From manual RFQ entry to drag-and-drop automation
How Ply eliminated manual data entry from their quoting workflow — structuring supplier RFQs into actionable data in seconds, not hours.
- Industry
- SaaS
- Company
- Seed stage ($8.5M raised, backed by Ferguson Ventures)
- 0manual data entry required
- 10-15 hrssaved per team member weekly
- Daysto integrate, not months
01
Who they are
Ply is an AI-powered inventory and purchasing platform built for trade businesses — plumbing, HVAC, flooring, and more. Founded in 2022 by Dave Wigder and Darion Miller (ex-Amazon, Vendr, PathAI), Ply modernizes how owners, warehouse managers, and technicians source, buy, and manage materials. With $8.5M raised in a strategic round led by Ferguson Ventures, Ply needed a partner to automate the complex RFQ process at the core of their platform.
02
The challenge
Manual RFQ Data Entry Creates Bottlenecks
For Ply's customers, managing RFQs (Requests for Quote) manually was time-consuming and error-prone. The traditional process required users to enter each line item from a supplier's RFQ file by hand, creating inefficiencies that made it hard to scale as quote volume increased.
Need for Seamless Automation
Ply's vision was to offer an effortless experience where users could simply upload an RFQ file and have it transformed automatically into structured data — eliminating manual entry and accelerating time-to-quote for faster procurement decisions.
03
What they built with bem
Ply partnered with bem to build next-generation RFQ automation:
Automated RFQ Data Entry
Users drag and drop RFQ files directly into Ply's platform. bem handles the entire transformation — mapping each line item to Ply's schema and displaying it in real-time.
Scalable Data Processing
bem's API infrastructure allows Ply to process thousands of RFQs daily, eliminating bottlenecks with reliable performance regardless of data volume.
Enhanced User Experience
RFQ data is automatically populated, reducing manual errors and increasing speed to quote.
Built with
- Data extraction
- Api
- Integrations
04
The results
Eliminated Manual RFQ Data Entry
The integration completely removed the need for manual data entry, freeing up time for strategic procurement activities.
Accelerated Time to Quote
Real-time data transformation significantly reduced time-to-quote, enabling faster decision-making and more efficient supplier relationship management.
Fast Time to Value
Ply integrated bem into their existing workflow in a matter of days — instantly transforming how their customers handle RFQs.
Hundreds of teams now rely on the Ply platform, reporting a 20% increase in billable work, dead stock reduced below 15%, and 10-15 hours saved each week per operations team member.
With bem, our customers can drag and drop RFQ files directly into Ply, and the entire transformation happens automatically — each line item mapped to our schema and displayed in real-time.
