Predictika · Molded-part quotes

An AI sales agent's SMC molded-part quote, checked before it goes out

An AI sales agent prepares a quote for a compression-molded SMC part: the material such as Standard SMC, Featherlite, FeatherliteXL, Airilite or N-sulGuard, the press size, the projected area, the wall thickness, the draft angle, the surface, whether the part must be electrically insulating, the yearly volume, and the pounds of material the quote states. Before it goes out, the agent sends it to Predictika, which checks it against a declarative model of how these choices fit together, and returns a verdict, every reason and the material total it computed.

Scope: One SMC compression-molded part quote: material, press, wall, draft, surface, insulation, volume and the stated pounds of material. See everything this validator covers

This validator models quotes for five SMC materials, not just the scenarios shown below.

  • Material and surface — Standard SMC, Featherlite, FeatherliteXL, Airilite and N-sulGuard, the wall each allows, the Class A surface and the material to use when the part must be electrically insulating.
  • Press — the press size, and whether the projected area at the molding pressure fits within it.
  • Part design — wall thickness and the draft angle needed to release the part from the tool.
  • Volume and the stated total — the yearly volume, the review for low volume and very large presses, and the pounds of material stated on the quote, which are compared with the computed ones.

Any SMC molded-part quote that touches these rules is in scope — not only the scenarios pictured here. Not covered: other Core Molding processes and prices. The material names and the 450 to 5,500 ton press range come from public Core Molding Technologies pages; the molding pressures, wall limits, draft minimum, surface and insulation rules and review thresholds are modeled from comparable products and are not published by Core Molding Technologies. No prices are modeled.

The AI sales agentBuilds the quote from the conversation with the customer and says it is ready to send.
Predictika validatorChecks every rule at once and returns the verdict, each finding, and the computed figures.

6 scenarios in 2 groups · each group runs from the agent’s first attempt to the outcome · click one to switch

What the agent proposes

The AI sales agent says

Illustrative agent statement. The validator receives the structured request below.

Proposing agent: AI sales agent (scripted)

Before sending, the agent must call Recorded run

Predictika validator


      

        
        
        
      

      
Waiting for the call.

      
    

  

  
  

    
Where rules-based CPQ gets it wrong
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Our assessment of what a typical rules-based CPQ (product rules, price rules and validation rules, as in Salesforce CPQ) does with the same cases. It is a judgment about effort and reliability, not a claim that nothing can be built.

    
What the validator caughtTypical rules-based CPQPredictika
A press that must fit the partOnly with workarounds
The press must carry the projected area at the molding pressure of the chosen material, so changing the material can make the same press too small.		Material, press and area are fields of one quote, and the load is computed on every call.
Wall limits that depend on the materialOnly with care
Each material has its own thinnest and thickest wall, so a wall that is fine in one material blocks in another.		The limits come from the material chosen, and are checked together with the rest of the quote.
Surface and insulation limits tied to the materialOnly with workarounds
Airilite has no Class A surface and only N-sulGuard is quoted for an electrically insulating part, so each choice needs a rule on the material.		Surface, insulation and material are fields of one quote and are checked together on every call.
Approvals that stack on top of blocksOnly with workarounds
A low yearly volume or a very large press needs a person while a press outside the range stops the quote outright, and a person should see them all at once.		Blocks and approvals are all reported together, so one problem never hides another.
A stated total that must match the computed oneOnly with workarounds
The pounds of material come from the yearly volume times the part weight, so a separate rule must recompute them and compare them with the stated figure.		The stated pounds are a field of the quote and are compared with the computed ones on every call.

  

  

    
What this validator catches: findings from its test cases
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Every rule is checked on every call, in any order the choices arrive; one problem never hides another. Blocking findings stop the quote; approval findings need a person to sign off; everything else is computed.

    
1The quoted press is 400 tons; compression molding presses run from 450 to 5,500 tons.
2A 6,000 ton press is a scarce asset; a person should confirm press availability and lead time.
3A projected area of 1,700 sq in at 1,000 psi molding pressure needs more than the 800 ton press quoted.
4The wall is 0.10 inches; this material needs at least 0.12 inches.
5The wall is 0.55 inches; this material allows at most 50.
6The draft angle is 0.5 degrees; at least 1.0 degree is needed to release the part from the tool.
7Airilite SMC is the ultra-low-density system and is not offered here with a Class A paint-ready surface.
8The part must be electrically insulating; only N-sulGuard SMC is quoted for that.
9The quote states 90,000 lb of material per year; volume times part weight gives 1,600,000 oz.
103,000 parts a year is low for dedicated compression tooling; a person should confirm tooling payback.
11CORE uses its SMC mainly in parts it molds itself; selling the material alone is a limited exception that a person must approve.

  

  

    
Scenarios and results
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The recorded result of the validator for each scenario on this page: the request the AI agent sent, the verdict, and every finding, in the order they appear above.

    
1. Insulating part quote: An insulating Airilite part with a Class A surface, a thin wall and a small draft angle

    
The agent's request. Please quote a part in Airilite SMC on an 800 ton press, with a projected area of 1,700 square inches, a wall of 0.10 inches, a draft of 0.5 degrees, a Class A surface, and electrically insulating, for 20,000 parts a year at 80 ounces each. The quote states 90,000 pounds of material a year. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Blocked.

