As sales cycles lengthen and digital buyers drop off at the first sign of friction. Buyers now need more guidance, support, and understanding of their business goals beyond what the current configure, price, quote (CPQ) process provides.  

Manufacturers must shift from internal sales enablement to buyer engagement, creating a seamless, transparent, and scalable experience across every touchpoint of the buyer journey. That’s the difference between standard CPQ software and a CPQ buyer engagement platform—a new evolution in CPQ for manufacturing that centers the buyer and brings sales, engineering, and manufacturing excellence around the buyer’s needs.  

What traditional CPQ gets right and what it misses 

Traditional CPQ systems were designed to help internal sales teams quote faster and with fewer errors. They do this well. By standardizing quoting processes, automating pricing rules, and reducing basic configuration mistakes, CPQ tools have long served as a reliable engine for internal efficiency. 

But that was before ecommerce, smart factory software, and the expectation of real-time customer personalization became the norm. 

In the current, buyer-driven world, modern manufacturers need internal speed and external alignment. Unlike buyer-centric CPQ, traditional CPQ tools…  

• Lack buyer-led discovery, forcing customers to know what they need before the process even begins. 

• Operate in silos, disconnected between what the buyer needs and what can be delivered. 

• Fail to provide visualization, relevant information, and peace of mind in buyers’ decision making. 

• Don’t scale across channels, making it difficult to deliver a consistent experience across direct sales, ecommerce, or dealer networks. 

What is a buyer engagement platform? 

A buyer engagement platform is the foundation for how modern manufacturers orchestrate the entire sales-to-production lifecycle. Unlike traditional CPQ, which kicks in after a product has already been selected, a buyer engagement platform starts at the very beginning of the buyer’s journey.  

A buyer engagement platform is the evolution of CPQ—one designed for how buyers buy today. Instead of beginning after a product is selected, it starts at the very first moment of exploration, guiding buyers through a tailored journey based on their needs and goals. 

At the heart of a buyer engagement platform is a centralized product model that unites sales, engineering, and manufacturing teams. As buyers configure solutions, the platform dynamically applies engineering logic to guarantee that every option is valid, buildable, and visualized in real time. 

Because it’s built to scale, a buyer engagement platform can adapt to a wide range of sales motions and customer needs. It empowers buyers with flexible, intuitive tools while giving manufacturers the confidence that every quote is aligned with operational realities. It’s the connective tissue between customer experience, engineering automation, and manufacturing execution.

Connecting front-end and back-end manufacturing leads to buyer confidence, speed, and trust 

Traditional manufacturing sales processes often follow a rigid, disconnected path: the buyer selects a product, sales configures it, engineering validates it, and manufacturing figures out how to build it. Every step creates friction, risk, and delay. 

A CPQ buyer engagement platform like Tacton changes that dynamic. By aligning every stakeholder around a shared configuration engine rooted in real engineering logic, it eliminates the need for revalidation and removes the guesswork from quoting. As the buyer explores options, CAD and BOMs are generated automatically. Sales knows the solution is valid. Engineering knows it’s buildable. The buyer knows it’s real. 

This tight integration unlocks something manufacturers have struggled to deliver: buyer confidence. Buyers can see exactly what they’re getting, understand how it fits their needs, and move forward without hesitation. With fewer handoffs, shorter quote cycles, and complete transparency, decisions happen faster and trust in the process grows, so manufacturers can turn more interactions into deals. 

What does a buyer engagement platform entail? 

Not all quoting solutions are created equal, and not every platform that promises “buyer engagement” delivers it. What sets a true buyer engagement platform apart is how deeply it’s built to support the complexity, scale, and collaboration required in modern manufacturing. 

A buyer engagement solution should enable:  

• Buyer-led configuration. Modern CPQ processes are more collaborative in nature, focusing on how solutions impact business strategy and outcomes. This collaboration is key to buyer confidence. Start with the buyer’s needs—not product codes—guiding them through a process that’s intuitive, visual, and personalized. 

• Independent exploration with real-time visualization: Help buyers explore and understand what they’re getting through interactive, visual tools that build confidence. 

