Predictika · Commercial window coverings

An AI sales agent's shade order, checked against the size chart before it goes out

An AI sales agent writes up a commercial window covering order for a customer's building: the shade system, the fabric or color, and the width and height of each window. Before it goes out, the agent sends the order to Predictika, which checks it against a declarative model of the public Hunter Douglas Contract Product Sizes chart and returns a verdict, every reason and the figures it computed.

Scope: Hunter Douglas contract shades and blinds: maximum width, height and area by product system and fabric, from the public Contract Product Sizes chart. See everything this validator covers

This validator models the maximum-size limits of the Hunter Douglas Contract Product Sizes chart, not just the scenarios shown below.

  • Product systems — 74 systems from the chart: aluminum, wood and alternative wood blinds, Duette honeycomb shades (standard, top-down, LiteRise, EasyRise, Vertiglide, sidelights, shaped and angled), pleated shades, roller shades, Silhouette window shadings, Vignette modern roman shades, vertical blinds, woven woods shades and Skyline gliding panels.
  • Fabric or color — where the chart gives limits by fabric (Duette D16, D20 and D21, Castille and Versailles pleated, Silhouette Originale and Bon Soir, Vignette Heather and Linen Weave, woven woods color groups), the limit used is the one for the fabric chosen; a system and fabric the chart does not list is blocked.
  • Maximum width, height and area — the order is blocked when the width, the height or the area (width times height) is above the chart maximum; the Duette Arch limit of one half of the width is checked, and roller shades, which have no area limit in the chart, are checked on width and height only.
  • Items a person confirms — the chart says aluminum blinds taller than 144 inches are available with a surcharge and a guarantee exclusion; those orders go to approval instead of being blocked on height.

Any order that touches these limits is in scope — not only the scenarios pictured here. Not covered: prices (Hunter Douglas Contract publishes none), minimum sizes (the chart has none), the shutters, the Duolite and two-on-one Duette rows that state area per panel, the Country Woods LiteRise row with an unclear area, and everything outside the chart, such as fabric choices, motorization options, mounting and guarantee terms.

The AI sales agentWrites up the order from the conversation and says it is ready.
Predictika validatorChecks every rule at once and returns the verdict, each finding, and the computed figures.

7 scenarios in 3 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 maximum width, height and area that depend on the system and the fabric together (about 130 chart rows)Only with care
Each chart row becomes a lookup row or a product rule; with 74 systems and up to three fabrics each, that is a long table to enter and keep current.
The system and fabric travel in one request and are looked up together, including combinations the chart does not list.
An area limit computed from width and heightOnly with workarounds
The area is a product of two entries compared with a table value, which a rules-based CPQ usually does with custom code.
The area is computed and compared on every call, together with the width and height limits.
A limit expressed as half of the width, and a height that is allowed with a surchargeOnly with workarounds
Relative limits and allowed-with-conditions limits are separate special cases in most rules-based CPQ tools.
The arch limit is checked against the width entered, and a tall aluminum blind is sent to approval rather than blocked.
Every problem returned in one answerOnly with workarounds
Rules tend to fire as the selection is saved or a step is completed, so a rep often fixes one error and meets the next.
All findings come back together, whatever order the choices arrived in.

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 width of 175 in is above the chart maximum of 174 in.
2The height of 175 in is above the chart maximum of 174 in.
3The area of 62.5 sq ft is above the chart maximum of 60 sq ft.
4The area of 41 sq ft is above the chart maximum of 40 sq ft.
5The height of 139 in is above the chart maximum of 138 in.
6The width of 109 in is above the chart maximum of 108 in.
7The Hunter Douglas chart lists no size row for this system with this fabric or color.
8The height of 85 in is above the chart maximum of 84 in.
9The chart limits the height of this arch shade to one half of its width; the height of 43 in is above half of the 84 in width.
10The width of 85 in is above the chart maximum of 84 in.
11The area of 32.11 sq ft is above the chart maximum of 32 sq ft.
12The area of 6.25 sq ft is above the chart maximum of 6 sq ft.
13The width of 12 in is above the chart maximum of 11.875 in.
14The chart says heights above 144 in are available for aluminum blinds, with a surcharge and a guarantee exclusion; 160 in needs Hunter Douglas to confirm.
15The area of 170 sq ft is above the chart maximum of 144 sq ft.
16The chart says heights above 144 in are available for aluminum blinds, with a surcharge and a guarantee exclusion; 170 in needs Hunter Douglas to confirm.

