AI for Steel Distributors

Hi, I’m founder of Mavlon, I spend all my time talking to people who run steel and manufacturing companies. And I’ve gotten obsessed with a problem that everyone seems to have, but nobody has really solved.

If you’re a steel distributor, you’re probably proud of your tech.

You’ve likely spent millions on a powerful ERP. You’ve got a powerful webshop with 100,000 articles. You’ve even got direct ERP to ERP integrations and punch out catalogs so your biggest customers can order automatically, machine to machine.

You’ve successfully automated the 80% of your business that is high volume, standardized, and predictable.

So why are your best salespeople still drowning in manual work?

This is the problem that fascinates me. It's the "other 20%."

It’s the complex, multi page PDF RFQ from a new customer. It’s the weird, non standard part request.

It's the email with ten line items that can't go through your automated pipes.

This 20% is the messy, unstructured part of your business. And let's be honest, it’s probably where most of your profit margin is hidden.

Your million dollar integration system can't handle it. Your expensive ERP can’t understand it. So, you throw your most expensive employees at the problem.

Your senior sales engineer, the person with 20 years of experience, spends half their day acting like a human "cut and paste" machine, digging through five different systems just to build a single quote.

This is a massive, expensive, and dangerous bottleneck.

The solution isn't another ERP module. It's a new layer of intelligence. It’s time to talk about AI for steel distributors.

The Real Cost of Your "20% Problem"

You might think this 20% of manual work is just the cost of doing business. It’s not. It's a silent killer of your margins and your speed.

When I talk to founders, the pain is obvious.

1. The "Translation" Nightmare

A customer emails: "I need 100 pcs of S235JR Structural Beam, IPE 200 x 6000mm."

Your internal system calls this: "SKU #13391".

This is the first bottleneck. Your salesperson has to manually translate the customer's language into your internal part number. This is a small, 3 minute task that, when done 100 times a day, adds up to a massive waste of time. This is the first place AI for steel distributors can help.

2. The "5 Tab Shuffle"

Okay, so your salesperson finds the internal part number. The work isn't done. It's just beginning.

Now they have to open five different systems to answer five critical questions:

• ERP: "Do we have 85 pieces in stock? Oh, wait. 50 are in Warehouse A and 60 are in Warehouse B."

• Operations: "Can the saw handle the 6000mm length? What's the cutting capacity today? Is it booked?"

• Logistics: "What's the next available truck slot to this customer from Warehouse A? What about from Warehouse B?"

• Finance: "What was our margin on the last deal for this part? What's our target floor? What's the cost of a split shipment?"

• Compliance: "Does this part have the MTC 3.2 cert the customer needs?"

  
  

This "5 tab shuffle" is what turns a 1-hour quote into a one-week ordeal. It’s complex, slow, and a breeding ground for expensive mistakes.

3. The "Margin Leak"

This is the scariest part. When your salesperson is rushed, they don't have time to optimize. They just quote.

• They quote a price without realizing the margin is below your 12% target.

• They promise a delivery date, not realizing the saw is at capacity, forcing you to pay for expensive expedited shipping.

• They quote based on the Warehouse A stock, not realizing a split shipment from Warehouse B would be more profitable.

  
  

These small, manual decisions are "margin leaks." And they are costing you 20, 30, maybe 40 basis points on your most complex deals. Over a year, that is hundreds of thousands of dollars. Using AI for steel distributors isn't just about speed; it's about profitability.

AI for Steel Distributors: A "Fulfillability Copilot"

So, what is the answer? It’s not another search bar. It’s not a simple chatbot.

The solution is a proactive AI agent for steel distributors. We call it a "Fulfillability Copilot."

This is not a replacement for your ERP. It is the intelligent "brain" that sits on top of all your existing systems (ERP, Logistics, Operations, etc.). It’s designed to do one thing: automate the complex decision process for your 20% of high value deals.

Here is what this new kind of AI for steel distributors actually does.

Step 1: The AI Triage

The complex PDF or email RFQ comes in. The AI instantly reads it and does the "translation" work, mapping every line item to your internal part numbers.

Then, it triages the entire RFQ in one second. It presents a simple dashboard to your sales team:

• Line 1 (Green): "Simple. In stock. Ready to quote."

• Line 2 (Green): "Simple. In stock. Ready to quote."

• Line 3 (Yellow): "Needs a decision."