• Real-time alignment across sales channels: Enable seamless coordination between internal teams and external partners, ensuring consistent, high-value engagement across fewer digital touchpoints. 

• Built-in engineering validation and automation: Instantly generate CAD and BOM outputs from a shared product model, ensuring every quote is accurate and buildable, and buyers are informed on the product and its delivery. 

• Connected front-end and back-end experience: Align sales, engineering, and manufacturing on a single platform, eliminating silos and reducing misalignment. 

• Scalable, faster delivery of innovation: Support everything from ecommerce to dealer portals with flexible product model updates rather than custom code and IT bottlenecks. 

• Continuous optimization through buyer insights: Capture data from every interaction to refine offerings and improve future buyer experiences. 

Why manufacturers choose Tacton 

Tacton goes beyond CPQ—it’s a CPQ buyer engagement platform. That distinction matters. In a landscape where traditional quoting tools struggle to meet the expectations of today’s digitally empowered buyers, Tacton empowers manufacturers to go further: to deliver personalized, accurate, and scalable buying experiences across every channel. 

What makes Tacton different is what’s behind the experience. A single, intelligent configuration engine connects sales, engineering, and operations, ensuring that what’s promised in a quote can be delivered without compromise. Buyers get real-time guidance and visualization. Engineers get instantly validated CAD and BOM outputs. And manufacturers get a unified platform that accelerates sales cycles, reduces risk, and builds long-term customer trust. 

Explore how Tacton goes beyond CPQ to support the connected, buyer-centric smart factory. 

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With so many software solutions available, choosing the right configure, price, quote (CPQ) software is a high-stakes decision for manufacturers looking to maximize ROI and minimize risk. The best CPQ solutions streamline sales and engineering collaboration, reduce errors, and help you deliver a seamless buying experience, but poorly matched solutions can cost millions of dollars and lead to dead ends. 

So how do you evaluate CPQ vendors effectively? 

A strategic, well-crafted CPQ RFP (request for proposal) helps you move past feature checklists and generic demos to uncover the differentiators across competitive solutions that best align to your sales model, technical needs, and long-term growth strategy. 

When (and why) you need a formal CPQ RFP 

Not every company needs a formal RFP, but for manufacturers with complex quoting needs, it can be a critical step in the procurement process. You should consider issuing a CPQ RFP if you fall into one of these categories: 

• You sell highly configurable or engineer-to-order (ETO) products. 

• Your quoting processes span multiple geographies, sales channels, or dealer networks. 

• You’re replacing legacy tools or consolidating disparate quoting/configuration systems. 

• Your sales, engineering, IT, and operations teams all have a stake in the quoting process. 

• You have advanced integration needs with ERP, CRM, CAD, or PLM systems. 

A structured RFP can capture all stakeholder requirements and ensure that vendor responses address real-world usability, scalability, and fit with your business model. 

Common CPQ RFP mistakes that undermine vendor evaluation 

A weak CPQ RFP can lead to poor vendor fit, wasted time, and costly rework. Here are some common pitfalls to avoid: 

• Treating CPQ like a CRM add-on: CPQ is a platform that connects sales, engineering, and operations, not just an extension of CRM or a simple quoting engine. Failing to view CPQ as a buyer engagement tool and connected part of your smart factory leads to underwhelming solutions. 

• Overloading with check-the-box questions: Many RFPs include too many generic “yes or no” questions or CPQ requirement lists that produce shallow vendor responses and don’t reveal how features actually work or integrate. 

• Prioritizing UI over architecture: A sleek interface doesn’t compensate for limitations in scalability, rule maintenance, or flexibility. 

• Ignoring post-configuration needs: Configurator maintenance, CAD handoff, and bill of materials (BOM) generation are critical parts of automating and streamlining the entire quote-to-order process. 

In your RFP, ask CPQ vendors detailed questions about how features function in real-world scenarios, not just whether they exist. Specificity helps prevent “yes” answers that hide rigid or complex implementations. 

Additionally, don’t let procurement run the RFP alone. Include all impacted teams, including sales, engineering, IT, finance, and customer success, to gather requirements that reflect the full sales-to-delivery cycle. 