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. Honeycomb shade: A Duette standard cordlock shade in D20, 100 by 90 inches

The agent's request. Please quote Duette standard cordlock in D20, 3/4 inch semi-opaque, 100 inches wide by 90 inches high. It is ready to send.

Verdict: Blocked.

  • Area above the chart maximum. The area of 62.5 sq ft is above the chart maximum of 60 sq ft.

2. Honeycomb shade: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

The agent's request. Please quote Duette standard cordlock in D20, 3/4 inch semi-opaque, 96 inches wide by 90 inches high. It is ready to send.

Verdict: Allowed.

  • Size summary. Width 96 of 174 in maximum; height 90 of 174 in maximum; area 60 of 60 sq ft maximum.

3. Roman shade: A Vignette tailored EasyRise shade in Linen Weave, 80 by 63 inches

The agent's request. Please quote vignette EasyRise standard tailored in Linen Weave, 80 inches wide by 63 inches high. It is ready to send.

Verdict: Blocked.

  • Height above the chart maximum. The height of 63 in is above the chart maximum of 62 in.

4. Roman shade: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

The agent's request. Please quote vignette EasyRise standard tailored in Heather, 72 inches wide by 100 inches high. It is ready to send.

Verdict: Allowed.

  • Size summary. Width 72 of 72 in maximum; height 100 of 120 in maximum; area 50 of 60 sq ft maximum.

5. Aluminum blinds: A Contract 2 inch aluminum blind, 144 by 170 inches

The agent's request. Please quote Contract 2 inch aluminum blinds, 144 inches wide by 170 inches high. It is ready to send.

Verdict: Blocked.

  • Area above the chart maximum. The area of 170 sq ft is above the chart maximum of 144 sq ft.
  • Aluminum blind taller than 144 in. The chart says heights above 144 in are available for aluminum blinds, with a surcharge and a guarantee exclusion; 170 in needs Hunter Douglas to confirm.

6. Aluminum blinds: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

The agent's request. Please quote Contract 2 inch aluminum blinds, 100 inches wide by 160 inches high. It is ready to send.

Verdict: Needs approval.

  • Aluminum blind taller than 144 in. The chart says heights above 144 in are available for aluminum blinds, with a surcharge and a guarantee exclusion; 160 in needs Hunter Douglas to confirm.
  • Size summary. Width 100 of 144 in maximum; height 160 of 144 in maximum; area 111.11 of 144 sq ft maximum.

7. Aluminum blinds: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

The agent's request. Please quote Contract 2 inch aluminum blinds, 100 inches wide by 140 inches high. It is ready to send.

Verdict: Allowed.

  • Size summary. Width 100 of 144 in maximum; height 140 of 144 in maximum; area 97.22 of 144 sq ft maximum.

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 writes up a commercial window covering order for a customer's building: the shade system, the fabric or color, the width and height of each window. Before it goes out, the agent sends the order to Predictika, which checks it against a declarative model of the public Hunter Douglas Contract Product Sizes chart and returns a verdict, every reason and the figures it computed.
  2. I will start with the first request by the agent.
  3. The agent says. Please quote Contract 2 inch aluminum blinds, 144 inches wide by 170 inches high. It is ready to send.
  4. Before it goes out, the agent calls the validator.
  5. Blocked, with one finding and one approval, all in one answer. The area of 170 sq ft is above the chart maximum of 144 sq ft.
  6. The validator returned one blocking finding and one approval 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. What this shows: for a maximum width, height and area that depend on the system and the fabric together (about 130 chart rows), a rules-based CPQ is error-prone for this.
  8. Now the agent resubmits.
  9. The corrected request. It changes the width to 100 in and the height to 160 in.
  10. It calls the validator again.
  11. Not blocked, but held for a person.
  12. The one blocking finding is cleared; one approval remains for a person: aluminum blind taller than 144 in.
  13. The agent resubmits once more.
  14. The revised request. It changes the height to 140 in.
  15. It calls the validator once more.
  16. This time the validator clears it.
  17. The earlier finding is cleared.
  18. Two problems caught in one call, fixed in two 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.