• Line 4 (Red): "Not available."

  
  

Your salesperson can now ignore the 80% of simple work and focus only on the items that require their expertise.

Step 2: The "Yellow Light" Decision Engine

The salesperson clicks the "Yellow Light" item. This is where the magic happens.

Your platform doesn't just show them raw data. It shows them a synthesized decision dashboard. In one clean window, it shows:

• Stock: 50 pcs in Warehouse A, 60 pcs in Warehouse B.

• Saw Capacity: Today: 40 pcs. Tomorrow: 80 pcs.

• Next Trucks: Today 14:00 (Warehouse A), Tomorrow 09:00 (Warehouse B).

• AI Plan: "Stock split needed. 50 pcs from Warehouse A today, 35 pcs from Warehouse B tomorrow. This plan meets the customer's deadline and protects your margin."

• Margin Guardrail: "Margin safe at 14.2% (Target: >12%)"

  
  

The 30 minute "5 tab shuffle" is now a 3 second decision. Your salesperson just clicks "Approve AI Plan." This is the real power of AI for steel distributors.

Step 3: The "Red Light" Profit Generator

This is the most valuable feature. The salesperson clicks the "Red Light" item.

A "dumb" system says: "Not Available. Deal lost."

The AI agent for steel distributors says: "This product is not available. Here are two AI-picked alternatives from your catalog that are similar in spec:"

• Alternative 1 (S355J0): "In stock. Has MTC 3.2 cert. Margin: +0.8%."

• Alternative 2 (S420MC): "Higher grade. Slight delay. Margin: +2.1%."

  
  

Your AI just turned a lost deal into a more profitable upsell.

Step 4: The Handoff

Once your salesperson approves all the AI's plans and alternates, the platform bundles this clean, structured data and sends it back to your ERP to create the final, accurate quote.

This is not a "vitamin." This is a "painkiller" for your most expensive problem.

Why This is a $100k+ Opportunity, Not a $100/mo Tool

I know what you're thinking. "This is a simple dashboard. Why is this so valuable?"

You're confusing the simple interface with the complex engine underneath.

You are not buying "AI." You are buying profitable decisions at scale.

• This is a Margin Protection Engine: This tool is your CFO's best friend. That "Margin Guardrail" feature alone, when applied to your 20% of high value deals, can save you 20-40 basis points. At your scale, that’s not $10k. That’s hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

  
  

• This is an Upsell Engine: The "Alternates" feature creates new revenue from nothing. It stops deal leakage.

  
  

• This is a Scalability Engine: It clones your best, most experienced sales engineer and gives their "gut feel" and 20 years of knowledge to your entire team. It lets you grow your quote volume without growing your headcount.

  
  

This is the true, valuable application of AI for steel distributors.

"But We Have a Tech Team. We Can Build This."

This is the objection I hear most from smart, tech-savvy companies like yours. And you're right. You probably could build this.

The question isn't "Can you build it?" The question is "Should you?"

• The Focus Problem: Your engineers are brilliant. But are they focused on building your core platform, your e-commerce portal? Or do you want to distract them for 18 months to build a specialized AI sales tool? This is all we do. We are specialists.

  
  

• The Speed Problem: This is a 12-18 month internal project, minimum. We can get a pilot, solving your article mapping problem, live in 4-6 weeks. You can have this advantage this quarter, not in 2027.

  
  

• The Maintenance Problem: AI is not "set it and forget it." New models and techniques come out every month. An internal tool is obsolete the day it's launched. A SaaS subscription with an AI agent for steel distributors like Mavlon means you get continuous R&D and upgrades. You are future-proofing your business.

  
  

Your team should focus on your core. Let us provide the specialized AI layer that makes you more profitable.

The Future Isn't a Chatbot

The future of AI for steel distributors isn't a simple chatbot that answers, "What's our stock?" Your ERP can do that.

The future is a proactive, intelligent advisor. An AI copilot that synthesizes data from all your systems and answers the only question that matters:

"What is the fastest, most profitable decision I can make on this complex deal, right now?"

Your automated ordering systems handle the commodity volume. This platform is how you win the high-margin battle.

At Mavlon, we are building this exact "Fulfillability Copilot." If you're tired of seeing your best salespeople reduced to data entry clerks, and you're ready to protect your margins on your most important deals, let's have a real conversation.

Stop just processing quotes. Start making smarter decisions.