Looking beyond CPQ: Evaluating buyer engagement capabilities 

Many CPQ evaluations stop at features, but long-term success depends on deeper capabilities that align with your business complexity, go-to-market strategy, and customer experience goals. 

A strategic CPQ platform should also help your organization: 

• Handle product and sales complexity without sacrificing usability for sales, engineering, or channel partners. 

• Scale across regions and sales models, from direct sales to dealer and distributor portals, without duplicating effort. 

• Support omnichannel and self-service models while enforcing consistent business logic, rules, and pricing. 

• Deliver visual, collaborative buying experiences that help buyers understand complex products. 

• Incorporate industry-specific best practices rather than generalized industry support in order to adapt to specialized sales motions like configure-to-order, engineer-to-order, or service-based offerings. 

• Evolve with you over time, with a scalable architecture and a proven roadmap for continuous improvement and innovation. 

These are the kinds of differentiators that don’t always show up in a demo, they but make a major difference in usability, adoption, and business impact. 

CPQ evaluation checklist: What to include in your CPQ RFP 

When writing an RFP for CPQ, include important context about your business and workflows into your requirements. A typical RFP will have the following:  

• Company background & project goals

• Scope of use (products, channels, geographies)

• Functional requirements (e.g., configuration, pricing, quoting, guided selling)

• Technical requirements (e.g., integrations, APIs, security, performance)

• Implementation & support approach

• Commercial Model & Licensing

• Vendor experience & references

• Evaluation criteria or demo expectations

• Timeline & submission instructions

• Optional appendices (e.g., sample workflows, product data, use cases)

This CPQ evaluation checklist is a useful starting point, with suggested elements and questions areas that you can adapt for your company.  

Evaluation Area	Strategic Discussion Prompt
Product Configuration	How does the platform support both engineer-to-order and configure-to-order workflows? How are complex rules managed—constraint-based, rule-based, or both? Can spare parts, preventive maintenance, and other services be configured alongside capital equipment?
Design & CAD Automation	How is CAD data integrated into the configuration process? Can CAD files, drawings, or design logic be generated automatically as part of quoting?
Pricing & Margin Control	How does the CPQ protect margins while supporting global price lists, partner-specific rules, or customer-specific agreements?
Quoting & BOM Accuracy	Can the system automatically generate accurate proposals; engineering, manufacturing and sales BOMs; and documents across regions and buyer types?
Guided & Needs-Based Selling	How does the platform help sellers recommend the right solution based on buyer needs, usage context, or industry?
Channel Consistency	How are partners and dealers enabled through the CPQ platform? Can the same configuration logic be used across direct, partner, and self-service digital channels without duplication?
Visualization & Experience	How are 3D visuals, augmented reality, or product renderings used to support the buyer experience during configuration?
Analytics & Optimization	What insights can we gather about configuration trends, quote conversion, or sales cycle time?
Integration & Scalability	How well does the CPQ connect to ERP, CRM, CAD, and PLM systems—and scale across regions and teams?
Security & Compliance	What security architecture and data governance practices are in place? What certifications (e.g., GDPR, SOC 2, ISO) and uptime SLAs are provided?
Platform Maintenance	How are platform upgrades, bug fixes, and performance improvements delivered and communicated? What’s the model for keeping rules, models, and logic updated?
Implementation & Ownership	What’s the approach to implementation and onboarding? Who owns the solution long-term—vendor, partner, or customer?
Licensing Model	What licensing models are available (user-based, transaction-based, enterprise), and how do they support scale, flexibility, and access across roles?

How to compare CPQ vendor responses 

After responses come in, a CPQ vendor comparison framework can help you go beyond comparing checkmarks to evaluate the depth and alignment of the vendor’s responses. Look for responses that satisfy these criteria: 

• Consistency: Are answers consistent across sections? 

• Specificity: Are claims backed by examples or vague assurances? Are specific case studies or proven use cases available for review?  

• Integration: How tightly connected are quoting, configuration, and engineering data flows? 

• Business model fit: Does the platform align with your ETO/CTO mix, global operations, or self-service needs? 

A different approach to CPQ evaluation with Tacton  

Following our unique CPQ evaluation approach can help you make a confident, future-ready CPQ decision. Before getting a general demo, there are important steps to take with your vendor and with your team to ensure your RFP and your evaluation are as relevant as possible to your business.  

