Tender packs without chasing documents

Short answer: AI can build most of a tender pack. It reads the tender's requirements, picks the right documents by tag, fills the standard forms and tells the manager what's missing. Fixed files are always attached. Complex technical plans stay with a person. We built a demo of this for a cable factory.

What goes into a tender pack

If you sell to big buyers, you know the list. Every tender wants a pack:

• certificates;
• ISO documents;
• test reports;
• references;
• plant experience;
• equipment lists;
• maker's authorisation forms;
• inspection plans.

Each tender asks for a slightly different mix. Each lot may need different files.

Why packs go out late

At this cable factory, the problem wasn't the forms. It was finding the files.

There was no register of the documents. So for every lot, a sales manager had to ask technical control and production for the right files. Then wait.

Packs went out late. Most often, they were waiting on technical control.

As their sales lead put it, the main pain is that there's no register, and the manager has to ask other teams for the files for every lot.

The team didn't use ChatGPT for this. It was easier to do it themselves from templates. That makes sense. A general chat tool doesn't know your files.

A second slow job: spec sheets

There was a second job. Product spec sheets were typed into the accounting system by hand. 50 to 60 a day.

That's slow, and every typed line is a chance for a mistake.

What we built

For tenders:

1. You upload the tender's requirements.
2. The AI reads them.
3. It picks the right documents by tag: product type and lot.
4. It fills the standard forms. About 6 fields each.
5. It tells the manager what's missing.
6. It hides confidential supplier prices.

Some things are always the same. ISO, accreditation and calibration files are always attached in full.

Some things stay with a person. Complex technical plans are checked by someone who knows them.

For spec sheets: a spec builder turns their Excel files into the spec format. No more typing them in.

It's connected to their accounting system: about 600 files and 12,000 product codes.

Who does what

Step	The AI	A person
Read the tender	Yes	Reviews the summary
Pick documents by tag	Yes	Spot-checks
Attach fixed files (ISO, calibration)	Always	—
Fill standard forms (~6 fields)	Yes	Approves
Hide confidential prices	Yes	Checks
List what's missing	Yes	Chases the missing files
Check complex technical plans	Attaches them	Checks them
Send the pack	—	Yes

The AI does the finding and the filling. People keep the judgment.

Where it stands

This one isn't live yet. Here's the honest status.

The demo is built. It covers the upload, the AI check, the folders, the deadlines and the list of missing documents.

A commercial deal is being agreed. The client wants to own the code. We think that's right. You should own what's built for you.

How to start, even without AI

The biggest fix here isn't AI. It's the register. You can start on it this week.

1. List every document type a tender has asked for in the past year.
2. Tag each file with product type and lot.
3. Mark the fixed files. ISO, accreditation, calibration. These go in every pack.
4. Mark what needs an expert, like complex technical plans.
5. Name one owner for keeping the register up to date.

Once you have tags, AI can do the matching. Without tags, any tool will struggle.

It also helps people. A new sales manager can find the right files on day one, without asking around. And when an auditor asks which files went into which pack, the answer is already written down.

The short version

The slow part of a tender is rarely writing. It's chasing files across teams. Fix the register, let AI do the matching and the forms, and keep people on the parts that need judgment.

Read the full story: How a cable factory builds tender packs without chasing documents

If your team builds packs, quotes or forms from files spread across teams, we can look at it with you. Book a free audit