Manufacturers win the trust of their customers when sales and production move as one. Customers expect speed, accuracy, and reliability, but when sales teams quote solutions without real-time insight into costs, inventory, or production capacity, they’re making promises production may not be able to keep. These disconnects lead to costly adjustments, delays, and frustrated customers. ERP and CPQ integration provides a single source of truth and the critical foundation for aligning sales promises with production reality.
Moving Beyond Basic CRM-ERP Connection
Many manufacturers have taken the first step by connecting their CRM and ERP systems to streamline basic order processing. But even with CPQ functionality in their CRM, sales teams still configure and quote products without the technical knowledge of specific manufacturing constraints. While they can push order data to ERP after a sale, they lack the real-time production intelligence needed during crucial customer conversations.
Integrating CPQ and ERP allows you to connect sales directly to production data. Instead of working with outdated pricing information or waiting for engineering validation, sales teams can access live inventory and capacity data while configuring products. They can confidently apply accurate pricing based on current costs and generate quotes that are right the first time. When a quote is approved, it automatically creates a complete order record in your ERP, kickstarting order fulfillment for customers and delivering on the speed and reliability they expect.
What Effective CPQ and ERP Integration Looks Like for Manufacturers
Your ERP tracks essential information on inventory levels, delivery times, available parts, and manufacturing costs. When connected, the CPQ pulls this data automatically, so that sales teams or end customers can build a configurable product and generate an accurate quote.
Once a quote is approved, your CPQ automatically generates a sales order and Bill of Materials (BOM) in the ERP, triggering procurement, order fulfillment, and invoicing.
Example
Imagine a sales representative configuring a long-haul freight truck. The CPQ pulls key data from the ERP, such as available engine models, transmission options, or chassis types, ensuring that every component is compatible and in stock. If a specific engine type requires a special cooling system that has a longer lead time, CPQ factors this into the delivery estimate and costs. The order information is then transferred to the ERP to manage billing, adjust inventory, and track order fulfillment.
Key Benefits of ERP and CPQ Integration
When processes are siloed and manual, it increases the workload on your teams and leaves greater room for error, delays, and lost deals.
A connected tech stack offers substantial benefits to your customer’s experience and your bottom line.
1. Increased sales team productivity and autonomy
Sales teams no longer need to rely on engineering to verify pricing, availability, or configuration feasibility. The CPQ has real-time access to the ERP’s accurate production and pricing data, allowing your sales team to generate quotes more independently. By reducing administrative work and streamlining approvals, sales can build relationships and close deals faster than the competition.
2. Consistent and fluid customer experiences
Automated data syncing reduces the number of adjustments needed between sales and production, so customers experience less friction in the buying process. They receive quotes quickly and seamlessly, with consistent pricing across channels, whether they’re speaking to sales directly or using self-service.
3. Greater profitability and margin control
Within the CPQ, sales can apply dynamic pricing strategies that reflect real-time costs, demand fluctuations, and business rules. This automation prevents underquoting or unprofitable discounts to protect margins.
Your ERP, with additional integration between a CRM and CPQ, also provides leadership with a full view of profitability at the product, customer, and regional levels. ERP houses critical cost and margin data, while CRM captures sales history and customer-specific pricing agreements. Together, this enables data-driven decisions that optimize pricing strategies, sales performance, and market expansion efforts.
4. Better lead time management
Production data enable sales to create quotes that reflect realistic fulfillment timelines. With a clear view of inventory and production capacity, sales can create quotes that reflect realistic fulfillment timelines and set accurate customer expectations.
In addition, manufacturers can generate accurate quotes that flow directly into the ERP system as executable orders, reducing the technical department’s workload—in some cases by 80-90%. This automation eliminates manual order processing, minimizes errors, and ensures production teams receive the right information instantly. As a result, lead times improve, customers get their products faster, and technical teams can focus on higher-value work.
5. Seamless order changes
Change is inevitable in manufacturing sales as customers refine their needs or new requirements emerge after a quote is sent. With ERP and CPQ integration, updates to configurations, pricing, or delivery timelines are immediately reflected for production in the ERP.
5 Best Practices for ERP and CPQ Integration
Both an ERP and CPQ should be able to adapt to the evolution of your business and your products. Consider how integration can become an opportunity to set your systems up for scalability and adaptability as you grow.
1. Choose a CPQ designed for complex manufacturing—not just your ERP
Don’t compromise on your ability to configure complex solutions for the sake of automatic integration. ERP-native CPQs may offer basic quoting capabilities, but manufacturers need tools built for sophisticated product configurations, advanced engineering rules, and manufacturing-specific constraints.
Instead, look for a purpose-built CPQ that integrates seamlessly with ERP, whether through an out-of-the-box connection or API.
2. Ensure data accuracy, standardization, and governance
Inconsistent or duplicate product information between systems leads to errors in quoting and order execution. To prevent this, manufacturers should standardize product and pricing structures across CPQ and ERP. It’s also important to integrate with a CPQ that’s compliant with global data security standards.
3. Consider pre-built ERP integrations vs custom development
Many CPQ solutions require extensive IT resources for integration. CPQ solutions with pre-built ERP connectors support BOM creation, dynamic pricing updates, and order processing, without the need for coding. If API-based integration is required, ensure the CPQ has secure, well-documented APIs that allow for flexible, scalable connectivity.
4. Plan for scalability and ERP upgrades
Your CPQ should work with your ERP today—but also evolve with your business. Assess whether a CPQ can adapt to future ERP upgrades (e.g., cloud migrations, SAP S/4HANA adoption) and support pricing and configuration for different regions or currencies.
Think across the entire value chain. CPQ integration can extend beyond ERP to other vital systems, like CRM, eCommerce, and distributor portals. These integrations give you the opportunity to create a fully connected sales ecosystem.
5. Develop a strong training and change management plan
While IT teams lead the technical integration, success depends on clear communication of benefits to sales and operations. If CPQ isn’t currently part of your team’s workflow, work with key stakeholders in sales and operations early in the process to create champions for transformation and to understand their current pain points. Tailor training to these roles, demonstrating how integration with CPQ simplifies processes.
Connect Your ERP with Tacton’s CPQ
Tacton CPQ is purpose-built for manufacturers of complex, configurable products, enabling faster, more accurate quoting while ensuring every sale aligns with real production capabilities.
With Connect to Anything, powered by Workato, integrating Tacton’s CPQ with your ERP is seamless, whether you use SAP, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Oracle ERP Cloud, IFS, or another software.
Our no-code connectors eliminate the need for extensive IT resources, allowing you to sync pricing, inventory, BOMs, and order data effortlessly. However, manufacturers can also tailor their integrations through open rich REST APIs for greater flexibility. From streamlining the quote-to-order process to enhancing buyer engagement, Tacton ensures a smooth, scalable integration with the systems that power your business.