• Reverse demo: Instead of a polished vendor walkthrough, you bring your own real-world configuration and quoting scenario. This shows how well the platform handles your actual product complexity and sales process. 

• Internal business case workshop: This brings together stakeholders from sales, engineering, IT, and finance to define what success looks like. This ensures your RFP and evaluation criteria are aligned to strategic goals—not just feature preferences. 

• Technical workshops: Workshops focus on how rules are structured, updated, and reused across teams and channels. This helps uncover whether the platform can scale and evolve without constant vendor reliance. 

• Proof of concept: By the time you’ve shortlisted your finalists, a controlled pilot validates not just platform functionality, but also team experience, support quality, and implementation fit. 

This process can surface true product capabilities and ensure that what looks good in a demo can perform for your business. 

Streamline your CPQ vendor comparison process and make a confident decision about the best CPQ for manufacturing. If you’re ready to see a CPQ buyer engagement platform in action, contact us to discover how we can help you redefine your digital sales.  

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Manufacturers are accelerating digital transformation, but for IT and transformation leaders, securing executive buy-in for new technology remains a challenge amid competing priorities and tight budgets. While CPQ software promises faster, more accurate quoting and sales automation, that alone won’t justify the investment.  

To build a compelling business case for CPQ, use this framework to tie CPQ to high-impact business goals—margin protection, revenue growth, better customer experiences—and gain the executive buy-in needed to move forward.  

1. Start with strategic goals, not features 

Though new features like automated configuration engines or AI sales assistants can be a major draw for teams, executive leadership looks at investments with a birds-eye view of the company, prioritizing initiatives that support scale, efficiency, and competitive advantage.  

How does CPQ feed into larger business initiatives and long-term strategic goals? 

For example, your company may be looking to unify the brand by making multiple divisions deliver a consistent experience across channels and regions. In turn, this positions CPQ as a tool to standardize quoting, pricing, and the buyer experience.  

Whether the goal is to enhance customer experience, increase sales speed without adding headcount, or improve dealer satisfaction, the first step is to start with strategic goals. 

Making the CPQ business case for top strategic goals 

CPQ feeds into high-level business strategy in a number of ways: 

Strategic Goal	How CPQ Supports It
Margin protection	Enforces pricing and discount rules to prevent revenue leakage. Reduces costly order errors and manual rework by validating configurations up front. Supports bundling of higher-margin services or add-ons to maximize deal value.
Deal Velocity	Automates configuration and pricing to cut quote turnaround time from days to hours. Enables reps and partners to self-serve complex quotes without waiting on engineering. Accelerates approvals with built-in workflows tied to business rules.
Process Efficiency & Modernization	Replaces manual, spreadsheet-based processes with a scalable, cloud-based quoting engine. Integrates with ERP, CRM, and PLM systems to ensure consistent data and reduce silos. Provides visibility into quoting trends, product performance, and deal outcomes.
Product & Service Bundling	Makes it easy to configure complete solutions, including equipment, services, and subscriptions. Ensures compatibility across products and services with rules-based configuration. Helps sellers focus on customer outcomes rather than individual SKUs.
Omnichannel Selling	Delivers a consistent quoting experience across direct sales, dealers, and eCommerce channels. Allows customers and partners to configure and quote solutions independently. Supports self-service and guided selling models without sacrificing accuracy or control.
International Growth & Expansion	Standardizes quoting processes across regions to ensure consistency and compliance. Supports multiple languages, currencies, tax rules, and regional product variants out of the box. Enables faster onboarding of new sales teams, dealers, or partners in new markets. Reduces dependency on local engineering by guiding accurate configurations centrally.

2. Think operationally about what CPQ changes in the day-to-day 

CPQ makes it possible to handle more product complexity, serve more channels, and move faster without overloading sales, engineering, or IT. The tools, processes, and people you already have get you from A to B, but CPQ makes them work better, together. 

Do you understand the daily challenges and workflows of your end users? How can they achieve what they do today more easily and with fewer resources? 

