IFS.ai Supplier Quotation Automation

IFS.ai Supplier Quotation Automation uses OCR and AI-based document intelligence to scan supplier order quotations and automatically extract pricing, currency, validity, and part-level information into IFS Cloud, reducing manual data entry effort in procurement workflows.

Manually entering supplier quotation data - such as prices, currency, validity dates, supplier part numbers, and tax - into IFS Cloud is time-consuming, repetitive, and prone to errors, especially for procurement teams handling high volumes of quotations from multiple suppliers.

In practice, this means you can upload a supplier order quotation, let the Scan Order Quotation Assistant read and extract the relevant data, review the suggested values for both part and no-part lines, adjust them if needed, and finalize the quotation - instead of typing each value manually.

The feature provides pre-filled supplier quotation fields based on the uploaded document and supports a guided three-step review process before saving. Output quality depends on the format, structure, language, and legibility of the uploaded supplier order quotation.

Who This Feature Is For and Why It Matters

This feature is designed for roles involved in Operational Procurement and Sourcing, including:

• Buyer – responsible for creating and maintaining supplier quotations
• Sourcing & Procurement Assistant – responsible for supporting quotation handling and data entry
• Purchasing Assistant – responsible for capturing quotation details into the system
• Data Entry Clerk – responsible for accurate entry of pricing and quotation information
• Purchasing Manager / Sourcing Manager / IT Executive – responsible for oversight of procurement operations and automation adoption

Use this feature when you need to:

• Enter supplier order quotation data into IFS Cloud quickly without manual typing
• Reduce manual data entry errors for prices, currency and quote validity
• Accelerate processing of incoming PDF or image-based supplier quotations
• Capture both Purchase Part and No Part quotation lines efficiently

By using this feature, you can:

• Have supplier quotation details extracted and pre-filled automatically
• Spend less time on repetitive manual entry
• Review and adjust extracted values before saving
• Improve quotation processing efficiency and shorten procurement cycle times

Where to Find It

Access this feature from the Supplier Quotation page in IFS Cloud through the Scan Order Quotation Assistant.
Page: Supplier Quotation
Product Area: Operational Procurement / Supply Chain Management
Location: "Scan Order Quotation" command on the Order Quotation page, which launches the Scan Order Quotation Assistant

How the Feature Uses Data

When you trigger the Scan Order Quotation Assistant, the feature reads the uploaded supplier order quotation document and extracts relevant information using OCR combined with Microsoft's pre-trained Invoice model.
The feature reads only the following fields from the document via the OCR model:

• Product Code (mapped to Part No / Supplier Part No)
• Description (mapped to Part Description / Supplier Part Description)
• Quote Date Valid To
• Unit Price
• Unit
• Vendor Name (used to validate the correct supplier)
• Total Tax (used for validation against line-level tax distribution)

It also uses:

• Existing IFS Cloud reference data such as Supplier ID, Supplier Name, Part No, Part Description, Supplier Part No, and Supplier Part Description to match and map extracted lines to existing quotation lines
• Line-level Taxable and Use Price Including Tax settings, which must be configured before scanning if the user intends to apply them

The feature does not use or extract:

• Discounts (must be entered manually at the line level)
• Additional costs such as shipping or freight (must be entered manually)
• Delivery Terms, Del Terms Location, Ship-Via, Payment Terms (extracted only into the header and editable, not auto-applied from line content)
• Data from Agreement Quotations or B2B Order Quotations (not supported)
• Customer or IFS data for model training - Microsoft's pre-trained Invoice model is used

Line Mapping Logic

Part Quotation Lines are matched by comparing the OCR-extracted Product Code and Description against the application's Part No, Supplier Part No, Part Description, and Supplier Part Description fields.

• If only a Product Code is identified, the Description fields are matched against it
• If only a Description is identified, the Part No / Supplier Part No fields are matched against it
• If neither is identified, or the highest similarity is below 50%, the line is ignored

No Part Quotation Lines are matched by comparing the OCR-extracted Product Code and Description against the application's Description, Supplier Part No, and Supplier Part Description fields, using the same fallback and 50% similarity logic.

Supported Documents

• Supported formats: PDF, JPEG/JPG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, HEIF
• The scanned document must be an Order Quotation only - Agreement Quotations and B2B Order Quotations are not supported
• Only one quotation can be scanned at a time
• Order lines must be provided in tabular form; table column headers are not interpreted (Example: A column named "Price Discount" will not be recognized as Price - a dedicated "Price" column is recommended)
• Handwritten or unformatted orders/emails are difficult or impossible to recognize
• It is advised to scan pages containing important header or line information
• Documents in English are preferred and produce the best results
• Extraction accuracy may vary as Microsoft's pre-trained Invoice model is used

Understanding the Output

After scanning, the Scan Order Quotation Assistant presents extracted data across three guided steps for review and adjustment before applying it to the Supplier Quotation.
At the header level, the following fields are populated or made editable:

• Currency
• Received Date
• Quote Valid To Date
• Delivery Terms
• Del Terms Location
• Ship-Via
• Payment Terms

At the line level, for both Part and No Part lines:

• Scanned Unit Price is populated and editable
• Users can additionally add Discount, Promised Delivery Date, and Price UOM manually
• The scanned document is stored on the Supplier Quotation page as a DOCMAN document

Not all fields may be populated. Results depend on the quality, layout, language, and structure of the uploaded supplier order quotation.
For example:

• Clear, well-structured supplier order quotation (PDF, English, tabular line format): Product Code, Description, Unit Price, Unit, and Quote Valid To are extracted and mapped to existing part and no-part lines successfully.
• Low-quality scan, handwritten content, or non-tabular layout: Some lines may be ignored (below 50% similarity), and fields such as Unit Price may require manual entry. Discounts and additional costs always require manual entry.