    
    
      
  • Wall too thin for the material. The wall is 0.10 inches; this material needs at least 0.12 inches.
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  • Draft angle too small. The draft angle is 0.5 degrees; at least 1.0 degree is needed to release the part from the tool.
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  • Airilite is not a Class A surface. Airilite SMC is the ultra-low-density system and is not offered here with a Class A paint-ready surface.
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  • Electrical insulation needs N-sulGuard. The part must be electrically insulating; only N-sulGuard SMC is quoted for that.
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  • Stated annual pounds do not match. The quote states 90,000 lb of material per year; volume times part weight gives 1,600,000 oz.
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2. Insulating part quote: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

    
The agent's request. Please quote a part in Airilite SMC on an 800 ton press, with a projected area of 1,700 square inches, a wall of 0.12 inches, a draft of 1.0 degree, and electrically insulating, for 20,000 parts a year at 80 ounces each. The quote states 100,000 pounds of material a year. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Blocked.

    
    
      
  • Electrical insulation needs N-sulGuard. The part must be electrically insulating; only N-sulGuard SMC is quoted for that.
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3. Insulating part quote: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

    
The agent's request. Please quote a part in N-sulGuard SMC on an 800 ton press, with a projected area of 1,700 square inches, a wall of 0.12 inches, a draft of 1.0 degree, and electrically insulating, for 20,000 parts a year at 80 ounces each. The quote states 100,000 pounds of material a year. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Blocked.

    
    
      
  • Press too small for the part. A projected area of 1,700 sq in at 1,200 psi molding pressure needs more than the 800 ton press quoted.
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4. Insulating part quote: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

    
The agent's request. Please quote a part in N-sulGuard SMC on a 1,100 ton press, with a projected area of 1,700 square inches, a wall of 0.12 inches, a draft of 1.0 degree, and electrically insulating, for 20,000 parts a year at 80 ounces each. The quote states 100,000 pounds of material a year. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Allowed.

    
    
      
  • Part summary. 20,000 parts per year at 80 oz each, 1,600,000 oz of material in total, on a 1,100 ton press.
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5. Large press quote: A 6,000 ton press for 3,000 parts a year

    
The agent's request. Please quote a part in Featherlite SMC on a 6,000 ton press, with a projected area of 900 square inches, a wall of 0.12 inches, a draft of 1.5 degrees, for 3,000 parts a year at 80 ounces each. The quote states 15,000 pounds of material a year. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Blocked.

    
    
      
  • Press outside the 450 to 5,500 ton range. The quoted press is 6,000 tons; compression molding presses run from 450 to 5,500 tons.
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  • Low annual volume for dedicated tooling. 3,000 parts a year is low for dedicated compression tooling; a person should confirm tooling payback.
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  • Very large press needs scheduling. A 6,000 ton press is a scarce asset; a person should confirm press availability and lead time.
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6. Large press quote: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

    
The agent's request. Please quote a part in Featherlite SMC on a 3,000 ton press, with a projected area of 900 square inches, a wall of 0.12 inches, a draft of 1.5 degrees, for 8,000 parts a year at 80 ounces each. The quote states 40,000 pounds of material a year. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Allowed.

    
    
      
  • Part summary. 8,000 parts per year at 80 oz each, 640,000 oz of material in total, on a 3,000 ton press.
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Narration transcript
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The text of the narrated walkthrough, step by step.

    
    
      
  1. Welcome to a demo of Predictika's Validator. An AI sales agent prepares a quote for a compression-molded SMC part: the material such as Standard SMC, Featherlite, FeatherliteXL, and more. Before it goes out, the agent sends it to Predictika, which checks it against a declarative model of how these choices fit together, and returns a verdict, every reason and the material total it computed.
    2. 
      
  2. I will start with the first request by the agent.
    3. 
      
  3. The agent says. Please quote a part in Airilite SMC on an 800 ton press, with a projected area of 1,700 square inches. The quote states 90,000 pounds of material a year. The rest of the request is on screen.
    4. 
      
  4. Before it goes out, the agent calls the validator.
    5. 
      
  5. Blocked, with five findings, all in one answer. The wall is 0.10 inches; this material needs at least 0.12 inches. The draft angle is 0.5 degrees; at least 1.0 degree is needed to release the part from the tool. Airilite SMC is the ultra-low-density system and is not offered here with a Class A paint-ready surface. The other two are on screen.
    6. 
      
  6. The validator returned five blocking findings in one answer. A check that reads one field at a time would pass most of this; it shows only when the choices in the quote are checked against each other.
    7. 
      
  7. What this shows: for surface and insulation limits tied to the material, a rules-based CPQ can do this only with workarounds.
    8. 
      
  8. Now the agent resubmits.
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  9. The corrected request. It changes the wall to 0.12, the draft to 1.0, the surface to standard and the material stated on the quote to 100,000.
    10. 
      
  10. It calls the validator again.
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  11. Still blocked, with one finding, all in one answer. The part must be electrically insulating; only N-sulGuard SMC is quoted for that.
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  12. Four findings cleared. Still blocking: electrical insulation needs N-sulGuard.
    13. 
      
  13. The agent resubmits once more.
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  14. The revised request. It changes the material to N-sulGuard SMC.
    15. 
      
  15. It calls the validator once more.
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  16. Still blocked, with one finding, all in one answer. A projected area of 1,700 sq in at 1,200 psi molding pressure needs more than the 800 ton press quoted.
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  17. One finding cleared, but the change brings a different blocking finding: press too small for the part.
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  18. The agent resubmits again.
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  19. The next revised request. It changes the press to 1,100 tons.
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  20. It calls the validator yet again.
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  21. This time the validator clears it.
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  22. The earlier finding is cleared.
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  23. Five problems caught in one call, fixed in three passes, and a clean quote. That is the value of Predictika's validator: catching mistakes before they reach the customer. Now you can try the other scenarios yourself.
    24.