Consider the before and after picture for sales quoting processes or engineering CAD designs and product modeling. What does this look like in real life, and how can you speak to each stakeholder in a way that is most relevant to their role? For the CFO, it may be talking about ROI, cost control, and revenue uplift. For the COO, it may be how the technology translates into error reduction.  

3. Quantify the impact with real metrics 

Be specific about CPQ’s value proposition. What is the measurable outcome that can justify CPQ investment?  

Use metrics that leadership can measure, such as:  

• % reduction in quote turnaround time 
• % reduction in order errors 
• % increase in average order value / cross-sell rates 
• Cost savings from automation

For example, you may propose that companies implementing CPQ typically see quote times drop from eight days to under five. Or that average order value increases by 10% with a CPQ recommendation engine. It helps to show leadership very specific case studies of similar companies and their outcomes with the CPQ platform.  

4. Pilot before you scale 

To build a proper CPQ business case, you need a proof of concept that can prove ROI before scaling the technology.  

A crawl-walk-run approach gives your leadership team more confidence that the company’s investment executes on its goal, has ample adoption, and sees measurable gains.  

Start with one product line or region to minimize risk, then use your success metrics to justify a broader roll out over the long term.   

5. Build cross-functional support 

A modern CPQ platform isn’t just a back-end tool. It provides value to sales, engineering and product teams, IT, supply chain, and more.  

Align these teams by having an executive sponsor from each function that can act as an internal champion to help you build a business case, understand daily challenges, and hit on the most relevant strategic goals.  

Cross-functional alignment ensures that all stakeholders agree on goals, priorities, and success metrics from the start. A shared understanding reduces the risk of last-minute changes, conflicting requirements, and misaligned expectations, which are the primary drivers of scope creep and failed adoption. 

6. Build a CPQ cost-benefit analysis with financial rigor 

In order to tell the most compelling financial story, your executive team needs to understand the monetary value of their investment through both tangible ROI and intangible savings.  

• Can you put a monetary value on CPQ benefits, such as fewer quote errors, rework costs, onboarding costs, or short sales cycles?  
• Can you put a value on less tangible benefits, such as higher customer satisfaction or additional time and resources for R&D and engineering innovation?  

Tie metrics to the things that finance leaders care about, such as profit margin, revenue growth, average deal value, and even total cost of ownership (TCO).  

7. Know your data landscape before you start 

To build a business case that leadership can act on, you need a clear view of your current data environment. Where does your product, pricing, and customer data live? Is it accessible, accurate, and ready to support automation? 

Understanding your data readiness is foundational for scaling CPQ and assuring leadership of minimal risk. 

8. Prepare for objections 

With change comes resistance. Be prepared for common executive pushbacks: 

“We already have an ERP/CRM.” 

“This seems too complex to implement.” 

“We don’t have the resources to maintain this system.”  

This is where working with your vendor can help you build a business case that fits your unique technology ecosystem. Tie the investment back to how it can consolidate disparate systems or integrate with key data sources. Take advantage of potential services or off-the-shelf solutions that help you implement and maintain your system without IT overhead.  

Your CPQ vendor or partner has seen these objections before and can help you fill your gaps.  

Build your CPQ business case with Tacton 

At Tacton, we do more than just deliver a CPQ buyer engagement platform. We help manufacturers build alignment, create measurable impact, and modernize without disruption. From identifying the right use case to quantifying ROI and preparing your data, we partner with you to make sure your CPQ investment supports your goals and wins executive support.

 

Download our business case template

Download our business case template or connect with our team to see how Tacton helps you simplify complexity in digital manufacturing sales. 

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When you sell complex products with hundreds or thousands of variants, quoting becomes a high-stakes process. Add in usage-based pricing, service bundles, multi-year contracts, and regional rules, and it’s easy to see why many manufacturers hesitate to adopt off-the-shelf configure, price, quote (CPQ) software for complex products. In fact, 43% of global manufacturing companies still rely on spreadsheets to manage quoting despite growing product complexity and rising buyer expectations. 

This leads to the, sometimes, $1M question: Can commercial CPQ software really handle our level of complexity, or do we need to build something custom?