Enabling and Using the Feature

The feature is available when AI Services are enabled, the Machine Learning Pre-trained Models are configured, and Operational Procurement (Supplier Quotation) functionality is set up in the environment. It is delivered as part of IFS Cloud 24R2.

Prerequisites

• AI Services must be enabled
• An entry for Model Name = INVOICE must be created in the Machine Learning Pre-trained Models table
• The corresponding Configuration ID for Machine Learning Services must be selected
• A Supplier Quotation must exist in an editable state
• Suppliers, purchase parts, currencies, and tax codes must be defined in the system
• If Taxable and Use Price Including Tax are required, these settings must be configured at the line level before scanning
• The document must be a single Order Quotation in a supported format (PDF, JPEG/JPG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, HEIF)

Configuration Requirements

• The "Machine Learning Pre-trained Models" table must contain an INVOICE entry with the correct Configuration
• Supplier master data, part master data, currency codes, and tax codes must be maintained to enable correct matching of extracted values
• Existing Part Quotation and No Part Quotation lines should be created in the system in line with business practice prior to scanning, so the OCR results can be mapped to them

Step 1: Upload and Extract (Scan Quotation)
1.      Go to the Supplier Quotation page
2.      Select the Scan Quotation command to open the Scan Order Quotation Assistant
3.      Upload the order quotation in a supported format (PDF or image)
4.      Click Next to start processing

Step 2: Review Quotation Part Lines
5.      Review the scanned Unit Price for each Part Quotation Line and edit if needed
6.      Review and edit header fields if required: Currency, Received Date, Quote Valid To Date, Delivery Terms, Del Terms Location, Ship-Via, Payment Terms
7.      Optionally add line-level Discount, Promised Delivery Date, and Price UOM
8.      If there are no No Part Quotation Lines, click Finish to complete the scan — the scanned information is updated on the Order Quotation
9.      Alternatively, click Next to proceed to Step 3, go back to the previous step, or cancel the scan

Step 3: Review Quotation No Part Lines
10. Review the same header fields shown in Step 2 and edit if needed
11. Review and edit the scanned Unit Price for each No Part Quotation Line
12. Optionally add line-level Discount, Promised Delivery Date, and Price UOM
13. Click Finish to apply the scanned information to the Order Quotation, or go back / cancel as needed

Apply

The feature does not automatically save data. Scanned values are applied to the Order Quotation only when the user clicks Finish in the Assistant. Review and confirmation are required before any changes take effect.

You can upload another supplier order quotation and repeat the process. Each uploaded quotation is processed independently, and previously saved quotation lines are not removed or overwritten.

Validations

The Scan Order Quotation Assistant performs the following validations during the scanning process:

• Supplier Validation: When moving from Step 1 to Step 2, the system compares the application's Supplier ID and Supplier Name against the scanned Vendor Name. If both similarities are below 80%, a warning message is displayed. No warning appears if the correct supplier is detected.
• Tax Validation: When the user clicks Finish, the system checks if the Total Scanned Tax Amount matches the tax distribution across all Part and No Part Quotation Lines. If they do not match, a warning message is displayed.
• Additional Costs Notification: Upon completion, an informational message reminds the user that any shipping or freight costs must be added manually to the Order Quotation.
• Quote Valid Date Reconciliation: If the Order Quotation Header already has a Quote Valid Date and a different one is scanned or entered, an informational message asks the user whether the Quote Valid Date should also be updated at the line level.

Example Actions

Based on extracted results, you may:

• Save and proceed with the supplier order quotation for downstream procurement processing
• Adjust Total Tax or revise tax distribution at the line level if warned during Finish
• Manually add Discounts, Additional Costs, Shipping/Freight, Promised Delivery Date, and Price UOM at the line level
• Decide whether to inherit the Quote Valid To date from header to line level when prompted
• Use the Assistant for both Purchase Part and No Part quotation lines to capture all quotation details

Providing clear, well-structured, English-language supplier order quotations in supported formats (PDF or high-resolution images) with tabular line data helps improve extraction accuracy.

Important to Know

• Extracted data is a suggestion and must be reviewed before use
• The AI does not guarantee correctness or completeness
• The AI does not replace manual review and professional judgment
• Output quality depends on document quality - unclear, damaged, handwritten, or unstructured documents may produce incomplete results
• Only Order Quotations are supported - Agreement Quotations and B2B Order Quotations are excluded
• Only one quotation can be scanned at a time
• Lines below 50% similarity with existing application data are ignored
• Only Product Code, Description, Quote Date Valid To, Unit Price, and Unit are scanned at line level - other fields require manual entry
• Discounts, shipping costs, and freight are not extracted and must be entered manually
• Company-specific tax handling must be verified manually if the tax validation warning appears
• If no data is extracted, verify that the document is a supported format (PDF, JPEG/JPG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, HEIF), is in English, is legible, and contains tabular order lines