory
Go to Settings > Developer and create a new key:
Set it to never expire
Do not make it read only. The Importer needs to write jobs into Factory.
Click Create Key and copy it somewhere safe. Factory only shows the key once, for security reasons.
For more on API keys, see The Factory API: what it is and how to get access.
4. Sign in to the Importer
Go to importer.factory.app and sign up with an email and password or your Google account. This is a separate login from Factory, though you can use the same email. Enter your API key when prompted and the Importer will confirm which Factory account it's connected to.
Your onboarding specialist can also set up the account and test your rules for you first, then invite you in, so your first import already works.
Inviting your team
Admins can invite people under Settings > People:
Admin: runs imports and can access Settings, extraction rules and billing
Member: runs imports
Make at least one key contact in your business an Admin.
Running an import
Log in at importer.factory.app.
Choose the Factory customer for the job, or create a new one. New customers are created in Factory too.
Choose whether the job should land as a quote or an order.
Choose the rule set to apply. Most businesses only have one.
Drag your file in. If you're adding supporting documents such as drawings or a customer purchase order, mark them as Attach only so they travel with the job without being read for line items.
If your spreadsheet has several sheets, pick the one that holds the job breakdown.
Click Extract File.
Review the result. Check the kits, line items and labour, and adjust anything you need, such as a reference or PO number.
Click Send to Factory. The job is created as a draft under that customer, with your original file and any attachments on the Collaborate tab.
Click Finish in Factory to open the job and carry on as normal.
The Usage page shows your import history. You can reopen the original file or the output, run an import again, and see an estimate of the time you've saved.
Good to know
One Importer login per Factory account. Each Importer account connects to a single Factory account through one API key. If your business runs more than one Factory account, you'll need a separate Importer login for each. Admins can replace the API key in Settings if needed.
Small differences in totals. The Importer never calculates tax. Factory always does. If your file handles tax in an unusual way, totals in Factory can differ by a few cents. You'll see this flagged at import time and can adjust it before submitting.
Imported products are created as new items. Imports currently create products on the job rather than matching them to items in your product catalogue. If you track stock closely, imported jobs won't adjust your stock levels.
Not for bulk catalogue uploads. The Importer is built for turning quotes into jobs, not for loading products or kits into your catalogue in bulk. If you need that, let us know and we'll pass it to our product team.
Web only. The Importer runs in your browser at importer.factory.app. There's no mobile version.
Pricing
The AI Importer is free while it's in beta. After beta it will move to pay per import: you only pay for the imports you run, with no monthly bundle. We'll confirm pricing and give you notice before any charges apply to your account.
Need help?
Message us through Intercom in Factory, contact your onboarding specialist or Customer Success Manager, or email support@factory.app. If an import doesn't look right, tell us the file type and what happened and we'll sort it out.