The short answer: not every CPQ system is designed for manufacturing, but the right one can support very advanced configuration and pricing. The key is knowing how to evaluate your complexity, choose the best CPQ, and address concerns from stakeholders who assume commercial tools can’t match custom systems. 

Product complexity versus process complication and why it matters 

Before you can determine whether CPQ software is the right fit, or which kind, you need to distinguish between product complexity and organizational complication.  

• Complexity is the inherent, value-creating intricacy in your products or business model. Think custom engineering, multi-option configurations, or tiered service bundles. It’s a strategic asset. 
• Complication, on the other hand, is self-inflicted. It stems from disconnected functions and teams, workflows in too many systems, unclear responsibilities, or manual processes that don’t scale. It adds friction that can’t be used as a competitive advantage.  

CPQ software should help you master complexity, not automate complication. As you evaluate options, the goal isn’t to replicate what you’re doing today. It’s to simplify quoting by addressing what’s slowing your sales process, while also supporting the complexity that differentiates your business. 

Is CPQ right for me? How to find the best CPQ software for complex products 

The answer to “Is CPQ software right for your product?” depends largely on choosing the right type of CPQ. Different types of CPQ software work best for different industries and product types. For manufacturing, an industry-specific, CPQ-first software is essential to work with your specific programs along the value chain (e.g., PDM, PLM, supply chain management) and to execute on the constant innovation needed as the CPQ market evolves. 

A custom tool might reflect how you quote today, but it often lacks: 

• Flexibility to scale or support new sales channels 
• Real-time pricing tied to global rules 
• Visualization or self-service capabilities 
• Resilience when key personnel leave 

To decide on the best course of action, consider your needs based on your products, you pricing, and your current technology architecture.

1. Managing highly configurable products    

First, assess the complexity of your products and selection process. Ask the following questions: 

• Do product selections cascade through multiple subsystems? 
• Are there compatibility constraints between components? 
• Do configuration choices affect manufacturing processes? 
• Can one component choice eliminate dozens of other options? 

If you answered yes to multiple questions, your product likely requires constraint-based CPQ software.  

• Rules-based logic dictates what component combinations are allowed. These rules are typically hardcoded—”if A, then B”—and require significant effort to create and maintain, especially as product portfolios grow or change. 
• Constraint-based configuration, by contrast, doesn’t tell the system what works, it teaches the system why it works. Rather than writing individual rules for every valid combination, you define product logic in terms of constraints that will always be true (e.g., “the diameter of the washer must match the bolt”). The engine then evaluates options in real-time with less maintenance and more scalability. 

Rules-based CPQ software is a fit when: 

• Dependencies are relatively linear and predictable. 
• You’re managing small- to mid-size assemblies with known constraints. 

Constraint-based CPQ software is best when: 

• Choices affect multiple layers of product logic simultaneously (e.g., motor selection affects power requirements, which affects panel sizing, which affects cooling requirements, which affects enclosure dimensions) 
• Configuration requires calculation-based compatibility. 
• Products are more heavily engineered-to-order or assembled-to-order. 

2. Managing pricing sophistication  

Pricing can be calculated at a multitude of levels, from channel, region, deal size, or billing model—OEM vs. dealer, subscription vs. one-time. Use the following questions to assess how sophisticated your pricing needs are, and whether your current process can support dynamic, accurate, and scalable pricing logic.

• Does pricing vary by region, contract length, or service levels? 
• Do you offer usage- or performance-based pricing? 
• Are there bundling rules or volume-based discounts that change dynamically? 

The appropriate CPQ software should be able to: 

• Allow pricing logic to be tied directly to configuration outputs. 
• Support multiple pricing models, as well as service sales pricing and configuration. 
• Integrate with ERP or CRM for dynamic, real-time pricing validation. 
• Automate discount approvals and margin controls, flagging when margins don’t meet specific rep targets.  

3. Managing complex integrations and supply chain connectivity 

The buyer-centric smart factory connects front-end engagement (CRM) with back-end systems like ERP, PLM, and supply chain management to deliver complex products seamlessly. For manufacturers, integration requirements often determine whether CPQ software is viable. 

Ask yourself: 

• Does your sales process require live data from ERP, PLM, or inventory systems? 
• Do sales, engineering, and operations rely on disconnected tools? 
• Do different teams need tailored BOMs for quoting, production, and procurement? 

A headless CPQ enables deep, flexible integrations across your tech stack. Unlike CPQ tools locked into a single software suite (e.g., ERP-first CPQs), headless platforms work independently and integrate broadly. 

Look for a CPQ solution that can: 

• Offer robust APIs and no-code connectors for real-time, system-agnostic integration. 
• Sync with CAD, PLM, ERP, and MES tools. 
• Automatically generate role-specific, line-by-line BOMs for sales quotes, engineering specs, manufacturing execution, and supply chain planning. 

This ensures each function works from the same configuration logic while receiving the BOM that fits their workflow to reduce errors and speed handoffs. 

Smarter CPQ for complex sales: Visual, flexible, AI-ready

Advanced CPQ capabilities can actually make complex products more accessible to buyers and sellers alike. Today’s CPQ platforms offer additional benefits that help sellers and buyers navigate complex product selection while reducing maintenance costs and resources to update the CPQ system. 

• AI-powered product modeling streamlines rule creation and maintenance, making it easier to adapt to product changes 
• Visualization and self-service quoting allow dealers or customers to engage directly with product options, increasing speed and confidence 
• Dealer portals allow sales partners to configure, price, and quote your products with their own configured rules so that product information is always consistent.   

Rather than simplifying your products, the right CPQ makes complex products easier to buy and sell. 

Why building custom isn’t always better for complex products 

While building a custom quoting tool may seem more flexible, the long-term costs often outweigh the benefits, especially for complex products. 

• Implementation timeline: Commercial CPQ software can be deployed in months, not years. 
• Total cost of ownership: Avoid the technical debt of maintaining a custom-coded system. 
• Risk mitigation: Reduce dependency on key individuals and ensure business continuity. 
• Ongoing complexity support: Commercial solutions evolve with market needs and technology advances. 

How complex can CPQ software get? Real examples from Tacton customers 

Global manufacturers with highly configurable products and intricate IT architectures are seeing real benefits from CPQ software made especially for complex configurations.  

• Yaskawa manufactures up to 25,000 industrial robots annually, with over 120 base models each supporting a wide range of customer-specific variants, options, and add-ons. With their CPQ, Yaskawa now manages complex interdependencies, like component compatibility, language requirements, and ERP integration. Sales teams generate over 1,300 accurate quotes annually, often in real time, with ERP-ready BOMs and full technical validation.
• Siemens Energy’s subsystem, an air intake, has 120 variants. Across the full turbine, configuration complexity multiplies fast. Tacton’s constraint-based engine manages these interdependencies in real time to ensure technical accuracy and eliminate manual processes. 
• For Meyn, quoting full poultry processing factories—up to 80 pieces of equipment—once took days or a full week. Since adopting Tacton CPQ, Meyn has reduced quote time by 60% and cut 85% of the clarifying questions needed to complete quotes. 
• HMF Cranes has hundreds of configuration variables for each crane system, all needing to comply with varying truck models and regional regulations. A process that once included quoting in their ERP and Excel spreadsheets, with Tacton they could generate accurate quoting across global markets and onboard sales teams faster, supporting both internal teams and distributors. 
• Tetra Pak sells complex processing and packaging systems requiring tight integration across a complex architecture of ERP, CRM, and PIM systems. Tacton CPQ became their single source of truth, unifying their global sales process to ensure optimal solutions every time. 
• With a diverse global portfolio and highly engineered products, IMI replaced 200+ legacy tools with one Tacton CPQ platform. Now, they configure 50 product lines across fluid control within their CPQ software, reducing tool maintenance, enabling global standardization, and achieving 90% self-sufficiency in maintaining and adding new product and pricing logic. 

A CPQ platform made for configurable and complex products

Tacton is a purpose-built CPQ buyer engagement software for complex product manufacturers. With a constraint-based configuration engine, deep integrations into manufacturing systems, and a proven ability to support sophisticated pricing and product models, Tacton helps manufacturers master complexity while driving out complication. 

Learn more about Tacton CPQ software for complex products